Quinoa Crackers

If there is one thing that makes me happy it is definitely tea, and if there is a second thing that makes me just as happy it is tea parties!  Yes, I’m almost 23. Yes, I have a college degree.  Yes, I should probably act my age. BUT tea parties and wearing big hats are just too much fun! Don’t judge. Just love.  While my friend Kate was in town we had a picnic tea party.  It was AWESOME.
 

 

 The picnic included iced mint green tea; quinoa crackers with cream cheese, fennel seeds, and cucumbers; minty lime tea crackers, cranberry walnut bread with goat cheese and fig jam, and finally cranberry walnut bread with peanut butter and honey.  It was delicious!

We made the quinoa crackers using Ashley’s, from edible perspective, recipe.  My oh my! They were so delicious!  I was so excited to make these as soon as I saw her post on her blog about them, and I figured using them for our tea party would be perfect!  We didn’t have all the ingredients Ashley used in her recipe so we made some slight changes.  We also used fresh ingredients when it came to the herbs; the crackers we made have a shorter shelf life because of that.  But do make these! It is so simple and so easy.  Plus, why buy store bought processed crackers, when you can make them at home, know what is exactly in them, and brag to your friends that you are cool enough to make crackers!?  MAKE THESE. End of story.

Quinoa Crackers

(from edible perspective)

Ingredients:

1 – 1 ¼ cup quinoa flour (we made our own, so did Ashley - directions below)

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 ½ teaspoons sesame seeds

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons, plus 1 teaspoon grapeseed oil

2 tablespoons ground flaxseed meal

1 clove fresh garlic, grated (or ¾ teaspoon garlic powder)

1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil

1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary

2/3-3/4 cups water

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400F, and grease a large baking sheet.  In medium size bowl combine both flours, sesame seeds, salt, fresh basil,  fresh rosemary, flaxseed meal, garlic, and baking powder until everything is well mixed.

Then using your hands, add the oil to dry mixture until  it is moist and crumbly.  Add enough water to the mixture so you can form a ball of dough. 

Flour  a large surface and roll out the dough as THIN AS POSSIBLE (about 1/16 of an inch).  Cut the crackers using a pizza cutter and transfer to a baking sheet.  Brush the tops of the crackers with grapeseed oil (any oil will work), salt, and pepper.  Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.  Then eat!

Directions for Quinoa Flour:

Preheat oven to 250F.  Rinse 1 cup of quinoa and spread on to a baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes then stir the quinoa, and bake for another 15-20 minutes.  You want to make sure the quinoa is completely dry.  Then pour the quinoa into a food processor and grind until you get a mix between a flour and bits of whole quinoa (this added to the crunchiness of the crackers).  It took us about 15 minutes of processing to get the flour to the consistency we wanted.