Disappearing Crackers, Oh My!

Who doesn't like crackers? Be honest.

I have to take a moment to express my love for crunchy things, but crackers in particular. I like crackers on their own and with hummus or a fruit spread; I like crackers loaded with other crunchy bits and I like plain 'ol crackers, too.

I try not to buy them, and my dislike of processed and packaged foods has kept me on track, but when I get around to making some... well. That is when I get myself into a bit of a complex. It may start out as an innocent craving (or I might not even be craving them) but if a box of crackers is near me—just watch out.

I will steal your crackers. You can rest assured a batch will not go stale when they are in my presence. I'll transform into cookie monster's cousin. I'm so serious.

If you didn't notice, these crackers include figs, which I adore. Speaking of figs, I am feeling left out regarding fresh figs because I can't seem to find any. I keep seeing recipes that use fresh figs and each time I do, I become more bitter.

But back to the crackers: they are crunchy with a nice subtle sweetness from the figs. They have become my new favourite cracker, but I will not be making them again for awhile. The batch is already half done.

I have no idea how that happened.

Fig and Almond Flax Crackers
Loosely adapted from this recipe

1/3 cup whole flax seeds*
1/4 cup flax meal (ground flaxseeds)
1 cup all-purpose flour*
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/ tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. brown sugar
4 tbsp. vegan butter
1/4 cup almonds, chopped
1 cup dried figs, chopped
1/2 cup non-dairy milk


Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a mixing bowl combine flax seeds, flax meal, flours, baking powder, salt and sugar.

Add butter to dry mixture and use your fingertips to gently cut in the butter until you achieve a coarse crumb consistency.


Fold in the chopped nuts and figs and milk, and mix until the dough is smooth. On a piece of plastic wrap, knead just to bring everything together (no more than a few seconds), wrap, and chill for about 10 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of the dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into 2-inch squares and transfer them to an ungreased baking sheet. Repeat with the other half of the dough while the first batch chills bakes (I chilled mine on the sheet before baking because I was paranoid about the dough being too warm).

Bake crackers until golden brown, 25-30 minutes (the original recipe says to bake them for 20 minutes, but I think my crackers were a little too thick, so I had to go for longer). You want them to already be quite firm when they come out of the oven and they will firm up more as they cool. Cool on sheet until cool enough to touch, then cool completely on a rack. Get your crunch on.

Yield: I got 32 crackers, but mine were all different sizes. I'm no help here.


* I found that that there was too much flax seed and flour, and a lot of it didn't get incorporated into the dough, so you could probably cut down on at least one of them a little bit.