These homemade crackers can be customized to your taste, and you only need four ingredients for a healthy cracker that's free of additives.
While I do buy chips and pretzels for my kids, I get highly annoyed at paying high prices for crackers.
Don't even get me started on trying to buy them gluten-free...highway robbery!
The price, along with long lists of sometimes questionable ingredients, are the main reasons I've begun making my own crackers, and the kids love them (especially with a slice of cheese)!
Ingredients needed
- Flour - See below for variations, but these can be made with wheat, spelt, chickpea, brown rice, millet, and even buckwheat flours.
- Sea salt
- Oil - I usually use olive oil, but others would work too.
- Water
Recipe steps
1. Gather ingredients.
2. Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. Add in the oil and water.
The mixture should look 'pebbly' after stirring in the oil. Then, add just enough water to moisten the flour, but not so much that the dough is sticky.
3. Roll out.
I typically use a bottom sheet of parchment paper and a top sheet of wax paper to do this. Roll it out to about 1/8 inch thick.
4. Cut and bake
Use a pizza cutter to make the crackers as large or small as you like. Bake them for 16-25 minutes until golden.
Variations
Flours
These are a few of my favorite flour combinations:
- All brown rice flour
- Half brown rice flour, half chickpea flour
- All chickpea flour
- All spelt, kamut, or whole wheat flour (not gluten-free)
- Half kamut flour, half millet flour (not GF)
- All buckwheat flour (Light buckwheat flour is best!)
There are myriad combinations to try. The biggest difference I've noticed is that some flours need a bit more water, buckwheat in particular.
Spices
I also vary the spices I add; my favorites include:
- Turmeric
- Cumin
- Smoked paprika
- Braggs Sprinkle (this is a great blend of various herbs and spices)
- Curry powder
- Seeds (sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, poppy)
I usually add about 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon of one of the above. If using seeds, I sprinkle them on top of the dough after rolling it out and before baking.
Combinations
Here are some of my favorite flour/spice combos:
- Kamut and millet with Braggs' seasoning
- Spelt with sesame seeds
- Chickpea and brown rice with curry powder
- Buckwheat with smoked paprika
The possibilities are truly endless!
Recipe notes
Bake time can vary from flour to flour, hence the wide range. Check them at around 16 minutes and begin plating the outermost crackers (which are the ones that will bake/brown fastest). Then, replace the pan to let the middle crackers bake until golden and crispy (another 5-10 minutes).
I find that using a rimless baking sheet or pizza stone works best for baking. If you don't have this, you can turn your regular baking sheet upside down.
Serve these with my Tahini-Free Hummus or Smoky Sardine Dip for a well-rounded snack.
Healthy Homemade Crackers
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour (wheat, spelt, rice, millet, chickpea, buckwheat all work!)
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 Tablespoons oil (olive, grapeseed, avocado, coconut all work)
- 4-8 Tablespoons water (as needed)
- 1/8-1/4 tsp seasonings (curry, turmeric, paprika, cumin, etc.)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Mix the flour with the salt and any seasonings you're using.
- Stir in the oil until mixture looks a bit 'pebbly' in texture.
- Stir in the water until the dough is moistened and begins to form a ball. It should not be sticky to the touch. If it becomes sticky, add in a bit more flour.
- Place the dough ball between a sheet of parchment paper (bottom) and a sheet of wax paper (top).
- Roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch in thickness, with the wax paper on top and the parchment on bottom.
- Peel away the wax paper and transfer the parchment (with the cracker dough still on top) to a baking sheet (rimless, if possible) or pizza stone.
- Use a pizza cutter to create your desired cracker shapes and use your fork to poke a couple of holes.
- If using seeds, sprinkle them on top and lightly push them into the dough with the rolling pin.
- Bake the crackers for 16-25 minutes until golden (see above Recipe Notes).
- Cool, break apart, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
If you have a chance to try this recipe, please leave a star rating and a comment below letting me know how you liked it!
Barbara Lindsey
I cannot wait to try these, Lauren! You consistently have such a variety of doable, tasty recipes that appeal to everyone in my family!
Thank you so much for sharing with us the results of your hard work in the kitchen.
Lauren
Thank you Barbara! I hope you enjoy these if you try them. 🙂
Nancy Anway
Do you have a recipe using oat flour. I have a lot of allergies and sensitivity.
Lauren
Though I haven't tried it, I think oat flour would work with these.
Sammi Ricke
What is it about kids and crackers?! They HAVE to have them...or anarchy. Ha! I better be putting these in their lunch boxes in a few weeks because I know they will love them. Thanks girl!!
Sha
Hi Lauren,
This easy recipe is definitely on my to do list. One question though, a serving is ONE cracker, am I right? Just to be sure so that I don't mindlessly go wild on these lol.
Lauren
Hi Sha,
Yes, the calculations are for one cracker, and the recipe makes about 30. 🙂
Sha
Thanks Lauren!
Kristi
Hi Lauren, I wanted to make your crackers but with no oil. Have you ever tried that before? Thanks in advance for your answer.
Lauren
Hi Kristi,
I haven't tried that, so I'm not sure, sorry!
Kristin
These crackers are awesome!!! I used chickpea flour and brown rice flour. They taste like pita chips!! I have a story like yours with allergies stemming from immune issues and am gluten, dairy, sugar, nut-free - so I am beyond thrilled to have found your blog. Can't wait to try more recipies!!!
Lauren
Yay! Aw, thanks so much, Kristin - I'm thrilled you liked the crackers! 😀
Charla
These crackers are fantastic! I made them with half brown rice and half chickpea flour, plus a little curry powder. Delicious! I did prefer them the first time I made them, when I didn't roll them as thin - they have to bake longer, but I had less issues with them burning. I also just liked the thicker crackers better. I think they were around 1/3". I have tried other cracker recipes, and these are by far the best!
Lauren
Thanks so much, Charla! I usually have dough that's thinner on the edges than in the center, so I'm constantly taking out the pan to remove the thinner ones, lol. Kind of a pain, but worth it since my kids love crackers and the store ones are just so full of crap!
Amanda
My daughter has FPIES, which is a type of allergy, where she only can eat a handful of foods. We made th crackers with oat flour and instead of oil, we used cooked butternut squash. I only needed 3 tbsp of water and with that, I needed to knead in a bit extra flour. They turned out good, of course she loved them to be able to eat something different.
Angie
Can you make these with Almond flour?
Lauren
I haven't tried, so you may want to search for an almond flour cracker recipe specifically.
June
Hi Lauren,
The crackers look great...can't wait to try them. I have made crackers before, but mostly with nut flours and they seem to go soft after one day. Is there a flour you recommend for crackers that stay crisp?
Thank you.
Lauren
Hi June! Sorry for the delay, I find a combo of buckwheat and rice flours to stay pretty crispy!
Vel
Do you think this would work using sorghum flour?
joyce holms
What oven temperature, please?
Jennifer
Hi! I am interested in trying this but am curious about the texture. Would these be easy for a two year old to handle? Thank you!
Monica
Hi! Have you ever tried these with oat flour?
Lauren
I haven't, but this recipe is very forgiving, so my guess is it would work.
Anjali
Planning to make these! But which millet flour do you use? Sorghum millet, pearl millet, finger millet? They all have different flavours and textures. I have often found in US sites, incl Bob's red mill- this refernce to just 'millet flour'..here in India, different millets are the staple grain in various states. In north karnataka ( a southern state🙂) I grew up eating sorghum millet.I now live in the south of the same state, where finger millets are the staple grain! But most of the innovative ways of using them seem to come from countries where they aren't widely used, like yours! Thank you.
Lauren
Hi Anjali,
That's a great point, I didn't know there were different varieties. When I purchase it, it just reads 'millet flour', so I'm really not sure. The one I buy is yellow in color, if that helps.
Anjali
Ah, that rules out finger millet (a light purplish grey) and sorghum (off white)..maybe foxtail millet. Finger millet flour is very crumbly when baked into a cake or bread, also. I will in anyway try with sorghum flour- I make a great sorghum flour cake - and update. Thanks, Lauren
Evelyn Mitchell
I love the light crisp and soda flavor of saltines, but I also love buckwheat. I am hoping I will get the light crisp I'm looking for. I'm sure the soda taste might be obscured by the buckwheat, though I'm hoping there will be an enhancement of one or the other, both would be a bonus.
My favorite crisp is the crisp of water chestnuts, though I'm not too fond of the taste, rather tasteless, actually.
Lea
Perfect recipe. Goes together nicely and rolls out well.
Added some powdered ginger for my spice and then sprayed dough lightly with water and sprinkled black sesame seeds on it. Baked 23 minutes. Yum.
Lea
Ps I used Bob Hill 1 to 1 baking flour blue bag
Roxanne
Made these with chickpea flour, turmeric and paprika. Baked for 21 minutes. Really yummy! They would be great with seeds on top, so might do that next time. It's wonderful how easy and versatile this recipe is. Thank you!