This versatile homemade cracker recipe can be made with numerous different flours, including chickpea, brown rice, and buckwheat. Only four ingredients needed 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!
I have a base recipe that I've been playing with for years now, and these are just a few of my favorite variations:
- All brown rice flour
- Half brown rice flour, half chickpea flour
- All chickpea flour
- All spelt, kamut, or whole wheat flour (not gluten-free, obviously)
- Half kamut flour, half millet flour
- All buckwheat flour (Light buckwheat flour is best!)
There are myriad combinations, and they all work.
The biggest difference I've noticed is that some flours need a bit more water, buckwheat in particular.
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.
Here are some of my favorite combos.
The possibilities are truly endless!
Recipe notes
Bake time can vary from flour to flour, hence the 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!
Other snack favorites
Easy Homemade Crackers
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour (wheat, spelt, rice, millet, chickpea, buckwheat all work!)
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 2 Tbsp oil (olive, grapeseed, avocado, coconut all work)
- 5-8 Tbsp 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, knead in a bit more flour.
- Place the dough ball between a sheet of parchment paper and a sheet of wax paper.
- 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 desired.
- 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 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!
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!
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
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.
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
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!
joyce holms
What oven temperature, please?
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?
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.
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.
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!
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! 😀
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!
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!
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!!
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.
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. 🙂