I'm a bit of a cracker-a-holic.  I think the quest for crunchy food intensifies when one goes gluten free. So, I've made a habit of baking crackers at least once a week, if not more.  However, many cracker thieves dwell in my abode.  As quickly as I make crackers they disappear.  Therefore, some weeks, the cracker quest continues day in and day out.

Crackers made with almond flour (or in this case almond milk pulp, more on that in a minute) are highly nutritious and slightly addictive.  They're perfect with any number of spreads including Homemade Goat Cheese, Fig Tapenade, Sesame Dip or Savory Avocado Spread.

These particular Almond Pulp Crackers are a bit of a recycled treat.  I know that sounds odd, maybe even unappetizing, though let me explain.

After I make Almond Milk I use the leftover pulp of the almonds to create these delicious, high fiber crackers.  Seasoned with fresh thyme, they're vegan, gluten free and super healthy.  If you make them in your dehydrator (I don't have one) they're even raw.  I bake mine in the oven on low to preserve as many of the live enzymes in them as possible, though because my oven doesn't go lower than 135° technically they are not raw.  Still, they're good.

Of course, I have other gluten free cracker recipes that don't require almond pulp, including: Sesame Crackers, Walnut Crackers, Vegan Herb Crackers, Multi "Grain" Crackers, Rosemary Fig Crackers, Chardonnay Crackers.

The winner of last weeks giveaway for a copy of The Simple Food {for winter} ebook from Shannon of Nourishing Day's is Lori Misener. Congratulations Lori!

Here are some more gluten free recipes that use leftover pulp:
-Gena's Juice Pulp Crackers from Choosing Raw
-Carrot Pulp Bread from Milk for the Morning Cake
-Raw Cheesecake from Gluten Free Krums

Don't be confused by these gluten free Multi "Grain" Crackers.  Because they are in fact gluten free and grain-free.  That's right, these crackers don't contain grains.  What are they made of?  They contain a multitude of high protein, high fiber superfoods including almonds, flax and hemp.

So as you can see, even though these are called Multi "Grain" Crackers, I have not started eating grains again.  And yes, I've been grain free since 2001, on an eating plan (don't like the word diet) that is similar to those referred to as Paleo or Primal.

The idea for these gluten free crackers is from my dear friend Betsy.  She came over one Saturday afternoon last November so that we could go for a hike.  We did, and then we set out to bake our way through my kitchen.

These crackers were the first thing we made.  It was a lot of fun because Bets (that's her nickname), cooks the way I used to, before I started cooking for all of you.  She just throws ingredients around without any measurements and says things like, "a few handfuls of this," and "a lot of that."  I translated her handfuls and throws into exact measurements and then made the crackers a few more times to get them exactly the way I wanted.

Here are some more gluten free, grain free cracker recipes you may enjoy:
-Savory Grain-Free Crackers from Gluten-Free Goddess
-Honey Graham Crackers from Eat the Cookie!
-Herbed Almond Crackers from At the Bakers Bench

Finally, a gluten free cracker that is egg free as well!  Who do I have to thank for this tasty cracker?  Mark Sisson of Mark's Daily Apple and author of The Primal Blueprint and The Primal Blueprint Cookbook.  I am a huge fan of Mark and his work.

How did I find him?  When he linked back to my site a couple of years ago I checked out his, and it seemed as though I had found a long lost blogging (and lifestyle) relative.  I am a big fan of the primal way of eating and living that Mark espouses and prior to coming upon Mark's site, had taken quite a shine to Loren Cordain's work as outlined in The Paleo Diet --another book that I highly recommend.

I like these crackers (based upon a recipe in Mark's Primal Blueprint Cookbook) because in addition to being egg free, they are super simple to make.  Just tossing in a couple of tablespoons of dried herbs of your choice (I used Herbes de Provence below) eliminates the hassle of picking fresh herbs, then washing and chopping them.  Not that I really consider that a hassle (see Rosemary Crackers), it's just that this is more of a shortcut.  And shortcuts are a good thing sometimes.

Vegan Herb CrackersNote: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
2 cups blanched almond flour
¾ teaspoon celtic sea salt
2 tablespoons Herbes de Provence
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons water

1. In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt and and Herbes de Provence
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together olive oil and water
3. Stir wet ingredients into almond flour mixture until thoroughly combined
4. Roll the dough into a ball and press between 2 sheets of parchment paper to ⅛ inch thickness
5. Remove top piece of parchment paper
6. Transfer the bottom piece with rolled out dough onto baking sheet
7. Cut dough into 2-inch squares with a knife or pizza cutter
8. Bake at 350° for 9-11 minutes, until lightly golden
9. Let crackers cool on baking sheet for 20 minutes, then serve

I'm finding these crackers especially timely given the massive egg recall that has hit our country --think 550 million eggs potentially gone bad with salmonella.  Though I'm lucky enough to have 6 chickens that lay all of our eggs, so that's not an immediate concern at our breakfast table, I still am quite concerned about the safety of food in this country, and hoping that the Food Safety Bill passes with some teeth left in it.

Today I am giving away a copy of The Primal Blueprint Cookbook by the aforementioned Mark Sisson.  Leave a comment below before Sunday, August 29th with a link to your favorite primal or paleo type recipe on my site (think fish, chicken and other protein dishes, or greens or fruit). Here's an interesting article highlighting the difference between primal and paleo.

These healthy Chardonnay Crackers have a deep, rich and buttery flavor.  They're great for everyday snacking or as an hors d'œuvre.  I like that they're high in protein and have good fats (due to the blanched almond flour) and full of antioxidants (in the Grape Seed Flour).  They're a wonderful recovery snack as well after a good workout!

This isn't the first recipe I've made using Grape Seed Flour from AprèsVin. Earlier this year I posted Chardonnay Grape Seed Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies, Cabernet Cookies and Riesling Biscuits.

Today I present to you Chardonnay Crackers.

Chardonnay CrackersNote: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
1 ½ cups blanched almond flour
2 tablespoons chardonnay grapeseed flour
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
¼ cup olive oil

1. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients
2. Stir olive oil into dry ingredients
3. Roll out dough to ¼-inch thickness between 2 pieces of parchment paper
4. Using a butter knife or a pizza cutter, cut dough into 2 inch squares
5. Transfer to a parchment lined cookie sheet
6. Bake at 350° for 8-9 minutes, until just a tad browned on the edges
7. Serve

Thanks everyone for your enthusiasm around the Ball Canning Discovery Kit giveaway! It was so great to hear all of your suggestions for what you would can and do with the kit.  And the winner is..... Tracy!

In Tracy's comment she said that if she won, she would be preserving tomatoes, and that her kids would want to make pickles. How wonderful!

Thanks to everyone who participated, there were a lot of great ideas. If you haven't read through the comments on the Cherry Strawberry Ice Cream post already I really encourage you to read about what kinds of foods people would be preserving.  Many thanks to Ball for donating the kit!

I am loving working with the Almond Board of California to promote healthy eating.  Almonds are my favorite superfood --they're full of protein, low in carbohydrates and packed with nutritious vitamins and minerals.

The Almond Board asked me to create a cracker recipe for them so I have developed these wonderfully flavorful Rosemary Crackers made of almond flour.  They are delicious paired with olive tapenade or any soft spreadable cheese for a cocktail party. For a simple snack eat with cheddar or jack cheese.  Enjoy!

I'll be in Los Angeles for a book signing this Saturday at Erewhon (I'm bringing samples of my gluten free, dairy free Chocolate Chip Cookies) and if you're in the City of Angels I'm hoping to see you there!

Friday morning I arrive in LA and I'll be doing a satellite media tour.  What is that, you ask?  I asked the same thing.  Basically, I will be sitting in studio talking to a bunch of different radio stations and then I'll be on set for live TV interviews with various television stations.  So far, it looks like I'll be chatting with the CW Network, and several others. If you are on Twitter I will be tweeting as I go!

Update: Here's the video the Almond Board of California made of me making these scrumptious little gluten free crackers.

I was reading our local paper yesterday and saw an article on Rosemary Fig Crackers (glutenoid of course) and decided I had to make my own gluten-free version (or g-free, if you prefer).

These gluten free crackers are super easy to make and delicious as well.  My husband gave me the thumbs up on them.

I've been very involved in my garden lately and focusing both my energy and the dishes I've been making lately upon that.  We've been having a different version of raw kale salad every night with dinner.

Although I'm surrounded by my sea of greens, I have been wondering lately, what types of recipes people are interested in seeing here.  Leave a comment and let me know.

Inspiration struck today. As did its friend creativity. The sun was bright for the third day in a row over here in Colorado and my faith in all things good returned. Whatever had a hold of me --seasonal affect disorder, Mercury in retrograde, who knows, who cares --it's gone! I took a long slow walk and saw the last patches of melting snow, flowers popping up through mud and upon arriving home, I observed sap running down the maples in my front yard.

Spring, glorious spring. Even if it's a taste, or just a tease, how it does brighten one's outlook! In celebration of this beautiful weather I made a raw recipe that was unusual, yet delicious. I think this gluten-free fig and olive tapenade would make a fantastic hors d'eoeuvre for a dinner or cocktail party and goes nicely with these walnut crackers.

Fig TapenadeNote: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
1 cup dried figs
½ cup water
1 cup kalamata olives
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped

1. Place figs in a food processor and pulse for 30 seconds, until well chopped
2. Add water and pulse to create a paste
3. Add olives and pulse until incorporated
4. Add olive oil, vinegar and thyme; pulse again for 30 seconds until tapenade is smooth
5. Serve over crackers

Serves 16

Although I have several different cracker flavors in my repertoire, I created these walnut crackers today to accompany the fig tapenade. They complement each other nicely.

Walnut Crackers
3 cups blanched almond flour
1½ teaspoons celtic sea salt
1 cup walnuts, chopped
2 eggs, whisked until frothy
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together almond flour, salt, walnuts, eggs and oil until well blended
2. Separate dough into two halves
3. Line two large (12 x 16) stainless steel baking sheets with parchment paper
4. Place one half of the dough in the center of each lined sheet
5. Cut another piece of parchment paper and place it over one of the balls of dough
6. Roll dough out between the two pieces of parchment paper, until it is ⅛ inch thick and covers the entire baking sheet; remove top paper and repeat process with the other piece of dough
7. Cut the dough with a knife or pizza cutter into 2 inch squares
8. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown
9. Cool and serve

Makes 96 crackers

The lovely Anina, who I had the pleasure of meeting at the Valentine's cooking class I held in February, gave me the idea for this recipe. She told me about it during the class and then emailed me the epicurious.com version, which includes goat cheese, stewing the figs and a couple of other steps that I omitted in my quest to keep things simple. Especially with the warm weather approaching, I wanted to make this complex, sweet-savory dish raw and light.

I hope you like it. Please write up a comment if you have other suggestions as to good "vehicles" for delivering the tapenade --i.e., what would you serve it on?

These gluten free crackers made with high protein almond flour and sesame seeds are a wonderfully crunchy Paleo friendly snack. With this quick and easy cracker recipe you can have homemade crackers in mere minutes. These gluten free crackers are also grain free, full of fiber and therefore very satiating.

Every time my friend Patricia, Pilates Diva extraordinary, comes over she walks out of the house with a handful of these gluten free crackers. I promised her I would make this gluten free cracker recipe my next post. Happy crunching!