Gluten-Free Multi-Grain Crackers

Company worthy gluten-free olive oil multi-grain crackers.

This is a light, pleasantly crisp cracker that is flaky and tender- and you won't believe it's gluten-free and vegan. The texture is so elegant. Yet. The flavor retains an earthy touch of rustic, with a hint of... Dude. Cue soft focus. Suddenly I feel as if I'm in a varietal wine commercial, tossing my hair back (if I had tossable tresses, that is and not a sensible cheek length bob that refuses to toss) and laughing just so- with a tableaux of my closest, dearest multicultural friends, of course- revealing a gleaming set of perfectly capped teeth as I raise a globe of pinot noir into the rosy glow of a Napa Valley sunset to convey The Good Life.

The life without chin hairs and medical bills and neighbors who don't recycle.

All kidding aside (I don't sport a tableaux of polo border=0

shirt wearing best friends and I've never been to Napa Valley or for that matter, capped my teeth or Botoxed my frown lines leaving the perfect hint of crow's feet to crinkle when I smile so that you don't notice my eyebrows are frozen back to 1985) IÂ just might bake up a batch of these tasty crackers for Oscar night, whip up some Roasted Eggplant Tapenade and pop open a bottle of lovely Veuve Clicquot Brut.

Uh oh.

^[1]

Sounds so swanky and pseudo-chic again, I know (but really- I've no idea what the subtle variations of brut vs Champagne and mÃ©thode champenoise vs mÃ©thode traditionnelle are; I could research and report back to you, I guess, using terms like appellation and second fermentation and nose). But.

Maybe you'd rather not know. Maybe you'd rather go with the flow and focus on something tangible, something in the here and now and sitting right in front of you like- a simple cracker recipe- and take my word for it. Veuve Clicquot Brut tastes good. It's pretty tasty with crackers. Grapes. And popcorn

, for that matter. This I know.

The rest is all persuasion technique. I looked it up.

Making gluten-free crackers is easier than you think.

Gluten-Free Multi-Grain Cracker Recipe

This latest cracker recipe incarnation turned out a bit more flaky and crisp than my previous sturdier recipes ^[2]. I think the secret is in the gluten-free flour blend (I've listed the exact flours I used). And of course, baking with a good olive oil always adds flavor.

Preheat the oven to 350ÂºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment or a reusable Exopat.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients:

1/4 cup Ancient Harvest Organic Quinoa Flour
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup GF Nutritional Yeast Flakes
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon organic light brown sugar border=0

Stir in:

1 1/4 cups pecan or almond meal border=0
1 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G Foods Egg Replacer whisked with 2 tablespoons warm water
1/4 cup good olive oil
1/4 cup rice milk
1/4 cup warm water

Instructions:

Using a sturdy stand mixer border=0 (or a wooden spoon and some elbow grease), stir the ingredients until a slightly sticky dough forms. You'll be pressing the dough flat into a thin layer, so if it seems dry or it falls apart easily, add a tablespoon of warm water at a time until the dough is moist and pliable but not overly wet.

Divide the dough in half.

Using lightly oiled hands flatten and spread half the dough on the prepared baking sheet. Make as thin a layer as possible. Use the edge of a rubber spatula to help smooth and straighten outside edges. The thinner the cracker is, the crisper it will be.

Prick the dough with a fork every two inches or so and score the flattened dough into cracker sized squares or rectangles (I like to use pizza cutter border=0

to do this).

Sprinkle the top with sea salt.

Bake in the center of a preheated oven for around 23 minutes or so, or till firm and slightly crisp (they will crisp up a bit as they cool, but they should be fairly crisp- keep an eye on them so they don't brown too much).

Remove from the oven and allow the crackers to cool on a rack.

Store in an air-tight container border=0

when cool, if eating the same day. To store longer, I like to freeze gluten-free goodies and thaw before serving. [And if they happen to soften from humidity, don't fret; reheat them briefly- on a wire rack topped baking sheet- before serving.]