Nutty About Nuts and Seeds: Bernie Brennan’s Almond and Seed Crackers
I’m sorry, but I can’t think about my friend Bernie Brennan without thinking about nuts at the same time. Not only is she totally nuts herself – love ya, Bernie! – she has also developed a delightful recipe for savoury crackers using nuts and seeds. This recipe features in “Let’s Mix Again” Thermomix TM31 Cooking Classes given by Consultant Demonstrators with UK Thermomix. Bernie, our fellow Consultant Demonstrators and I organised and lead several of these courses in 2013, inspiring Thermomix owners across the United Kingdom to use their Thermomix on a daily basis. I hope Bernie’s fabulous recipe will help inspire your Thermomix cooking during this holiday season and well beyond.
Bernie Brennan’s Almond and Seed Crackers
These crackers are delightfully savoury and can be made with endless variations of nuts and seeds – especially handy when guests drop by unexpectedly and you need a quick cracker fix.The cheese melts in the oven turning the nuts and seeds along with it into a crunchy, tasty mix. In addition to being delicious, these crackers just happen to be gluten free. The little kick from the cayenne pepper is divine!
Ingredients
2 cloves garlic
120 g whole almonds or walnuts
25 g seeds (any type you like, such as Psyllium Husk Seed, Flax seed, Chia Seed, Hemp Seed or a mixture)
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp sea salt
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 sprig of fresh rosemary, leaves only
150 g firm full flavour cheese such as Pecorino, Parmesan, Grana Padano or Manchego
30 g melted coconut oil, rape seed oil or sunflower oil
1 tbsp water
Method
- Preheat your oven to 180° C/160° C fan/350° F. Peel the garlic cloves, 4 seconds/reverse blade direction/Speed 4; remove skins from bowl.
- Add all other ingredients except oil and water into the TM bowl and grind 10 seconds/Speed 10 or until you have a medium-fine mix.
- Add oil and water and mix 4 or 5 seconds/Speed 4 or until the dough just holds together.
- Empty out on to a parchment-lined baking sheet, put another piece of parchment on top and roll out as evenly as possible until about 3mm / ¼ inch thick. Remove the top sheet of parchment paper and reserve. Score the cracker mixture with a knife, marking out little squares.
- Bake at 180° C/160° C fan/350° F for 20 to 25 minutes, depending on how moist the mixture is. If the edges catch a little towards the end of cooking, cover the pan with the reserved layer of parchment. Remove from oven; transfer the crackers on the parchment to a cooling rack. When cool, break apart along the scores and enjoy.
Bernie’s original recipe calls for ½ teaspoon of sea salt but ThermoHubby John finds the crackers a bit too salty so I have reduced the amount of salt here to ¼ teaspoon. The degree of saltiness will vary according to the saltiness of the cheese you use so feel free to have a taste and adjust accordingly, or leave the added salt out altogether.
Another fellow Consultant Demonstrator, Nora Cleere who is also in Ireland, recently posted this recipe in her own delightful blog, Journal of a French Foodie and her photos show individual crackers. Nora says she flattened a walnut size portion of dough into individual silicone muffin moulds and baked for 15 minutes. I’m having guests over between Christmas and New Years so guess what I’m going to try, eh?
Bon appétit !
BREAKING NEWS:
As of 1st December 2013 I have moved to France and therefore have reluctantly retired from demonstrating Thermomix in the United Kingdom. Never fear, I am investigating demonstrating Thermomix in France and hope to manage a team of lively French demonstrators here, too. In the meantime I will continue to feed my blog – and your Thermomix cooking habits – with new and delicious Thermomix recipes for you to share.
Happy Thermomix cooking!
Bonjour Madame Thermomix et joyeux noel! I hope you’ve settled well in France, you were missed dearly at the latest CD conference. Thanks for the link to my post on Bernie’s crackers.