A few weekends ago, my brother, his best friend, and I all spent a few days at my parents’ house. With both boys in graduate school and loaded down with multiple projects and reading assignments from their professors, we mainly saw them at mealtimes since they stayed holed up in the office-slash-guest-bedroom chugging through their homework.
Around noon on Sunday, the boys emerged for a quick lunch before wrapping up their homework and driving back to the college campus. After throwing together small salami and cheese sandwiches with a side of fresh fruit, they peered into the pantry for a little something more. You know how twenty-something boys can be… They always seem to be hungry!
My brother found a box of crackers, left over from a few days before when two of my dad’s friends came over for a low-key dinner party, and asked if those were fair game. When I replied that I assumed they were, the boys cracked open the box as I walked out of the kitchen.
After dinner that evening, a couple of hours after the boys took off, my dad started rummaging around the pantry for a small snack. He called out, “Has anyone seen the crackers?” and I followed him into the kitchen.
“The boys asked if they could have some…” I replied. “I thought they were just going to eat a few. Did they finish off the box?” We looked at every shelf, but the box had definitely disappeared. Whoops!!
Because I felt responsible, I decided to make it up to Dad by baking him his very own batch of these Simple Herbed Quinoa Crackers. They’re crunchy and full of Italian herb flavors, just like some of my dad’s favorite store-bought varieties, and they’re really easy to make.
And, according to both my mom and dad, even easier to eat!
Because my dad is obsessed with quinoa, I used quinoa flour as the base. Quinoa flour is exactly what it sounds like—really finely ground quinoa! It’s naturally gluten-free and has a slightly nutty, earthy flavor. You can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, as well as online.
For the dried herbs, you’ll use equal parts of basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, and sage. However, this recipe is very forgiving! If you don’t like one of them—or can’t find it in your spice rack—simply substitute more of another. Adapt the crackers to suit your tastes!
Once you’ve mixed up the dough, it’s time to roll it out. I highly recommend a silicone baking mat for this. I love and own multiple of these! They’re nonstick and dishwasher safe, so they make clean-up a breeze. And they’re what I bake all of my cookies on, too!
When you’ve rolled out the dough to just 1/16” thick, use my simple trick to quickly cut the crackers… A pizza cutter! It makes the process go much faster than with a knife, and you’ll get cleaner edges on the crackers too. Then prick the centers with a knife, sprinkle a little salt on top, pop the pan in the oven, and…
Half an hour later, grab yourself a handful of healthy, crunchy crackers! And when you do, snap a picture to share with me on Instagram with the tag #amyshealthybaking! I’d love to see them!
| Simple Herbed Quinoa Crackers | | Print |
- 1 cup (120g) quinoa flour (measured like this), plus more for rolling
- ½ tsp salt, divided
- ¼ tsp dried basil
- ¼ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp dried rosemary
- ¼ tsp dried thyme
- ¼ tsp dried sage
- 6 tbsp (90mL) warm water
- 1 tsp coconut oil, melted
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the quinoa flour, ¼ teaspoon of salt, and next five ingredients (through sage). Make a well in the center. Pour in the water and coconut oil. Mix all of the ingredients together until a dough forms.
- Lightly flour a rolling pin and silicone baking mat with quinoa flour. Transfer the dough to the mat, and roll out to 1/16” thick. Slice the dough into 1”-square pieces using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, and prick the center of each square with a fork. Sprinkle the remaining salt on top, and gently pat it down into the dough.
- Slide the mat onto a baking sheet. Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes or until the crackers are golden and crunchy. Cool the crackers completely to room temperature on the baking sheet before breaking them apart.
If you don’t have or don’t like a particular herb, simply omit it and use more of another, ensuring that you use 1 ¼ teaspoons in total. The recipe is very basic and forgiving, so add whatever combination of herbs you prefer to make the crackers suit your tastes!
Unsalted butter or olive oil may be substituted for the coconut oil.
Parchment paper may be substituted for the silicone baking mat. After slicing the dough into squares, slide that piece of parchment paper on top of a second piece of parchment paper, and slide both sheets of parchment paper onto the baking sheet to bake.
{gluten-free, vegan, clean eating, low fat, low calorie, sugar-free}
I really need to try quinoa flour because I love quinoa too! I’ve seen it in pancake recipes before, but I’ve been craving some crunchiness lately. These crackers seem like a good way to go! Hope you have a good weekend Amy <3 xoxo
I thought I was the only one who ever got cravings for crunchy things… SO glad I’m not alone! 😉 I’d love to hear what you think of the crackers if you try them Marina!
Hello again!! So I’m wondering if you’ve ever dealt with the bitterness of quinoa flour? Maybe it’s changed in the last few years, but years ago when I started in the w hole gluten free thing and tried baking bread with it, it was so incredibly bitter and entirely inedible! Ever experience this or have any suggestions to fix it??
Thx!! ?
You’re so cute with how you typed in your name Aimee!! 🙂 To me, quinoa flour has more of an earthy flavor than a bitter taste, and since these crackers are meant to be entirely savory, that flavor goes really well with the herbs. If you like the taste of regular quinoa, you should be fine with these crackers — that’s basically what they taste like! And I would imagine the taste of quinoa in a bread recipe would take a while to get used to, especially for someone like me who grew up on whole wheat + honey loaves!
I use quinoa for the proteins & like the taste. My son says that it’s way too bitter. Maybe it has some ingredient that ‘tasters’ don’t like, like brussel sprouts.
Thanks for sharing Mary Ann! 🙂
Would these work with buckwheat flour? ☺
Yes, I think the crackers should! I’d love to hear how that substitution turns out if you try it Helen! 🙂
Ah great- know what I’m doing at the weekend ?
Weekend baking is the best! 😉
Hi amy…can we use normal flour instead of quinoa flour?
Yes, that should work just fine Roberta! I can’t wait to hear what you think of the crackers!
Will let you know….due to your healthy recipes I always do them for my 6 yr old and 2 yr old….they love sweets but I know they would be eating something healthy instead of the processed one full of additives….well done Amy 🙂
Your children are so lucky to have you as their mother Roberta! 🙂 I look forward to hearing what all three of you think!
I didn’t think we could make crackers out of Quinoa but my first batch was much appreciated by my friends. For my next batch, I am thinking of making it a little more savoury.
I’m so glad you and your friends enjoyed the crackers Lauren! I actually have an herbed version of this recipe here, and I have another quinoa cracker recipe that I’ll post this upcoming Monday. I’d love to hear what you think of either of those if you try them, too!
The taste of these was not really for me, but the recipe is great. I rate it five stars because anyone that likes the taste of quinoa more than me will definitely enjoy them. One thing that may have been off in mine is that I put whole quinoa in a processor and could only make it so fine. I’m not sure if the store-bought flour is the same consistency as regular white flour, but mine was a bit grainy. Judging by the pictures above, mine were a bit off. I will definitely try this recipe again though.
Thank you so much for your honesty and your kind review Jake! The store-bought quinoa flour that I use has the same consistency as all-purpose flour; it’s very fine and powdery. That will definitely make a difference with the texture of the crackers! If you aren’t too fond of the taste of quinoa and can tolerate wheat, I have a wheat-based cracker recipe here that you may like better. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of those crackers if you try them!
I do like the taste on quinoa most times, I think it was just the consistency. I’ll definitely try the store bought flour and give it another try. Again, this recipe is a good one and I’m going to make it work for me.
Your perseverance is really inspiring Jake! I’m excited to hear how the store-bought quinoa flour turns out for you!
Best recipe site that I’ve ever found. Great photos, Clear directions. Nutrition info. Extra tips and substitutions. Kind words.
Even your fun little anecdote was delightful! My mouth is watering for these crackers before I even get cooking. I am definittely bookmarking your site, Amy. Counting squares on the photo, I’m guessing a serving size (1/4 of recipe) is about 30 crackers, right?
Thanks so much for your kind words about my site, Ross! That means a lot to me. The number of crackers in a serving will vary slightly with how thinly you roll your dough and how small you cut the crackers, so I don’t necessarily recommend counting the crackers in my picture to determine that. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear how your crackers turned out!