Remember the chia seed crackers that we ate at Chocolatree Café just before hiking up 0.6 miles of rocky mountainside?
ƒHere they are in all their glory.
We kicked some major mountain booty that day and I’d like to think the chia seed crackers had something to do with it. After all, the Aztecs and Mayans used chia seeds (known as a “running food”) for hundreds of years to fuel their long journeys!
As soon as I got home, I knew I had to bust out a version of these in my own kitchen. I was “running” on 3 hours of sleep thanks to a 4am wake-up call and the chocolate I was inhaling wasn’t making me feel any better. The chia crackers came to my rescue!
Endurance Crackers
Yield
22 large crackers
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
These Endurance Crackers are extremely light, healthy, and crispy while providing long-lasting energy. I love serving them with hummus (obviously) or smashed avocado and sea salt. Feel free to change up the seasonings and spices as you wish. These crackers are inspired by the ChcolaTree Organic Oasis in Sedona.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chia seeds
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/2 cup pepita seeds (or pumpkin seeds)
- 1/2 cup sesame seeds
- 1 cup (250 mL) water
- 1 large garlic clove, finely grated on a Microplane
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 300ºF (150°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the chia seeds, sunflower seeds, pepita seeds, and sesame seeds.
- Add the water, garlic, and salt. Stir with a spatula until combined. Allow the mixture to sit for a couple of minutes until the chia seeds absorb the water. After the 2-minute rest, when you stir the mixture, you shouldn’t see a pool of water on the bottom of the bowl.
- With the spatula (and a hand, if necessary), spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet in two small rectangles, about 12x7 inches each and 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle additional salt on top.
- Bake for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully flip each rectangle with a spatula. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes more, until lightly golden around the edges. Watch closely near the end to make sure they don’t burn. Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes on the pan and then break the rectangles into crackers and let cool completely on the pan. Store in an airtight container or jar on the counter for up to 2 weeks. You can also freeze the crackers in freezer bags for up to 1 month.
Tip:
- * If the crackers soften while storing (this can happen in humid environments), toast them in the oven on a baking sheet at 300ºF (150°C) for 5 to 7 minutes. After cooling, this should return them to their former crispness!
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
As I reached for my garlic powder, I thought why not use fresh garlic instead? My mom recently shared a trick with me for mincing garlic: just use a fine grater instead of chopping it. I used my Microplane and it was the perfect consistency for these crackers. Just be careful you don’t saw off the end of your nail like I almost did.
10 seconds flat for fresh garlic!
After grating, I whisked the garlic in a glass with the water (note: I ended up using a full cup of water instead of the 1/2 cup shown here).
Pour the water mixture into the seed mixture and stir well. It will be thick and gel-like in consistency.
Now season as you wish.
I used a mixture of Herbamare, kelp granules, and kosher salt for maximum flavour, but you can really play around with the seasonings any way you like! Add some spices too if you wish. Taste and adjust if necessary.
This picture hates me, clearly.
Spread onto your baking sheet lined with parchment (or a non-stick mat, but you will have to bake them a bit longer). You want to spread the mixture as thin as possible.
After baking for 30 minutes at 300F, remove from the oven and slice crackers with a pizza slicer.
I did a large diamond shape. You can do any size and shape you want, depending on how much ninja power you are looking for!
With a spatula, carefully flip the crackers and bake for another 30 minutes until toasty and golden on the bottom. Mmm.
My new favourite cracker, easily.
Not only are they vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, soy-free, nut-free, and sugar free, but they can be made raw if you dehydrate them.
After cooling, they are crispy, chewy, and basically mind blowing ninja fuel perfect for dipping into hummus. Eric said they taste better than the ones at Chocolatree, but he may be biased. I couldn’t get over how light and crispy they are!
The question is: Whose butt do you want to kick this week?
Your boss, tough assignment, killer workout, or midterm exam?
Go make a list of things to butt kick.
Eat these crackers.
Kick some butt, ninja style.
It’s like bird food, but waaaaay better.
Do you ever see a tired bird?
I rest my case.
~~
Many of you ask where you can buy chia seeds. If you are looking for an online retailer in the US, try www.chiaseedsdirect.com. I’ve found both of these businesses to have very competitive prices. You can also purchase chia seeds from bulk food stores like Bulk Barn here in Canada or in natural food stores! Update: More readers also told me Costco sells them (in the supplement section) and even Winners and Homesense! Who knew?
I will definitely try this! Thanks for the recipe! What else would anyone recommend in place of the sesame seeds? Thanks!
hemp seed? flax?
cool! yeah! I’ll try hemp :)) Thanks, Angela!
Yum! I just made these last night to bring to work with me this week. I just dug into them with your homemade hummus for a snack at work and wow! Love these crackers! I made them so they are nice and crunchy. Thanks for a great recipe.
These are delicious! Making a second batch now because I know they are going to go fast! Thinking next time I’d like to try putting a little bit of nooch in the mix. Maybe it’d give it a hint of cheesy taste. I’ll let you know how it comes out.
By the way I doubled the recipe and used 1/2 cup sesame seeds and 1/2 cup flax because I ran low on the sesame and it came out great.
Thats great Jess! Let me know how the nooch is
I have these in the oven right now! I can’t eat garlic or onion so just salt and pepper as seasoning. I may have sneaked a little nibble when I turned them over… It’s taking all my resolve not to pull them out and eat the lot now! Divine. If these are good I’m going to experiment with LSA. I have tonnes of it in my pantry….
I’m not sure if it’s been mentioned before, but if anyone is looking for an online bulk foods store (in the U.S.), this place has EVERYTHING! www.nuts.com
Sweet! I can’t wait to make these.
I made two batches the other day – one as the recipe details and the second I added a tablespoon of cocoa powder, some unsweetened shredded coconut, and a some instant coffee. Both turned out very good. My only question is that a couple days later they are not as crisp – I have them packaged in ziploc bags. To help them stay crisp, I’ve put them in the freezer – they’re just a bit “bendy” right now. Any suggestions? Maybe I didn’t let them cool long enough – they felt cool when I packaged them. Thanks for the great recipe. Good-bye rice cakes – hello endurance crackers!
cheers,
vicki
These were great Angela! I made a few changes like replacing half of the sesame seeds with flax seeds and some of the water with apple cider vinegar so I could avoid adding salt. I will be making these all the time! Thanks for always posting such great vegan recipes :-)
What’s the consistency like on these? Do they hold up? I’ve been playing around with chia/seed/nut cracker recipes and they always crumble but I think I’m almost there…. gah! these look delish tho
I am finding these a little addictive. Since I use hummus as a topping to up my veggie intake, I am eating them mostly with avocado mashed with ev olive oil. Yum!
Thank you for another amazing recipe–can’t wait for the cookbook. :)
Just made these for the first time! They came out fantastic! I am shocked at how easy and tasty these little powerhouses are! Thanks for sharing.
I make these every week now.
Could I substitute the sesame seeds with tahini?
I stumbled across your blog, and WOW, these crackers look AMAZING!!! I’ve got some chia seeds that need a-usin’ so I’m definitely going to try this out. Fantastic! All of your other recipes look great too. Cheers!
So I was super excited to see these when you first posted, and was waiting for chia seeds I’d ordered online (later found with vitamins at my local Walgreens!) – and once i got to make a batch they came out so great and my whole family loves them. That means my vegan scoffing husband and two year old daughter. They pass the test of good, not just healthy good. Thank you.
For our current family trip to Disney, I brought a batch of your original recipe and a batch with cinnamon (1t), cocoa powder (1T), dash of nutmeg, and 1/4 cup of maple syrup replacing that amount of the water. They are SO good. I was really happy we had healthy, homemade snacks in the park.
So glad to hear that Megan! I made a sweet version similar to that and loved it. I can’t wait to play around with it more.
I substituted chia seeds with basil seeds when I made these. I can’t find chia anywhere in India =( But basil seeds seem to have pretty much the same properties and they even look similar, though i can’t seem find nutritional stats anywhere! These turned out to be fabulous =D though mine looked a bit ‘shape-ly challenged’ because i couldn’t cut them properly.
This recipe is awesome. I was skeptical of whether they’d hold.
I made them and they are too perfect. Thank you so much!!!!
I just want to warn people NOT to make these without chia seeds!! The bulk bin at Whole Foods was out of chia seeds so I tried subbing flax seeds and it does not work. The chia seeds are necessary to absorb the water and create a cracker. Mine came out like crumbs. I have made these before with chia seeds and they were awesome!
that is so good to know, thank you. And Im so sorry that the flax didnt work out for you!
Terrific recipe. I tried them as you suggested, though I used a dehydrator rather than an oven. Mine has 9 shelves, so I can make a fair amount at a time. Given how good they are, there’s no problem in having them go stale. I think the lower temperatures of the dehydrator (about 125 degrees) are likely a bit closer to their raw state.
Since the recipe is basically dehydrating all the liquid, I measure the dry ingredients and then keep adding a sufficient amount of warm water to make the chia seeds into a slurry that holds everything together. My dehydrator has parchment sheets that hold the wet mixture initially. After about 2 hours, I take them out, and turn them over onto mesh screens for more thorough drying. I used to leave the cracker sheets in one piece, but the resulting pieces after drying were jagged fragments. If you want the final crackers to be squares, it helps to cut them up when they’re still slightly soft (about another hour into the drying process after flipping them over). It sounds labor intensive, but it only takes a minute or two.
I’ve also experimented with a few recipe variations:
1. The original recipe above, if you like garlic and onions. I do, but the rest of my family finds it a bit strong.
1. Original recipe, minus the garlic and onions, and substitute soy sauce for part of the liquid. Handy if you like salty items.
3. Original recipe, minus the garlic and onions, along with a cup or two of chopped raisins (put through a food processor). This has been a favorite with everyone whose tried them.
If anyone has a recipe variation, I’d be glad to hear them.
Wow thank you for all the wonderful info!! So great to know. I will have to dig out my dehydrator and try them this way :)