Raw Pizza Flax Seed Crackers

I've been having cravings for crunchy things lately, and since crackers generally are not an option because I can't eat gluten, I figured it was time to unpack my dehydrator and make some flax crackers.  In honor of Vegan Pizza Day, which was this Saturday, June 30, I decided to go with a pizza flavor for the theme.

There are tons of recipes out there for flax crackers, so this is an amalgamation of several.  And really, there's not a lot of science involved, so precise measurements aren't essential, and you can just modify it based on your tastes and what you have on hand.

I was cooking for a client in the morning, so I saved my veggie trimmings:  carrot peel, zucchini ends, kale stems, etc., which I added to the mix, and I also tossed in a couple handfuls of sunflower seeds just cause I like them.  But the base was pretty much this:

Flax Crackers
2 cups flax seeds
4 cups water
1 tsp sea salt

I placed the flax seeds in a large bowl.  In my food processor I combined the water and salt with the veggie trimmings and whirred it together until everything was finely chopped.  To evoke "pizza," I added a handful of fresh basil, 2 cloves of garlic, one small yellow onion, 1/4 cup nutritional yeast, and about a tablespoon of dried Italian seasoning.  I combined all of this with the flax seeds, stirred it together, checked for seasoning, then I let it sit for about a half an hour.

The mixture is very liquidy to begin with and you'll think you did something wrong, but don't fret.  Once you let the mixture sit, the flax seeds release their gelatinous quality and everything starts to come together like a dough.

Once the mixture reaches this consistency, you can spread it on your dehydrator sheets.  Use a spatula to spread it out to about 1/4 inch thick.  This amount of "dough" fit on 3 sheets.  Then place the sheets in your dehydrator and heat at 115 degrees for about 6 hours, or until the edges start to curl and release from the sheets.  At this point, you'll need to peel off the sheet, and flip them over onto the tray to continue dehydrating the other side.  This takes another 3 hours or so.

To be honest, I'm not sure of the exact time because I was doing laundry and other housework while these "cooked" and when I was done I took a peek inside and saw that the crackers were also done.  Perfect timing!

I like breaking the sheets into rustic looking rectangles, but if you want more uniform pieces, you can use your spatula to trace lines on your batter once it's spread out on the sheets.  That way, the sheets will break evenly.  It's pretty fun either way.

I snacked on a few right away while they were still warm, then I ate some for lunch the next day with my avocado and Romaine lettuce salad.  This recipe makes a gigantic batch that will probably last one person a whole week.  They keep well stored in a sealed plastic bag or container.

Cruuuuunch and enjoy!