Seeded Oat Crackers
- 15 min prep
- 105 min
- Bake
- Serves 8
- 280 kcal
- 9.7 g protein
Rolled oats and five kinds of seeds, soaked into a gel, pressed thin and baked twice until they snap. No flour, no rolling drama, and they keep for two weeks.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (90 g) rolled oats
- ¾ cup (100 g) pumpkin seeds
- ½ cup (70 g) sunflower seeds
- ⅓ cup (50 g) whole flax seeds
- ¼ cup (40 g) chia seeds
- 3 tbsp (27 g) white sesame seeds
- 1 tsp salt, plus a pinch of flaky salt for the top
- ½ tsp ajwain or cumin seeds (optional)
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil or cold-pressed groundnut oil
- 1 tbsp (20 g) maple syrup or melted jaggery
- 1¼ cups (300 ml) warm water
Method
- 1Heat the oven to 170°C and line a large baking tray with baking paper. In an OTG, use both top and bottom rods and the middle rack.
- 2Tip the oats, all the seeds, the salt and the ajwain into a large bowl and stir so the chia and flax are spread through, not clumped.
- 3Whisk the oil, maple syrup and warm water together, pour over the dry mix and stir well. Leave it for 15 minutes; the chia and flax will turn the liquid into a thick gel that holds everything together.
- 4Stir once more, then scrape the mixture onto the tray. Lay a second sheet of baking paper on top and press it out with your palms or a rolling pin until it is 3 mm thick and even all over. Peel off the top sheet and scatter a pinch of flaky salt.
- 5Bake for 25 minutes, until the edges look dry and are starting to colour. Take the tray out and score the sheet into squares with a pizza cutter or sharp knife.
- 6Return to the oven for another 30 to 35 minutes, until the crackers are an even light gold and feel firm in the centre. If the middle still bends, give it 5 more minutes.
- 7Switch off the oven and leave the tray inside with the door ajar for 15 minutes. Cool completely on the tray, then snap along the score lines.
Notes from the Department
- Thin is everything: patches thicker than 3 mm stay chewy. Press the edges as hard as the middle.
- If a batch softens in monsoon humidity, re-crisp it at 150°C for 8 minutes.
- Swap the ajwain for 1 tsp chilli flakes and ½ tsp garlic powder for a savoury snack version.
- No chia? Use ⅓ cup (50 g) ground flax instead; it binds just as well.
Nutrition per serving
- Energy
- 280 kcal
- Protein
- 9.7 g
- Carbohydrate
- 17 g
- Fat
- 21 g
- Fibre
- 6.5 g
- Sugars
- 2.1 g
Why this works
There is no flour here, so the binder is the seeds themselves. Chia and flax release a sticky gel when they sit in warm water, and that gel glues the oats and the bigger seeds into one sheet. Baking it twice, once to set and once after scoring, drives out the moisture so each square snaps cleanly instead of bending.
Rolled oats give the crackers body and a toasty flavour, and they bring soluble fibre to a snack that usually brings nothing much at all. The pumpkin and sunflower seeds do the crunching.
Swaps
Use any mix of seeds you have, as long as the total volume stays about the same and you keep the chia or flax. Quick oats work but give a denser, flatter cracker. For a gluten-free tray, use oats labelled certified gluten-free, since regular oats are often processed alongside wheat. Jaggery melted in a spoon of the warm water replaces maple syrup without trouble.
Baking in an OTG
Small OTGs run hot at the back. Rotate the tray halfway through each bake, and if your tray will not fit the whole sheet, split the mixture across two trays and bake them one after the other. The Department of Crackers accepts slightly irregular squares.
What to serve them with
Hummus, hung curd dip, a green chutney, a slice of cheese, or crumbled over a salad for crunch. They also travel well in a tiffin, which most crackers do not.
Storage
Keep them in an airtight jar at room temperature for up to two weeks. Add a small packet of rice or a silica sachet to the jar in humid months.
Questions people ask
- Why are my oat crackers chewy instead of crisp?
- Either the sheet was pressed too thick or they came out of the oven too early. Return them to a 150°C oven for 10 minutes, then cool completely before judging. They crisp further as they cool.
- Can I make oat crackers without chia seeds?
- Yes. Replace the chia with the same volume of ground flax seeds. Something has to form the gel, so do not leave out both.
- Are these oat crackers gluten-free?
- They contain no wheat, but oats are often contaminated with wheat during processing. Use oats labelled certified gluten-free if you need the crackers to be strictly gluten-free.
Inspired by Epicurious. Method, notes and photograph by the Ministry of Oats.
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