Don't Crack Up

After nagging my husband for over a year that I wanted a dehydrator for a birthday or Christmas gift, he finally bought me one!  I've been intimated to use it as I've never seen one in action before.  I managed to get up the courage to unbox it and give it a test drive and made crackers.

Let me say this is not a quick process!  Not only do the crackers take a long time to dehydrate, there's soaking involved prior to that.  Even so, the outcome was well worth the patience.

My dehydrator has four shelves and I purchased two nonstick mats on the advice of someone who works in a raw food restaurant and said that would be fine for home use given the yield of most recipes.  Well, thank goodness I didn't take this advice.  I halved the recipe as I didn't want to waste the ingredients if it didn't turn out well.  And good thing I did!  Half the recipe was exactly the right amount for spreading on two nonstick mats, and then after the initial dehydrating when you peel the cracker mixture from the mats and break into crackers to then put back in the dehydrator, by the time I spread them out they required all four racks!

My only word of caution is they don't freeze well.  I held some of the crackers back and froze them, but once thawed I thought they lost flavour and didn't retain their original dryness.  Not that they were soggy, but they definitely seemed to take on a type of dampness.

Regardless of the above rant, I will make these again and venture to make other crackers too.  They were absolutely delicious, had tons of flavour, and were nutrient dense.  You can't eat a lot of these -- not because they aren't enjoyable -- but because you feel satisfied.  My good friend said she loved them, wasn't put off by the amount of time involved, and can't wait to make them herself once she buys a 'humidifier'!

Sunny Flax Crackers
(Enlightened Eating, Caroline Marie Dupont)
The recipe below is for half the amount called for in the original recipe.
1 cup sunflower seeds, soaked 4 hours and rinsed
1 cup flax seeds, soaked 2 hours in 1 cup of water
1 garlic clove
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 heaping teaspoon dried basil
1/2 heaping teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 heaping teaspoon dried thyme

Process sunflower seeds, half of the flax seeds, and garlic in a food processor.  Transfer to a bowl and add the remaining ingredients.

Spread mixture 1/4 inch thick on dehydrator trays lined with non-stick sheets.  Wet hands to help in spreading. (I actually spread the mixture even thinner).

Dehydrate at 110F for 10 to 12 hours until almost dry.  Peel off the nonstick sheets, cut into desired cracker shapes, and return to dehydrator (without nonstick sheets) and dehydrate until crispy (2 to 4 hours)

Note: After the initial dehydration, the crackers will appear dry on the top, but still be moist underneath.  It's when you return the crackers to dehydrate further that the underneath will dry and crisp up.  The word "crisp" is used loosely here.  Don't think it's going to get to the same level of crispness that you're used to with store-bought crackers.