Fruit and Nut Crisps

By GratefulSea

See additional photos of cooking steps at http://www.simplebites.net/homemade-fruit-nut-crisps/?doing_wp_cron=1326778037

Ingredients

• Seeds:
• Crisps Base Recipe
• 1 cup organic whole-wheat flour
• 1 cup organic all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1/4 cup whole cane sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup flax seed, ground
• Suggested Add-ins:
• 1/2 cup apricots
• 1/2 cup dried figs, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
• or
• 1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup figs
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
• Zest of one orange

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, stir together the flours, baking soda, and salt. Add the buttermilk, brown sugar and honey and stir a few strokes.

Add the seeds, (pumpkin, sesame, and flax) apricots, dried figs, hazelnuts, and rosemary and stir just until blended.

Pour the batter into 1 8”x4” loaf pan and 2 mini-loaf pans that have been sprayed with nonstick spray.

Bake for about 22 minutes, until golden and springy to the touch. Remove from the pans and cool on a wire rack.

Wrap tightly and freeze slightly before slicing. OR freeze for up to two months, then partially thaw, slice and bake for fresh crackers.

The cooler the bread, the easier it is to slice really thin. I start with my loaves partially frozen.

Slice the loaves as thinly as you can and place the slices in a single layer on an ungreased cookie sheet. (Julie likes to slice and bake one loaf and pop the other in the freezer for another day.)

Preheat the oven to 300°F and bake them for about 15 minutes, then flip them over and bake for another 10 minutes, until crisp and deep golden.

Cool and store in an airtight container.
Makes about 8 dozen crackers.

Note: Because of the whole-wheat flour, these are a fairly hefty cracker. Feel free to use all-purpose flour instead of the whole wheat (for a total of 2 cups white flour)