Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
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Have you had those fabulous seeded crackers from the gourmet markets? They're loaded with dried fruit, nuts and seeds. Thin and super crisp, they make a delicious nibble on their own and are also quite sensational with soft and hard cheeses, hummus and spreads of all varieties. However....they're EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE!
Even at Trader Jo's, which has wonderful gourmet products at reasonable prices, they're selling for four dollars for a small box. And at the fancy-dancy markets.... well, be prepared to spend most of ten dollars for an even smaller package.
Guess what? You can make these delightful, healthy crackers at home for a FRACTION of the commercially packaged price. And with this recipe, you can have fun mixing and matching the seeds, nuts and dried fruit to your own taste.
Fun isdefinitelywhat we had while coming up with theseSeeded California Fig & Pistachio Crisps. It all started with a wonderful package on our front steps. It arrived from sunny California loaded with beautiful dried figs and with some awesome OXO kitchen tools. The package was part of a recipe development challenge for EatWriteRetreat, a blogger's conference we'll be attending in Philadelphia in two short weeks.
If you're a regular reader here at The Café, you may be feeling like you're having deja vu, since I mentioned a similar package several weeks ago filled with California Raisins.I used them in mySweet & Spicy California Raisin Jam w/ Orange & Ginger.No, you're not dreaming, we actually received TWO of these fun packages since Scott and I will both be attendees at the conference.
The challenge was to come up with an appetizer using the "mystery" ingredient we received in our packages, this one wasCalifornia Figs. We enjoy figs, both fresh and dried here at the Café, so we were excited about the assignment. I love it that they're an all natural energy source and are fat, sodium and cholesterol free. The old brains were whirring as we tried to decide which way to go, and it seemed like we had a zillion ideas.
We finally decided on a crisp, healthy cracker that would mimic those fancy seeded gourmet delights. I got to work in, what my husband calls, "the mad scientist mode". We (I did the cooking and Scott was the taste-tester andcritiquer)tried different combinations and amounts of ingredient, varying the pan shapes as well as the baking times and temperatures.
We're super happy with the final results. Our crisps include equal amounts of all-purpose and whole wheat flour, Greek yogurt, low fat milk, brown sugar, honey, lots of healthy seeds, pistachios, golden raisins and a generous portion of the delicious California Figs. I baked them in small pans and, after cooling, sliced them super thin and popped them back in the oven for a final crisping. With the other half of the batter, I used empty tomato cans which made round-shaped crackers ...................... beautiful on a cheese or appetizer tray!
One last thing I love about this recipe; it makes a TON! ................. but you don't have to make all the crackers at one time. You can throw the whole baked loaves in the freezer and when you get the call that company's coming, pull one out, slice it thin and pop it in the oven. When the doorbell rings, the most delicious aroma will greet your guests and they'll think you ARE the gourmet market!
5 from 1 vote
California Fig and Pistachio Crisps
Delicious, copy-cat crackers for a small fraction of the cost!
Author: Chris Scheuer
Course:Appetizer
Cuisine:American
Keyword:Fig and Pistacho Crisps
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 1 hr 10 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 25 mins
Ingredients
- 1 ½cupscoarsely chopped California Dried FigsI used California Mission Figs but any kind will work
- 1cupwhole wheat flour
- 1cupall purpose flour2 tablespoons removed to coat figs, see instructions
- 2teaspoonsbaking soda
- 1 ¼teaspoonskosher salt
- ⅓cupbrown sugar
- 1cupnonfat Greek yogurt
- 1cuplow fat milk
- ¼cuphoney
- 1cupgolden raisins
- 1 ½cupsshelled pistachios
- ½cupsunflower seeds
- ¼cupchia seeds
- ¼cupsesame seeds
- ¼cupflax seed*
US Customary - Metric
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350˚F.). Spray five small bread pans generously with baking spray (for rectangle shaped crackers).
For round crackers use clean, dry, empty food cans. Number of cans will depend on size of cans. I used seven 10-ounce Rotel tomato cans. Spray cans with baking spray. Rub spray all over with a paper towel then spray again. Cans need to be very well greased to ensure easy removal of loaves.
Combine chopped figs with the 2 tablespoons flour. With your hand, toss to completely coat figs with flour. Set aside.
Whisk together Greek yogurt, milk and honey in a medium size bowl. Set aside.
Combine both flours, brown sugar, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add raisins, pistachios and all seeds. Stir to mix well.
Add Greek yogurt mixture to dry ingredients and stir until all four are incorporated. Add chopped figs and stir gently just to combine.
Divide batter between prepared pans, filling ¾ full. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center of a loaf comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in pan, then turn out onto cooling rack and cool completely. When cool, place in freezer for at least 1 hour.
When ready to complete crackers (their "second bake"), preheat oven to 250˚F and line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
Remove loaves from freezer. With a sharp knife, slice loaves as thinly as possible. Place slices on prepared sheet pans. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and quite crisp. Crisping will continue as crackers cool. When completely cool, store in an airtight container.
Recipe Notes
~ *Use milled or ground flax seed whenever possible. Whole flax seeds are not easily absorbed and therefore much of the nutritional value is lost.
~ If weather is humid and crackers loose some of their crispness, you can easily restore their deliciousness by placing in a 250˚F oven for 10 minutes.
~ Mix and match the seeds and nuts to your liking, just keep the total amount the same. Also feel free to substitue different dried fruits, really the sky's the limit to the variations that are possible here.
~ A tablespoon of chopped fresh rosemary is a delicious addition to this recipe. We wanted to let the figs shine on their own this time, but we also tried it with the rosemary and it's wonderful!
~ When you're slicing the crackers, it will be difficult to slice thin when you get to the end of the loaf. Instead of wasting the last little bit, I cut the ends up into little cubes, toast them in a separate pan as the crackers bake and voila! Delicious croutons that will jazz up the simplest salad!
~ If you're tired of granola, these are wonderful for breakfast with fresh fruit and yogurt!
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Patti Caruso says
Can these be made keto? How much almond or coconut flour would I substitute, any extra wet ingredients needed?
Thanks
PattiReply
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Patti, I have tested this recipe with GF all-purpose flour and it works well. I haven't tried it with almond or coconut flour so I can't say for sure.
Reply
Geeta says
Please send me the pdf for the labels
Reply
Lindsay @ The Café Sucre Farine says
Hi Geeta, we do not have a label for these at this time.
Reply
Anna maria says
I would like to know what you mean by “a cup”? What weight in gr could it correspond to?
Many thanks for your kind reply
AmaReply
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Anna Maria, here in the US, we use cups, teaspoons, tablespoons, etc for measuring. But for our European and Australian/New Zealand readers we have a conversion button. If you look right above the word "Instructions" in the recipe card, you'll see an option to convert to Metric measuring.
Reply
Gabriel says
Die Fotos sehen großartig, bitte das Rezept auch mit Gramm Angaben teilen.
Viele Grüße sendet,
GabrielReply
Chris Scheuer says
Hallo Gabriel, ich habe die Konvertierung durchgeführt. Genießen!
Reply
Maristela says
This is a beautiful recipe! I’ve made this for friends and they loved it. The lovely part is that you don’t have to have the exact seeds you can substitute any of the seeds. Since I use dried figs to make a fig balsamic reduction I am left with the figs from the reduction so I chopped them up and add them to this recipe. Thank you for sharing!
Reply
Lindsay @ The Café Sucre Farine says
Awesome! Thanks for your review, Maristela!
Reply
Liza says
Hi! Thank you very much for recipe! I have made them and they turned out perfect. Also ,used sour dry cherries, hemp seeds instead of sesame.
Reply
Lindsay @ The Café Sucre Farine says
Wonderful! Thanks for letting us know, Liz.
Reply
Susie says
Chris, I only have full fat yoghurt and whole milk. No chia seeds. Would this affect the outcome or just the calories? Thanks, Susie
Reply
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Susie, full-fat yogurt or whole milk will work fine! You can sub a little extra of one of the other ingredients for the chia seeds. This recipe is very forgiving!
Reply
Kathy says
Would love to add these to a gift basket with some nice cheese. Please send me the pdf for the labels🙏🏻
Thanks, KathyReply
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Kathy, we do not have labels for this recipe at this time.
Reply
Helen says
This may sound silly - I hope not- the soup cans…do you cut only one end off and fill to 3/4, the bake upright in the oven?
Reply
Chris Scheuer says
Not silly at all, Hellen, good question and I'm sorry if that wasn't clear.
Yes, open the top, empty the contents, wash out the cans thoroughly and dry. Then fill ¾ full and bake!
Hope you enjoy the crackers!Reply
Chantrey says
I just wanted to check on the instructions for the second bake. I am assuming you bake at the same temperature as the original bake at 350?
Also wanted to check if the 40-45 minutes second bake time is correct. It seems long. I made your rosemary crackers (which were delicious!) and the second bake time was significantly less. I am going to use your second bake instructions from the rosemary crackers for these as well. I would just hate to see others over bake these if the time is not accurate. Thanks for the recipe, I can’t wait until they come out of the oven.Reply
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Chantrey, so happy you enjoyed the rosemary crackers!
Regarding your question, if you look at the recipe, in step 8, it says to reduce the temperature to 250˚F.
Hope that helps!Reply
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