The ratio for this recipe for Parmesan crackers and croutons is so simple: equal amounts of almond flour and Parmesan, a bit of salt, a bit of water to hold it together (no egg needed), and any seasonings you prefer.
I created this recipe as a crouton for salads, and it turns out it’s great as a snack or in soups too. It is closely related to my Parmesan cracker recipe, except that I score it differently and add garlic powder.
Careful with these. They’re easy to munch on. I keep them concealed until ready to serve or eat.
Some other flours will work, such as buckwheat, and grain-based flours. But not coconut, as we found out in the comments.
Parmesan Croutons & Crackers
Servings: 24 crackers
Calories: 67kcal
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1.5 cups almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme optional
- 3 tablespoons cold water to hold the dough together
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Pulse all the ingredients (except for the water) together in a food processor or blender.
- Add the cold water to the dough, a bit at a time, until the mixture is holding together well enough to work into a ball or two.
- Separate into two balls of dough, and place each ball on a Silpat, parchment paper, or other non-stick surface (which you will transfer to a baking sheet). You can roll it all on one sheet, but I find it easy to do it on two sheets. And two sheets bake more evenly.
- Roll each dough ball out until flat and about 1/8 to 1/4 inch in thickness.
- Using a pizza cutter or knife, score the dough into squares, so you have squares that are the size of croutons (the size you like, that is).
- Bake for 25 minutes, or until croutons are browned. The darker, the crunchier.
Nutrition
Calories: 67kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 6mg | Sodium: 96mg | Potassium: 8mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 54IU | Calcium: 84mg | Iron: 1mg
This is for you who want to try coconut flour. You CANNOT make a straight swap – Instead of 2 1/2 cup almond flour use 6 1/2 TABLESPOONS coconut flour. It is also advisable to add some psyllium husk (around 3 tablespoons here) and if you have it, some Oat Fiber (not oatmeal and not oat bran; the oat fiber is pure fiber), just over 1/2 cup. I have only found Oat Fiber at Netrition.com – no, I’m not affilitated :0) The fiber husk will bind the coconut flour as there are no eggs in the recipe. Coconut flour needs a binding agent (usually a lot of eggs), not just a liquid which will just produce a crumbly mess.
These also made into the list of my top 8 favorite healthy snack recipes. You have a gift! I start to salivate even thinking about these 🙂
http://expectgreatthings.hubpages.com/hub/Sugar-Free-Grain-Free-Snacks-Even-Your-Children-Will-Eat-Homemade
These instructions might work with a food processor, but they didn’t work with my blender at ALL. There was no way to pulse because of the density of the almond flour, so the cheese didn’t get mixed in. I dumped it all into a bowl and mixed it by hand, which was really easy, so I’d just skip the blender if that’s all you have available. These crackers are delicious- my whole family loves them!
Yes, you can easily mix the ingredients by hand.
Yes, you can easily mix the ingredients by hand. I guess you’d need a high-speed blender.
I LOVED these! I finally got around to making them. 🙂 I have been GF for months now and anything crunchy is treat; however, I would actually go so far as to say that these are the best crackers I’ve ever eaten in my life. I omitted salt (due to the parmesan salt content) added some rosemary, onion powder, and garlic powder.
Just an FYI on freshness: I made half a batch and placed some into individual ziploc baggies and they kept for 3 days in my snack draw without me becoming concerned as to their freshness. I think they could’ve lasted longer, however they were way too delicious to keep around that long! I am going to make a full batch tonight and see if I can make them last up to five days. I think the salt in the parmesan must preserve them, providing they remained sealed in airtight bags.
For those interested, I also did some calculations and (6) of the 1×1 inch crackers roughly equal out to about 200 calories a serving and only around 7 carbs per serving, based upon the nutritional info I found for parmesan and almond flour. I can’t remember the protein, but they are very filling!
Yay! These look great! Question for you – do you have any idea how long they will safely store at room temp in an airtight container? At least 3 days, perhaps?
(I suspect room temp is better than refrigeration for crackers) I might just make 1/2 the batch as it is just me and I don’t want to feel compelled to eat too many! 😉
Thanks! <3
A few days is what I’ve experienced. Although you have me thinking that they probably should be refrigerated since the cheese is perishable.
I have used another almond flour cracker recipe and have put the crackers in the freezer and they do really well that way. Hope this helps.
These are totally fabulous. My 9 year old said they taste just like the popular name brand of cheese crackers. Thank you so much!
It looks absolutely yummy, I am going to make tonight!!!!
I thought for anyone reading this, they might like to know before they try coconut flour… it’s not a suitable swap. 😉
I’m looking forward to trying these again when my blanched almond flour arrives. Thanks again for so many great recipes, Erica! I’m enjoying trying them out.
Yikes. Sorry Dana. I haven’t tried them with coconut flour, but you’re right. It’s a different ingredient altogether.
This recipe is safe with most grain-based flours (like wheat) and I know buckwheat will work, but not coconut flour. Thanks for letting us know.
I tried these tonight with coconut flour (because I don’t have any almond flour on-hand) and I’m sad to say, they are a total flop. It took nearly 2 1/2 CUPS of water to make a dough (because of the coconut flour) and I couldn’t get them to roll out – so I pressed them onto a non-stick cookie sheet and scored them with my pizza cutter. I bake them, and they are SO dry. It’s the coconut flour, I’m sure. I’m going to order some almond flour and try them again because they look SO yummy!
Thanks for the great recipes, I’m really enjoying your blog!
Cheers,
Dana
Ah, these look wonderful! Can’t wait to try them out.
No salad is complete without croutons! At least it’s that way for me! These would look great in a
Caesar Salad! Thanks for sharing!
~Sophia
these look beautiful!!