Monday, April 24, 2017

Sweet Potato Crackers

These deliciously crisp crackers are 100% gluten free and vegan, with the goodness of sweet potato too!

Sweet Potato Crackers

A throwback to the dieting days of my teens is the die-hard "knowledge" that dry snacks (read: chips, crackers, rice cakes) were bad and dehydrating, and never slaked your hunger. Lucky for me, I guess, that I never really liked those things anyways - notable exceptions being for Triscuits after school and saltines when I was too sick to eat anything else. Crackers and potato chips just felt like a non-filling waste of time (and calories) when I could just as easily smear some Nutella or peanut butter on a slice of bread and make a fold-over sandwich.

However, I know I'm in a relative minority. I look at my grade 4-6 class, for example, and spot baggies of microwave popcorn, chips, Bugles and Goldfish in over half the lunchboxes. While a good third of the class will ignore the morning snack option most days, if crackers and dip are on offer? Gone in a flash. Since my mom is in the same camp, and everyone loves sweet potatoes, when I saw this recipe on Frugal Farm Wife it seemed like a perfect mixture of favourites!

By making my flour blend with sorghum and chickpea flour, these crackers had a hefty dose of protein and B vitamins injected into their makeup. This not only helped out the nutritional profile, but improved the texture by helping the dough stick together a bit more and prevent the "sawdust" mouthfeel of so many GF baked foods.

The original recipe's author said these reminded her of Wheat Thins. I've never liked Wheat Thins, which is great - because these tasted nothing like the cardboardy, weirdly salty snacks I grew up with. If you're a fan of sweet potato fries, though - this is in your wheelhouse. A less greasy, crunchier sweet potato treat, true, but the nuances are there. I liked them plain personally (but I don't like "stuff" on each other in general) but I can imagine they'd be good with a cream cheese type of dip or even guacamole. No sweet potato (or you hate it / are allergic to it)? Use an equal measure of  pumpkin or any other winter squash. Heck, even pureed carrots would likely work! Let me know if you try those substitutions so I can update the recipe!

Sweet Potato Crackers
Serves 8
½ cup sorghum flour
½ cup brown rice flour
¼ cup chickpea flour
⅓ cup potato starch
2 tbsp psyllium husk fibre
½ tsp guar gum
2 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp paprika
3 tbsp solid coconut oil or non-hydrogenated shortening
1 cup cold sweet potato puree
  1. In a bowl, combine flours, starch, psyllium, guar gum, baking powder, salt and paprika until well blended.
  2. Cut in coconut oil or shortening until coarse crumbs form, then add the sweet potato and mix well to form a workable, not sticky, dough.
  3. Divide in half, cover and chill 10 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, heat oven to 400ºF
  5. Roll one half of the dough out on a sheet of parchment paper or SilPat liner until it’s about ⅛” thick.
  6. Prick with a fork (or a rolling pastry docker if you have one!) every inch or so, then cut into squares with a bench scraper or pizza cutter.
  7. Slide parchment onto a cookie sheet.
  8. Repeat with remaining dough.
  9. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 10-15 minutes, until the edges are just beginning to brown.
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 184.5
Total Fat: 6.0 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 11.6 mg
Total Carbs: 29.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 4.5 g
Protein: 2.9 g

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