Lesley Stowe’s Raincoast Crisps are among my favorite foods. The size, flavor, and texture of these savory and sweet crackers is just about perfect.  If only they were gluten free for Gus….  This flies in the face of yesterday’s mantra: maybe those following a GF diet should just eat (d’Affoinois) on apple slices.  Any while that’d be tasty and good for us (as good as sexy double creme french cheese on anything can be) it’s important to feed one’s spirit. These delicious little crackers are guaranteed to brighten anyone’s day! So with more than a nod to Lesley:

Mainecoast Crisps – one little loaf makes 2 dozen crackers!

Click Here For Printable Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup (6 oz.) gluten free flour mix (yours, ours, or Trader Joe’s)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

7/8 cup buttermilk

1 tablespoon honey

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

1/8 cup sunflower seeds

1/8 cup flax seeds

1/4 cup chopped hazlenuts

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped

1/2 cup golden raisins

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly grease a mini-loaf pan with olive oil

2.  Combine in a mixing bowl the flour, baking soda, salt, and brown sugar; whisk to blend.

3.  In a 2 cup glass measure, combine the buttermilk and honey; whisk to blend.

4.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  Stir to blend.

5.  Fold in the pumpkin, sunflower, and flax seeds followed by the hazelnuts, raisins, and fresh rosemary.

6.  Spoon the batter into the prepared pan(s).  You’ll have enough to fill 4-5.

7.  Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until aromatic, golden brown, and fairly firm to the touch.

8.  Let cool for 10-15 minutes, remove from the pan(s) and cool completely before freezing for at least 15 – 20 minutes. A couple of hours or overnight is better.

9.  Slice the slightly frozen loaves as thinly as possible using a serrated knife.  Having them frozen will help the knife slice them effectively.

10. Place the slices on an ungreased baking sheet or one lined with parchment paper and bake at 300 F for 20 minutes.  Flip them and bake for another 15 minutes. Turn off the oven and let the crackers crisp up in the oven as it cools.

Store in an air-tight container.  The making is easy; the baking is a labor of love. The results are lovely. Since one little loaf will make 24 crackers, make a full recipe, store the loaves in the freezer and do the finish “toasting” the day you want to use them.

Enjoy!

Oven at 350 – spraying the pan

Measuring the buttermilk

Measuring the dry ingredients

Harvested Rosemary from the garden

Chopped fine

Collection of seeds

Adding the seeds to the dry ingredients

Adding the buttermilk and honey

In goes the Rosemary

And the raisins

Scraping down the batter

Equal portions of batter

Out of the oven

Slicing thinly

Ready to flip to the second side

Plated with fig jam and aged Cheddar