A grain-free take on the Swedish crispbread Knäckebröd. These paleo crackers are crispy, crunchy, and delicious with all your favorite cracker accoutrements. Effortless to make and imminently customizable. Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, nut-free, and paleo-friendly. Thanks to Bob's Red Mill for sponsoring this post!
I'm going on month 8 of an interesting elimination diet that I started earlier this year for health reasons. Among the things I had to cut out of my diet were eggs, almonds, yeast, grains, and dairy. This meant I couldn't have bread of any kind – even most grain-free breads rely on eggs and almond flour.
My most insatiable craving during this time was avocado toast. Pre-elimination diet, I regularly made it using a thick slice of gluten-free sourdough toasted in a skillet with ghee, and chunks of firm-ripe avocado folded with lemon juice, olive oil, and salt until it formed a chunky emulsion. I could not stop thinking about it.
Swedish Crackers to the Rescue
Then one happy day, my dear friend Mia, who's half Swedish, sent me a recipe for the traditional crispbread called Knäckebröd, a crunchy rustic cracker made with loads of seeds bound together with flour, water, salt, and oil. Mia said, "We eat knäckebröd on a daily basis. For Swedes it’s our crack! It’s traditionally made with rye flour. So good!"
Mia's recipe called for buckwheat or spelt flour, but I decided to try making it with cassava flour realizing that if it turned out, I'd *actually* be able to eat it.
It worked like a charm. And when I piled a rustic grain-free cracker with avocados, pickled onion, cucumber, and dill, I practically wept with relief.
Cassava Flour Crackers = Sneakily Grain-Free Crackers
Bob's Red Mill Cassava flour has been my savior during this strange year. With it, I've made all sorts of goodies to satisfy my sweet tooth: paleo cookies, zucchini bread, chocolate tart, cobbler, banana bread, pie crust, and loads more recipes that are in the works!
Cassava flour comes from a tuber and is commonly used in cuisines of South America, Asia, and Africa. It's grain-free, but it actually resembles glutenous flour more than many gluten-free grain flours thanks to its starchy, sticky quality and mild taste. Cassava flour is also prebiotic, meaning it makes a happy environment for good gut bacteria to flourish. What's not to love?
For these paleo crackers, I swapped cassava flour in for the traditional flours used for knäckebröd – rye or buckwheat – and it only needed a little extra water to help the dough come together.
These paleo crackers are indistinguishable from their gluteny counterpart. They also happen to be vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and nut-free.
Ingredients
- This paleo cracker recipe starts with cassava flour from Bob's Red Mill. Look for cassava flour with other alternative flours at your grocer, or order it directly from Bob's. If you don't have cassava flour, you can make these crackers gluten-free with buckwheat or corn flour. Or try a more traditional version with rye flour or another glutenous flour such as spelt or barley.
- A mix of seeds make these deliciously flavorful, crisp, and nutritious. The classic version uses equal amounts of sesame, flax, and sunflower seeds. But you could try using just one type of seed, or experiment with other mild seeds such as pumpkin, black sesame, poppy, or chia.
- A little bit of olive oil adds richness and some savory flavor, but other oils could easily stand in.
- Water brings the dough together and salt adds flavor.
How to Make Paleo Crackers with Cassava Flour: step-by-step photos
How to enjoy the best paleo crackers:
- Treat them like toast or a bagel and top with avocado, cucumber, dill, pickled onion, and lox.
- Serve them with an assortment of your favorite cheeses – plant-based or dairy.
- Top with goat cheese and fruit preserves, or PBJ.
- Use them to scoop up tofu salad, egg salad, or tuna salad.
- Serve to the side of a bowl of soup or a big salad.
More things to dip cassava crackers in:
- Lentil Walnut Vegan Pate
- Baba Ganouj (aka Baba Ganoush)
- Lemon Artichoke Hummus
- Smashed White Bean Salad
- Paleo Vegan Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Dip
- Summer Vegetable Caponata
A Vegan Cheeseboard with Gluten-Free Crackers
Dress these healthy paleo crackers up with a seasonal cheeseboard (vegan if you like!) Here's what I put on mine for early fall:
- fresh figs & grapes
- carrot sticks and bell peppers
- vegan feta topped with olive oil and za'atar
- Miyoko's sundried tomato cheese wheel
- honeycomb & toasted pecans
- beet & walnut dip
More cassava flour recipes:
- Paleo Vegan Banana Bread
- Paleo Vegan Fruit Cobbler
- Vegan Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Paleo Vegan Zucchini Bread
- Grain-Free Pie Crust (in the variations)
- Grain-Free Chocolate Tart
More cracker & flatbread recipes:
*Bojon appétit! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest, purchase my gluten-free cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make this paleo cracker recipe, I’d love to see. Tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.*
Rustic Paleo Crackers with Cassava Flour & Seeds
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 1 cup (160 g) cassava flour (or buckwheat, rye, or corn flour for traditional, non-paleo version)
- ½ cup (85 g) flax seeds
- ½ cup (70 g) sesame seeds
- ½ cup (60 g) sunflower seeds
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons (265 ml) boiling water (reduce to 1 cup if using a flour other than cassava)
- ¼ cup (55 g) olive oil, plus 2 tablespoons for brushing
- flaky salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 300ºF.
- Stir together the flour, seeds, and salt in a large bowl.
- Add the olive oil and water, stir to combine. Let sit 10 minutes, then knead with your hands in the bowl into a smooth ball. Divide in two.
- Roll one piece of dough between two pieces of parchment paper into a large, thin sheet that’s about the size of a baking sheet. If the dough cracks or tears, just squish it back together. You can trim away the wonky edges, stick them into the corners, and continue rolling to make a rectangle. Repeat with the other piece of dough.
- Brush the dough all over with olive oil and sprinkle with flaky salt.
- Bake the crackers until light golden, about 40-50 minutes (check at 15 minutes if using a different flour as some bake much faster than others).
- Let the crackers cool, then break them into 2 to 3-inch pieces. If the crackers aren’t crisp enough after cooling, just return them to the oven for another 10 minutes or so.
- Store the crackers airtight for up to a week or two… if you can make them last that long!
Notes
-minced fresh rosemary
-everything bagel seasoning
-1 teaspoon cumin or fennel seed
-oregano
-garlic and/or onion powder
-nigella seed
-flavorful oil, such as walnut or toasted sesame
-chile flakes, Aleppo pepper, or togarashi
-nutritional yeast Nutrition values are for 1 of 40 crackers.
Nutrition
jillian says
Thank you for this recipe, I am making it today. Just ordered your book...am having to be a lot more careful with flours/grains/dairy due to some digestive issues. So helpful.
Alanna says
Hi Jillian, thanks so much for getting my book - I hope you love it! I'm sorry you're suffering from digestive issues - welcome to the club, lol! My book is heavy on the grains and dairy, so LMK if you'd like substitution suggestions for any of the recipes when it arrives and I'd be happy to help. Hope you feel better soon.
Carol says
Hi Alanna,
These look delicious, love anything with seeds in them.
Can you tell me if I am right in my calculations, is the boiling water equivalent to 270mls, I am from Australia so our cup measurement is different to USA.
Hope you are staying safe.
Thanks Carol.
Alanna says
Yes, I'm sorry about that - I've updated the recipe! Please let me know if you give these a go. Hope you're staying safe too!
Carolyn says
Hi Alanna,
I'm making these now with buckwheat flour. It's a dark flour so I can't judge doneness by a golden color and have no experience of baking crackers. Any suggestions?
I'm so pleased to find this gf cracker recipe and look forward to experimenting with all kinds of seeds.
Thanks.
Alanna says
Hi Carolyn! Hm, that's a good point about the buckwheat flour. What did you end up doing?
Janet says
is there a reason I should not eat the entire batch by myself the minute they cool down because omg they are so delicious.
Alanna says
The only reason would be to save some for when I come over and we eat them together with homemade ricotta and preserves and wash it down with homebrew booch.
Madonna says
Hi Alanna,
These look delish! Wondering if they are baked on the parchment or straight on the baking sheet. If on the sheet, do you coat it with oil.
Thx
Madonna
Alanna says
Yes I use parchment to bake them!
Madonna says
These turned out just as great as they look! Thank you for sharing!
Lydia says
I have IBS, and so I have to buy a particular brand of crackers at the grocery store that cost anywhere from $3-4 a box for a few servings:( I was excited to try out cassava flour since I have always heard good things, and I was pumped to find this recipe. The crackers turned out to be scrumptious, and are so much more cost effective than buying them at the store. Thank you for this recipe! I will definitely be making more.
Alanna says
I'm *so* glad you enjoyed these! Thanks a bunch for the sweet note. :)
BakernBerner says
Super yummy and crunchy. And easy! Made with poppy, sesame, chia and sunflower seeds. Added nutritional yeast after baking to half the batch. Took much longer to get crispy than expected; and I do have an separate oven thermometer. Maybe humid climate. Will definitely make lots more with different flavors.
Alanna says
Mmm that seed combo sounds DIVINE, as does nutritional yeast. I must try that next time! Let me know what other variations you try.
I'm always surprised by how long these take to crisp up too. You did the right thing leaving them in as long as they needed!
Bakernberner says
I just made them again (same seed mixture as my last batch) and rolled them thinner and they cooked much faster! I left in oven again until nearly cool. I made half with nutritional yeast sprinkled on top prior to cooking plus chili flakes. Super yummy! Thanks again.
Laura B says
This is the second time I've made these fabulous crackers. The recipe is highly adaptable in terms of subbing seeds. The first time I made them I didn't have any whole flax seeds so I used flax meal. They turned out so crispy and flavorful! I skipped the salt on top and instead topped them with a sprinkle of TJ's Everything But The Bagel seasoning, which has salt in it. This time I had only half the amount of sesame seeds so I used chia seeds instead. So crispy and delicious once again! THANK YOU for a recipe I can finally tolerate and one that is easy to make and tasty!
Alanna says
I'm so glad you're enjoying the recipe Laura! I love the sound of using flax meal in place of the seeds - I'm going to try that next time! Chia sounds perfect here too, and everything sprinkle - YUM. Definitely trying that!
Trish says
Hi Alanna! Was wondering if I might use a combination of cassava flour and buckwheat? I have several bags of buckwheat and would love to put some of it to use. If so, should I adjust the amount of water too? Thanks for your thoughts - love your recipes and can’t wait to try this one!
Alanna says
That sounds delicious! I *think* cassava might be slightly more absorbent than buckwheat flour, so you could decrease the water by 1 tablespoon if you use equal parts of those flours. You can add more water if needed to get the consistency shown in the photos. Please let me know they turn out!
Joy says
Hello! I have made these crackers at least a dozen times now! My hubby and I absolutely love them! We can't get enough of them and can't wait (due to COVID19 restrictions) to share them with friends! I made ours with chia, sesame, sunflower and pepito seeds and a little bit of black pepper.
Thank you for sharing this recipe, best cracker around!
Lorna Poole says
The first time I made them I followed the measurements to the letter and they were difficult to roll out. Maybe Otto's cassava is more absorbent than Bob's? It was a bit of a workout to get them thin. During subsequent attempts, I have upped the water considerably (as much as 1.5 cups) to make a pliable (play doh like) consistency which makes them easy to roll out very thin. Baking time is only a little longer so, totally worth it.
I added a generous heap of nutritional yeast to the recipe for a bit of umami. I've also made them with finely chopped pecans and raisins to give them a little dimension. If the raisins aren't finely chopped, they plump up when cooking and burn a bit so, I make sure they are well chopped and incorporated.
Every version I've made of these is my hubby's "favourite" - LOL. I LOVE this recipe - thanks from a grateful grainfree couple :)
Alanna says
I'm so glad you two love these so much! That pecan raisin version sounds DELICIOUS. And adding more water until you get the right consistency is PERFECT - thanks for the feedback about Otto's flour! That's really helpful to know. Thanks very much for the note and rating, I appreciate it!
Reni says
My dough is too sticky as all I had was tapioca flour. Do you suggest I continue to keep adding seeds until it thickens? Or perhaps the batch is ruined by the flour of choice? Thank you.
Alanna says
Hi Reni, Hm, tapioca is quite different from cassava even though they come from the same root. Cassava is the whole root, ground, while tapioca is just the starch. So the two behave quite differently in recipes. Do you have any other flour you can try adding to the batter to save it?
Susan Miller says
Wow! These are fantastic! I used 1/2 C cooked quinoa, 1/2 C Sunflower seeds, 1/2 C Chia seeds , and 3 T of Everything But The Bagel Seasoning…Did NOT brush with EVOO or add extra salt…
Best tip ever….after 15 minutes in oven..…take a pizza cutter and slice these up into desired sizes! The cutter slices through the seeds easily, and these cuts aid in making them bake faster and more evenly! Bake and check every 15 minutes…mine were ready in about 45 minutes total.
We are huge snacker here, and have gluten sensitivities..these are so easy and much cheaper than buying store bought ones!
Thank you for sharing …
Alanna says
Love this tip! I'll definitely try that next time. This variation sounds so delicious - thank YOU for sharing!
Cathy says
I used sesame seeds, and because I didn't have flax seeds and sunflower seeds, I used almost 1/2 cup of hemp seeds topped off with more sesame seeds. Thought better of it, so I ran to the store for flax seeds and sunflower seeds, so I did 1/4 of each. My dough was extremely sticky, so I added more flour and a handful of sunflower seeds. I was thinking the hemp hearts sort of cooked from the boiling water, so I thought I may have ruined the batch. I was never able to knead it into a ball, so I basically scooped it onto the parchment paper. To my surprise, they were delicious. (topped off with olive oil and everything seasoning). Loved the tip to score them 15 minutes into baking! These are DELICIOUS and crispy. Can't wait to make other variations!! Thank you so much!!!
Alanna says
I'm so glad they turned out in spite of the dough behaving differently and that you love them! What kind of flour did you use?