Flax crackers

[Mystical]

Some recipes call for grinding the flax before soaking, and some don't. I made Alissa's basic cracker, and it is paper thin and delicious. It is made with whole flax seeds, and I wonder if you get the nutrition from the seeds when they're whole. And, if the cracker would be just as delicious with ground seeds?

[Rawkinlocs]

I like to grind my flax seeds as I just like it better that way, but I've also had them with whole flax seeds and they were good too. I think I read once that we digest them ground up better than whole.

[hackerm]

Hi Rawkinlocs! I'm new (day 3 of a 30 day challenge). I made my flax seed crackers the other day and I hate them. (I think I made them too thick. So when I eat them, they get slimey when I chew on them!) My question for you is can you make crackers out of ground flax seeds?

Thanks!

--Heidi

[kmik]

Sorry Heidi! I thought I had told you that... maybe it was my mother I told... but yeah, you can use ground flax seeds. When you grind them in your coffee grinder, make sure they don't get too hot.

Sometimes I even use my flax seeds half ground and half whole for crackers, so you get a little texture from the whole ones, but then the nutrients are better available to you through the ground ones.

As for the batch you made, were they crispy when you took them out?

[hackerm]

They were crispy, but they took forever to get that way. And now, well, now they're just yuck.

So now my quex is when I grind half of 'em, should I soak them before or after? And should I still soak the whole ones? (Why Krista, how do you get your crackers so crispy & light?!)

Thank God I still have crackers left over from what you gave me. I'm noshing on them now with my pate. Yumm. You make a mean cracker, girlfriend.

[tsmoser]

Flax in any form is great for your system, but here are a few differences;

Seeds provide both insoluble and soluble fiber, lignans, omega 3 oil, phytoestrogens, eliminates gas, cleans out the appendix of putrid matter.

Meal provides a soluble fiber that creates a drawing agent to remove the putrid matter from the entire bowel. :D FYI: You don't soak the meal just add water until you get a good gooey consistency. You only soak the seeds.

Both forms are great for you and do slightly different things while providing the same nutrients.

I use the meal to make bread. I take the meal add either sweet ingredients or savory ingredients and then water until it is a good consistency. Then I spread on a dehydrator sheet and leave it at about 1/2" thickness. This creates a sandwich bread. Then dehydrate until firm, but I like mine to still retain a little moisture. Cut into bread squares and make sandwiches.

For a great sweet bread I combine:
Flax meal
water
raw agave nectar
blueberry puree
taste until perfect then dehydrate
Wonderful with raw almond butter and honey. I sometimes even throw in some banana

Hope this helps....

[kmik]

Heidi -
Being new to this, I always soaked them after I ground them, but if we don't need to... that's great!

I'm glad you like my crackers :) my only guess would be that you may not have spread it out thinly enough... either that, or I don't know if your dehydrater has anything to do with it.

Maybe post to see if anyone else with your kind of dehydrator has any cracker secrets, if spreading them thinly doesn't work.

Sorry Mystical! I hope your questions are getting answered in all of this too!

[Mystical]

Thanks everyone - I'm glad to hear that both whole & ground flax are good for you. I like Alissa's basic flax crackers (whole). I spread them really thin, and they came out paper thin and delicious. I also like Igor's flax crackers (ground and soaked) with lots of vegies in them. When I first started, I made the crackers too thick, and found them hard to digest. Somehow thinner works.