I made the most wonderful edible discovery a few days ago. I stumbled upon a recipe for a clone of raincoast crisps™. (You know those addicting but pricey crackers that come in those pretty little boxes and are wonderful with cheese or spreads of any sort?).
Since then, I have made two varieties and enjoyed them with baked brie and baked goat cheese and aged cheddar and cream cheese (what can I say … it’s the holidays! :)
If you doing any entertaining in the next little while you might want to consider adding these to your menu. They are really easy to make, your friends and family will be impressed and they are seriously great. (And only 30 calories per cracker and low in fat!) Of course, they are also great just to keep in the freezer to bake off and enjoy yourself anytime!
Crisp with Gruyere and Red Pepper Jelly
Using this recipe, you can make Rosemary Raisin Pecan Crisps, Cranberry Hazelnut Crisps, Fig Walnut Crisps or Date Almond Crisps, just by swapping out the fruit and nuts accordingly.
These are best on the day they are double-baked, but will keep for longer in an airtight tin (they just get a bit chewier as days go on). It’s probably best to keep the baked loaves in the freezer and slice and second-bake them as needed (just add a minute or two to the baking time if from frozen).
Adapted from and all credit to Julie for the original recipe. Fig and Walnut variation adapted from Seven Spoons.
Double-backed Crisps
Summary: These are addictive, economical and guilt-free. I have provided 3 different flavour varieties to try.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (can replace up to 1 cup with whole-wheat flour)
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt (if you find them not salty enough for your taste, increase up to 1 tsp.)
- 2 cups buttermilk (I suggest the real thing)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar (light or dark, I like the extra richness of dark)
- 1/4 cup honey (clover)
- 1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup flax seed, ground or flaxseed meal
- For Rosemary Raisin Pecan Crisps:
- 1 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans (roasted, if you like)
- 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
- OR
- For Cranberry Hazelnut Crisps
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts (roasted, if you like)
- (Optional) 1 tsp. fresh, chopped thyme
- OR
- Salty Date and Almond Crisps
- 1 cup dried, pitted dates, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped almonds (roasted, if you like)
- 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt ** sprinkled on top before baking **
- OR
- Fig and Walnut Crisps
- 1 cup dried figs, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (roasted, if you like)
- 2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease two 8×4-inch loaf pans or several mini loaf pans, for a smaller crisp.
- Measure out fruit and seeds and chop nuts and any herbs and set aside. If you are using raisins, you can plump them if you like by soaking in boiling water for 10 minutes and then draining before adding to recipe)
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add the buttermilk, brown sugar and honey and stir a few strokes. Add the pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and flax seed. Add your fruit and nuts as per the recipe specifications above. Add any herbs as specified. Stir just until combined.
- Pour the batter into two greased 8 x 4” loaf pans (or several mini loaf pans). *If making Salty Date and Almond, sprinkle salt on top of loaves before baking.
- Bake for about 35 minutes (less for mini loaves), until golden and springy to the touch. Remove from the pans and cool on a wire rack.
- Once loaves have cooled, wrap or place in a freezer bag and put in freezer for at least several hours (to make them easier to slice thin). When ready to bake, remove from freezer. Slice the loaves as thin as you can and place the slices in a single layer on an ungreased cookie sheet.
- Preheat oven to 300° F. and bake them for about 15 minutes. Remove from oven, flip them over and bake for another 10 minutes, until crisp and deep golden. Remove to a cooling rack to cool and crisp up.
- Recipe makes about 8 dozen crackers.
Prep time: 10 min | Cook time: 50 min | Total time: 1 hour
Number of servings (yield): 8 dozen crisps
I just loved them, Tina. I keep a loaf in the freezer to cut (frozen) and bake up in small batches so we can enjoy them often.
Thanks for posting this recipe!!! I’m a huge fan of these crackers, but they’re so expensive… now I can make my own :)
Sounds yummy, loreta! Let me know how they turn out.
thanks so much for schering this recipes, i will try them all. I think for the recipe with dates-almonds i will substitude 2c. of flour to 1 1/3c of flour and 2/3c of oats. I see if it works. Let you knou. thanks.
How wonderful does that recipe sound! I love those crackers, but they are so expensive to buy in the store. I’m excited to try making them myself. :)Thanks for sharing!