Ultimate Seed Crackers

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Crunchy, flavorful, and full of nutrients, these healthy seed crackers will soon be your new favorite snack. Plus, they’re naturally gluten-free and easy to make. All you need is a mix of four different seeds, plus salt, water, and your favorite herbs and spices.

Seed crackers in a bowl.
Photo: Gayle McLeod

Why These Seed Crackers Are Special 

This recipe is a riff on flax seed crackers but boosts the flavor and nutritional profile with a variety of seeds and herbs for the ultimate homemade cracker. Here’s a few reasons why you’ll love them.

  • They’re much healthier than packaged kinds. When it comes to healthy crackers, many store-bought options have fillers and preservatives to extend their shelf life. But you won’t have to worry about any of that since this recipe is made fresh from scratch.
  • They’re highly nutritious. Seeds are one of the simplest superfoods you can incorporate into your routine — they’re loaded with fiber and rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and so much more. 
  • They’re an easy and delicious snack to keep on hand. When you’re craving a salty crunchy snack, these are the perfect solution. They’re a cinch to whip up and far healthier than potato chips. Just keep a batch handy and ready to go! 
Ingredients for seed crackers on a table.

Seed Crackers Ingredients

  • Seeds: I’m using a mix of pumpkin seeds, ground flax seeds, sesame seeds, and chia seeds. But feel free to swap in any other seeds you’d like!
  • Water: The water acts as a binder, especially when mixed with the chia seeds and flax seeds – they all magically gel together. 
  • Optional Spices: I’ve added garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, basil, and salt. But feel free to get creative with other dried herbs and spices. I think smoky paprika, za’atar spice, or everything bagel seasoning would be awesome!

Find the printable recipe with measurements below.

Grinded pepita seeds in a food processor.

How To Make Seed Crackers

First, blitz the pumpkin seeds. Because you want everything to be a smooth and fine texture you’ll start by blitzing the pumpkin seeds in a small food processor until it resembles coarse sand. 

Then, stir everything together. Add the ground pumpkin seeds along with the ground flax seeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds, salt, and water to a bowl and stir it all together. After you’ve stirred for a minute or so, you’ll notice the mixture start to thicken (thanks to the chia seeds). 

Mixed seeds in a bowl.

Roll out the seed mixture into a flat layer. Spread half the mixture onto a piece of parchment paper, cover it with another piece of parchment paper, and roll it out. It’s up to you on how thick or thin you’d like the crackers. Thinner chips will cook faster and be more delicate, but will also be more prone to breaking. Thicker chips are better to use for scooping up dips.

Be patient with baking! Score the chips for easy breaking, then bake in a 200°F oven for 2 ½ to 3 hours (thicker chips will take longer). The key here is to cook them low and slow to properly dehydrate. Once they’ve cooled, break them up and enjoy! 

Rolled out seed crackers on a sheet pan.

Helpful Tips

  • If you find that your crackers are sticking to the parchment paper, they may not have been fully dried out or completely cooled. Sometimes this happens if the dough is too thick. Try rolling them a bit thinner next time. You could also try using a silicone mat such as a Silpat.
  • You can substitute any of the ingredients with other nuts or seeds, just make sure to swap it for the same amount.
  • If you want to add a base so it’s not entirely seeds, mix in 2 tablespoons of flour, whether it be oat, almond, or other types of flour. 

COMMON QUESTIONS

Can you use a dehydrator?

While I haven’t personally tried this recipe in a dehydrator, other readers have told me that they’ve done this successfully in a dehydrator at the highest setting. Just make sure to flip them halfway through and keep checking on them to see when they’re dry. If you try it,  let us know in the comments how it turned out!

How long can you store them?

These will stay good for up to two weeks in a sealed bag or container. I store them in the pantry, but you could also store them in the fridge. 

A pile of seed crackers.

These Crackers Pair Well With

More Homemade Chips

I hope you enjoy these homemade seed crackers! If you make them, I’d love to know how they turned out in the comment box below. Your review will help other readers in the community.

A bowl of seed crackers.

Ultimate Seed Crackers (Flax Seed Crackers)

4.93 from 57 votes
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 3 hours
Total: 3 hours 10 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Author: Lisa Bryan

Description

Crunchy, flavorful, and full of nutrients, these healthy seed crackers will soon be your favorite snack. Plus, they’re naturally gluten-free!

Equipment

Ingredients 
 

Additional Flavorings

  • Herbs and spices, Add up to 2 tablespoons of your favorites. I added ½ teaspoon ground garlic, ½ teaspoon ground onion, 1 teaspoon dried thyme and 1 teaspoon dried basil

Instructions 

  • Blend the pumpkin seeds. Preheat your oven to 200°F (100°C). Add the pumpkin seeds to a food processor and pulse several times, until it resembles coarse sand.
    Pepita seeds in a food processor.
  • Mix everything. In a large mixing bowl, add the pumpkin seeds and all remaining ingredients. Stir together for a minute, until the seeds start to gel together.
    Mixing seed cracker dough.
  • Roll it out. Grab two 11×17 baking sheets and set aside. Place half the mixture on a large piece of parchment paper. Place another piece of parchment paper on top and roll to your desired thickness. Repeat with the other half. 
    Rolling out seed cracker dough.
  • Score. Use a knife to score the mixture into evenly sized pieces.
    Seed cracker dough on a sheet pan.
  • Bake. Place the parchment sheets with the cracker mixture onto the baking sheets and cook for 2½ to 3 hours or until fully dehydrated, rotating the pans halfway through. Allow crackers to cool completely, then break apart.
    A white bowl of seed crackers.

Lisa’s Tips

  • Store the crackers for up to two weeks in a sealed container in the pantry.

Nutrition

Calories: 191kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 300mg | Potassium: 246mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 0.4g | Vitamin A: 4IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 149mg | Iron: 3mg
Course: Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: flax seed crackers, seed crackers
Did you make this recipe?Mention @downshiftology or tag #downshiftology!

Recipe originally posted January 2016, but updated to include new photos and information. 

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About the author

Lisa Bryan

Lisa is a bestselling cookbook author, recipe developer, and YouTuber (with over 2.5 million subscribers) living in sunny Southern California. She started Downshiftology in 2014, and is passionate about making healthy food with fresh, simple and seasonal ingredients.

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Recipe Rating




193 Comments

  1. Hi Lisa,

    Is the nutritional data for the seed crackers based on one entire recipe, or 1/8th of the recipe. Anxious to try them!

    Robin5 stars

  2. Can’t wait to try these; however, we don’t have a food processor. Can I pulse the pumpkin seeds in my Vitamix instead? Will I get the same result?

  3. Oh I’m so glad I came across this, I have a lot of seeds and didn’t know what to do with them. This is perfect.5 stars

  4. First recipe I’m not going to repeat (and I’ve cooked A LOT of Lisa’s recipes!). The chia seeds got in my teeth.3 stars

    1. Hi Carol – I haven’t tried this in a dehydrator. But if you do, I’d love to know how it turns out!

  5. Hi . Looking for portion information on the seed crackers..
    It shows nutritional information, but not amount of food that applies.
    Thank you. Monica

    1. Hi Monica – given that the crackers may be cut in different shapes and sizes, it’s hard to estimate by number of crackers.

  6. Since chia seeds must be soaked before using in order to access the fiber during digestion, could I used soaked seeds and just substantially increase the drying time?

  7. I adore this recipe. I’ve been making it for several years now. It’s incredibly easy, versatile, filling, healthy, and DELICIOUS.5 stars

    1. Yes you can! The times very between your size sheets and the temperature you dehydrate with. Use your highest setting. About halfway through take them out and flip them over. I use parchment paper myself. And then just keep checking them make sure that they are dry when they are done. This is my favorite seed cracker recipe I use it all the time! I love it. It provides that wonderful crunch that you need for crackers.5 stars

  8. I love these crackers. I don’t buy crackers any more. And is so easy and you can make different flavours.

    Thank you!!!!5 stars

  9. Do you have a go to GLUTEN-FREE cracker recipe you use other than the ULTIMATE SEED CRACKERS (FLAX SEED CRACKERS. I was hoping you had something more saltine like. I you could recommend I would be grateful.5 stars

  10. I made these crackers and the texture was amazing. I had to turn up the heat a little towards the end as they weren’t crisping up after the 3 hour mark. Mine also came out bitter, I was wondering if a higher heat caused the flaxseed to turn but then I read in the comments a couple people saying the garlic salt made them bitter. Im gonna try again and omit the garlic salt (I hope that is it and not that I dont like the oily taste of flaxseed (new to keto baking) Thanks for the recipe.

  11. Loved them! Super easy to make. Can’t wait to play around with different flavours. A couple of these are super filling too.5 stars

  12. These are seriously amazing! I did different spices otherwise same! My choices were 2 tsp garlic powder, 2 tsp onion powder and 2 tsp Smokey paprika!  In the end they were 68 calories for 13 grams of pure deliciousness.5 stars

  13. Sooooo tasteful !!!
    A recipe on the go that costs nothing and nourishes for a long time. I added celery and cumin seeds + smoked paprika which go perfectly with her humus recipe! A true delight!5 stars

  14. Dear Lisa, Thanks for this recipe, would you have any insight if I want to reduce the carbs any further? Can you recommend if I eliminate the Chia seeds what would work for a the quantities of the other ingredients would adjust to?5 stars

  15. Yum!  Get your crunchy snack crackers without the gluten.  These are easy to make and tasty.  You can add seasonings to your taste.  I used everything bagel seasoning in one batch and Cajun spice in another and they turned out great! 5 stars

  16. Awesome! Crunchy and tasty crackers everyone loved. Had it as appetizer for branch with the family. Served with hummus. Absolutely brilliant in its simplicity. I use silicone mat instead of parchment. Took only 40 min to bake. Loved it! Thanks5 stars

  17. Hey 👋
    Thank you for sharing this recipe.I thought they would be tricky to make but actually, following your clear instructions they turned up pretty well and they are so delicious. Will definitely add them to my repertoire.
    Love, Clara.5 stars

  18. Hello Lisa, the crackers are delicious, the only problem I am facing is that the parchment paper sticks to some of them and it is difficult to take it off. Any tips?5 stars

    1. They may have been not quite dry or completely cooled. I had that issue with my first batch. The second batch, I rolled out a little thinning and I ended up using a silpat for that one and that worked much better.4 stars

    1. I think the recipe says there are 8 servings per recipe, so that would be more than 1 cracker! If you get, say, 40 crackers per recipe, 5 crackers would be a portion. I hope that helps!

  19. These look delish! Before I can cook them, I’ll need to get the nutrition facts straight. After looking through the comments in hopes to finding my answer, I’m a little confused. Do you mean to say the nutrition facts are based on the entire recipe and there comes to about 8 crackers per serving/recipe? 

  20. I was hoping you could list the serving size for the nutritional information. I couldn’t find it anywhere.

    1. Hi Letty – there are 8 servings in this recipe. It’s impossible to list by number of crackers, as they can be cut multiple sizes. Hope you enjoy!

  21. These can also be dried in a dehydrator and not have to heat your oven. Especially nice if dehydrator is kept in a spare room.

  22. We really enjoyed these crackers.

    I found myself with an over abundance of seeds that I really wanted to try to use up, and these were the perfect solution. I used the seasonings suggested except I used a bit more and topped the crackers with garlic salt as well. They did lose their crispiness within a day, but that was easily and quickly remedied by popping them in the oven at 325F for about 5 minutes, made them as good as new. Thanks for sharing a great recipe.5 stars

  23. These crackers are the ultimate , hands down! even my 9 yo, who’s not easy to please said they are “yummy, addicting and healthy!” we all love them. Thank you Lisa for this and your other awsome recipes !5 stars

  24. I made these without the sesame seeds and they’re bendable in the middle :( did for 4 hours – you think they are still edible if kept in the fridge? I made a big batch for a few weeks. I can’t eat sesame seeds so wondering if hemp would be a good substitute next time?

    1. Hi Sara – without the sesame seeds there might have just been too much liquid. But yes, I’m sure they’re still edible. I think hemp would be a great sub!

    1. Hi Donna – there’s about 8 servings in this recipe, so it’s a bit more than just one cracker.

      1. I’m confused about the nutrition information – in this comment I’m understanding it to be 190kcal for the entire recipe, but in another comment I’m understanding it to be 19kcal per cracker if you cut the recipe into 8 crackers. Which is it please? I’m not obsessed with calories, but I’d like to make these for my mom and I need to know the sodium content per cracker. I suppose I could lower the sodium content by cutting down on the salt. What would be a good addition if I cut the salt? Mrs. Dash or some other spices? Thanks! Loving your channel and blog!5 stars

      2. Hi Dale – this recipe actually makes more than 8 crackers, depending on how you cut the crackers. But I’ve divided the nutritional information into 8 servings.

  25. Hello. These look great. How are these high in calorie,  fat and sodium if they are just seeds and the only really other ingredient is water?  

    1. Hi Dawn – nut and seeds are naturally high in healthy fat and calories. And the sodium is from the salt.

      1. Hi, Lisa! It would be very useful if you could provide also the calories per 100 gr. Not only for this recipe, but for all of them. The servings can differ from person to person…
        Thank you! :)5 stars

  26. Looking at the picture you show of the crackers on the plate in the dish, is that one batch? And in those crackers would be 8 x 190 calories, therefore 1520 calories?