Did you know, you can make your own homemade crackers with just a couple of ingredients – and you can even make them green by adding spinach! These Spinach & Sesame Crackers are the perfect, vibrant and healthy snack! They are delicious to dip in hummus!
You can call me boring but I enjoy watching documentaries of all kinds. They have been a great influence in why I’ve adopted a vegan diet, why I started to care about animals & the planet, why I started to live a more conscious life. I always try to improve, live one day better than the last one, but when it comes to buying produce packed in plastic or non-biodegradable packaging, I’ve always felt so helpless because if I’d commit to only buying unpackaged produce I wouldn’t have a lot of choices and it would restrict me – a lot. That is why I was super excited when I heard that in my city, Linz (in Austria/Europe), there were plans for opening up a zero-waste, package-free supermarket! Can you imagine?
It’s called Holis and it’s planned to open up later this summer, so I’m super excited and I can’t wait for it! When they asked me to join their team of food bloggers to create zero-waste recipes, of course, I couldn’t resist but to say yes!
We had a food blogger meet-up for the Holis Market recently and it was so much fun! I had the chance to get to know other bloggers in my region and to learn more about the Holis Market, which was great. I didn’t want to come empty handed so I decided to make some Crackers (and Hummus, obviously!), because they are simply perfect to snack on! They are green Spinach & Sesame Crackers!
Tips for making the perfect crispy crackers
- The consistency of the dough: Flour, water, even altitude matter when making the dough, so it’s best to trust your instincts a bit when making the dough. Add water until you can make a smooth dough. If you’re not sure, it’s best to make it too wet than too dry, you can always work more flour into the dough while rolling out the crackers. A wetter dough is easier to roll out than one that is hard and crumbly.
- The cracker thickness: Roll out the dough as thin and as even as possible. This ensures even baking! If they are not thin enough, they will be rather chewy than crispy. The best way to do this is to roll out the dough on a lightly floured parchment paper, cut them, and then carefully pull the parchment paper with the crackers onto the baking sheet. It also helps if you take your time rolling out the dough..sometimes it looks like it doesn’t get any thinner. Then I walk away for one minute and come back..then the dough has relaxed a bit and can be rolled out easier and thinner.
- Rolling pin: A proper rolling pin helps a lot with rolling the dough evenly. It works best with a large rolling pin with rotating handles.
- Baking times: All ovens are different. Keep a close eye on them if you make them the first time. If a few of them start to puff up a bit, that’s a good sign! They should get slightly golden/brown. If you’re not sure, they should be crispy to the touch.
I wouldn’t say that they taste a lot like Spinach.. but they are greeeen!!
Making these Crackers is pretty similar to my other Cracker recipes, like my Whole Wheat Seed Crackers or the Cheesy Poppyseed Crackers. Instead of mixing the dry ingredients with water, you simply use a spinach-water mixture and tada: green!
The dough is super easy to work with. I’ve used all-purpose flour so that the color of the spinach is more intense.
Using a pizza cutter to make the Crackers is the simplest & fastest method – yeay to convenience!
The Spinach Crackers are absolutely delicious with simple, Homemade Hummus, but I imagine they go really well with a lot of different dips (Guacamole, White Bean Dip, …).
- 1 2/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 cups fresh spinach
- Pre-heat the oven to 400°F/200°C.
- Wash the spinach and put it in a blender together with the water and blend until completely smooth.
- In a mixing bowl add in the dry ingredients (including the sesame seeds), whisk and then add in the spinach-water and olive oil. Mix and knead with your hand until it's a smooth dough. Add more flour if your dough is too sticky.
On a lightly floured parchment paper, roll out the dough as thin and even as possible.
Cut it with a pizza cutter length- and widthwise. Carefully pull the parchment paper with the crackers onto a baking sheet.
- Bake them in the oven for about 20 minutes (until they get crispy).
Let them cool off a bit and enjoy!
Serve for example with some Homemade Hummus.
If you give these vegan Spinach & Sesame Crackers a try I’d love to hear how it went! Write me a comment or post a picture on instagram, use the hashtag #elephantasticvegan and tag me via @elephantasticvegan to make sure I’ll see it ^.^ I love to see all your lovely creations! Thanks! <3
More Easy Vegan Cracker Recipes
These look fantastic Bianca! I’m sure you could use gluten free flour to make a gluten free cracker too. Holis has a great concept, I hope they’re successful and other grocers follow their lead. Pinned!
Thank you so much, Linda! As of yesterday the Holis crowdfunding has reached its minimum goal, so they are definitely opening their store. Yeay! I still have to try the Crackers out with gluten-free flours. I have a few in my pantry – so that’s a great way of using them up :)
You are just rocking the green recipes lately!! Fun and healthy and so good with hummus!
Color everything green! Green is just such a pretty color :D
I even thought about making a green hummus to go with these crackers but then decided it would be too much.
Bianca, thanks! I DO love your ideas, so simply and delicious!
Very welcome, Alena! Thank YOU for your kind words! I do appreciate them :)
Hi Bianca,
What are you talking about – boring? Documentaries are awesome! Universum was one of the few things I was allowed to stay up to watch when growing up :)
I also love how versatile your pastry dough is. That said, now that I still haven’t tried my hands on it, I will probably just try two or three different versions when I finally get to it.
Did you know that there is a waste-free supermarket in Vienna? It’s called “Lunzer’s Maß-Greißlerei” and is located in the up-and-coming 2nd district: http://www.mass-greisslerei.at/
Unfortunately, I’ve never been there myself because it’s really out of my way but I’m sure one day, one day ;)
Have a great day ahead and all the best from sunny Vienna,
Alice
Hi Alice,
thank you so much for stopping by!
My boyfriend never watches documentaries with me from the start because he thinks they are too boring :D but then most of the times ends up joining me somewhere in the middle. Not so boring at all!
I’ve tried making my own puff pastry dough once but it was terrible – it wasn’t even edible (although I ate all of it, I don’t like throwing food away). I decided to stick to store-bought puff pastries from now on.
I’ve heard of Lunzer’s Maß-Greißlerei before but I’ve never been there. I love the website though! It’s so modern :D
Thank you so much for bringing that up, I didn’t know in which district it was.
Have a lovely day yourself :)
Greetings from sunny (yeah!) Linz!
these look delicious! and I love the color!! great recipe :)
Thank you so much! I loved what a lovely green they kept after baking :)
Spinach sesame crackers just look fabulous, Bianca! SO vibrant and inviting! I could finish that whole bowl in one go! :)
Me too! I made them again today and ate them with beet hummus – so good!
These look so cute! <3 Love their green goodness. And I would totally enjoy some with beet hummus too — such a pretty color combo!
Thank you so much, Audrey! I loved to color combo too!! It was my first time trying beet hummus and I was pleasantly surprised!
Wow! Definelty want to,try these crackers! Does oat flour work as well? Is their a plant based version? Thx ^_^
Hi Lillian! I haven’t tried those with oat flour yet. It probably will work however I suggest: starting with less water and using only as much water as needed to form a smooth dough. And rolling the dough between two baking sheets. I think the dough will be stickier and this is a good way to prevent it from sticking all over the rolling pin. And they will probably be not as green because the oat flour is a bit darker than white flour, yes? Let me know if you give them a try and if they work out or not. :)
I also love watching documentaries. I know the ones you’re speaking of, and they really wake and shake you up. I watch one (or at least a bit of one) every night after my family falls asleep. Most people don’t know how their food is produced or the affect it has on their health and the environment. I didn’t either until a few weeks ago. I’m not vegan (yet) but I hope to get there some day. Blogs like yours are so helpful!
Yeah, I’m glad I’m not the only one really enjoying documentaries like that. My boyfriend would never, ever watch environmental documentaries with me when I’d ask him, but when I start watching without him he often joins me in the middle of the documentary. They’re so damn interesting! The last documentary I’ve watched was Cowspiracy which was really, really good & interesting too (it’s actually on netflix right now, if you haven’t seen it already). I’m so glad my blog is helpful to you! That makes me really happy :) Let me know if I can help you with going vegan – it was a gradually process for me too. I just cut out the milk, the cheese, the yoghurt step by step… and introduced vegan products into my diet.
Would it be ok to eliminate the seeds? If so should I compensate with more of another ingredient?
Leaving out the seeds is no problem at all. You might have to use a little bit less spinach-water. Just add the wet ingredients slowly into the dough until you can form a smooth ball and add more flour if it get’s too sticky. :)
I am planning to do those again this week-end. Last time I used flax sees as I did not have sesame seeds.
This time I have them. :)
I am curious though,,, Last time, I ad to add a lot more water than just 1/4 of a cup. It was really dry and the dough was not sticking together. Do you think I did something wrong?
Thanks!
Marie-Eve
Hi Marie-Eva, I don’t think you did anything wrong. When working with doughs it’s just really hard to give exact measurements, so it always needs a bit of tweaking. Flour-water-ratios can depend on the flours, altitude, how dry the spinach is etc… The best way is always to add little by little water until you can form a nice, smooth, non-sticky dough. I hope you like them with the sesame seeds, too :)
Thank you!!! They are awesome. I had them in my lunch today. I ended u adding 1/4 cup of water.
Thanks again!
Marie-Eve
Glad you liked them, Marie-Eve! :)
Hi Bianca, great recipe!
Do you know how long do these last for in an airtight container?
Hi Belen, I’m glad you like it! It’s a bit harder to say for those Spinach & Sesame Crackers because fresh spinach is involved. But I’m guessing they should stay fine for 2-3 days. I’ve never had them that long, I can’t control myself with these :D
Wow ,super ,fantastic….made these and they turned out exactly like yours. Had to find an idea to get my daughter to eat her spinach..and this is just a fab idea…she loves crackers and chips…so this was the best thing ever to come across on pinterest.I am going to try with other veges too…thanks so much..
Hey Saba, I’m so glad you and your daughter like them!! :) Trying out different veggies is a great idea! Have you seen the pizza crackers yet?
Wow how cute these look…green & cruelty-free :) I’m not a fan of documentaries tho I won’t call someone who watches them “boring” :p
Thank you, they’re one of my favs :)
I want to try these-they look good! Would whole wheat flour work?
Technically, it would work. However the crackers won’t be that green, because the whole wheat flour isn’t as white and doesn’t provide such a nice color base. And you might have to adjust the water because flours are so different. Just add enough until it all comes together, it shouldn’t be too sticky, otherwise add more flour :)
Any suggestions for rolling the dough evenly? I keep having problems wit uneven crackers and burnt edges.
Also, I found it pretty strange to run into an add for Hillshire Farms Sausage in the middle of the recipe- what’s up with that?
A proper rolling pin helps a lot with rolling the dough evenly. I actually have 3 different rolling pins :D so I should know..haha. It works best with a large rolling pin with rotating handles. It also helps if you take your time rolling out the dough..sometimes it looks like it doesn’t get any thinner. Then I walk away for one minute and come back..then the dough has relaxed a bit and can be rolled out easier and thinner.
Sorry about the meat ad, that shouldn’t happen as I’ve blocked all meat and dairy ads but sometimes they sneak through.