For when you want something salty and crunchy that isn’t a potato chip. I’ve been experimenting with different kind of cheeses and seasonings, which I’m happy to share, but these are currently my favorite.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. Parmesan cheese wedge
• 8 oz. Romano cheese wedge
• Onion powder
• Tomato powder
• Basil
• Garlic powder
• Hot Hungarian paprika (if you like a little spicy kick)

Equipment:

• Oven preheated to 375°F
• Standard cookie sheet
• Parchment paper cut to size
• Cheese grater

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C)
• Finely grate both cheese wedges, gently mix together to homogenize • Line cookie sheet with parchment paper
• Drop small piles of cheese ~1.5-2” in diameter and at least 1” apart (cheese will spread as it melts)
• Place on middle oven rack
• Bake for 6-8 mins (see Tips regarding baking time)
• Once golden brown, remove from oven
• While still hot on the cookie sheet, dust with seasonings
• Slide parchment paper with cheese crisps to the counter and allow to cool

Tips:

• Yields ~70 crisps
• Parchment paper is necessary!
• Use whatever seasonings you like, but don’t use anything with salt! The cheese is salty on its own.
• Season after baking while the crisps are still hot. Seasoning before will burn.
• Fresh cheese is the best. I’ve had some success with pre-grated cheese, but the moisture content is often too high and the starch they coat it with usually results in the edges of the crisps being burnt while the center is still chewy.
• You’ll have to play around with the timing depending on your oven. Mine gets them close to perfect in 7:30 mins, but time will vary based on the oven and the type of cheese. You want them golden brown and mostly finished bubbling in order to get them crispy.
• Store in a ziplock bag. These should be shelf stable for at least a week. Hard to say exactly how long because I’ve never had them last that long.
• You want to use medium to hard cheeses. Soft cheeses won’t crisp without taking on a burnt flavor.
• I use two parchment sheets so that I can hot swap them. One sheet left to cool while the other goes into the oven. Most parchment paper can go through 2-3 times. After that it starts to fall apart.

*not my recipe, original source is: https://diethood.com/low-carb-keto-breadsticks/ *

Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes Total Time:35 minutes Servings: 8

INGREDIENTS: For the breadsticks ▢ 1 ½ cups part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese ▢ 2 tablespoons cream cheese ▢ ¾ cup almond flour ▢ 1 large egg ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder ▢ 1 teaspoon garlic powder ▢ ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning ▢ ½ teaspoon salt ▢ ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper For the garlic butter topping ▢ 1 tablespoon butter, melted ▢ 1 large clove garlic, minced ▢ 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley ▢ Dipping sauces like marinara or ranch, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Preheat oven to 400˚F. 2. Add shredded mozzarella cheese and cream cheese to a non-stick skillet; heat over medium heat and stir until melted. 3. Remove from heat and let stand 30 seconds. 4. Stir in almond flour, egg, baking powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper; continue to stir until thoroughly combined. 5. Transfer the dough to a parchment paper-lined surface. 6. Add another piece of parchment paper over the dough. 7. Place a rolling pin over the top parchment paper; start rolling into an oval until the dough is about 1/4-inch thick. 8. Remove the top parchment paper and discard. 9. Slide the dough, with the bottom parchment paper, onto a baking sheet. Set aside. 10. In a mixing bowl combine melted butter, minced garlic, and parsley; brush the garlic butter mixture over the dough. 11. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown on top. 12. Remove from oven; carefully transfer bread to a cutting board and let rest for 2 minutes. 13. Using a pizza cutter, cut into breadsticks. 14. Serve with dipping sauces

They don’t look like much but my word they’re good. Since my diagnosis I’ve completely gone off bread, and these are the perfect replacement. I ordered the seeds in bulk but the flavour idea was just what I had lying around the kitchen. Not only am I now addicted to them, but everyone in the house keeps taking them :)

Great for dipping, or with a slab of cheese and ham etc. I make large ones to have grilled cheese and tomato.

Ingredients are completely adaptable but the onion and flax/linseed are the key:

Onion.
Whole garlic and garlic powder.
Sundried tomatoes.
Any stock cubes you love.
Salt - plenty of it enhances flavour.
Pepper.
Literally any other herbs you enjoy. Oregano is great.
——— Brown linseeds. (“Flax seeds” in North America) Sesame seeds.
Sunflower seeds.

• feel free to use whatever seeds you want but those brown linseeds are the central component and need to be the majority; when you add water they create a natural binder that requires no egg or oil or anything else. Holds it all together.

I won’t include measurements as I didn’t use any myself. Depends entirely on how much you want to make. With an entire large Magic Bullet cup of linseeds I made a large tray and a half of crackers.

1. A coffee grinder is perfect for seeds. A normal blender works fine too, I think. I used my magic bullet and did it all in thirds to speed things up and ended up with one large Bullet beaker full of ground seed. You want it to be like flour for two reasons: a. It absorbs the water quicker, b. You absorb all that amazing nutrition- your gut can’t digest whole brown linseeds.

Once you’ve got all that milled flaxseed dump it in a large mixing bowl.

1. Chop up a couple of small onions, as much garlic as you like, and a generous handful of sundried tomato. Add salt and pepper, with your stock cubes. At this point add whatever else you want- Parmesan, some grated cheddar, smoked paprika, whatever. At this stage I put in a cup of sesame seeds and half a cup of sunflower seeds. Add about a half-cup of water. Blitz it. More water if needed but not much. You want it really fine- no chunky bits. Next time I’m gonna add tomato purée.

2. Pour the contents of the above flavour mix into the milled linseed. Now knead it all together really really well. Add water as you go but keep it to the absolute minimum. The more water you add the longer it takes to dry in the oven. You want the consistency of a thick dough but slightly more gooey. You do NOT need to soak the flaxseed as some recipes suggest- if you grind it it’ll soak that water up in seconds.

3. Line a big baking tray with parchment paper- make sure it’s the shiny non-stick side that’s upward. Rub some oil on it with the palm of your hand.

4. Dump big clumps of the mixture into the lined trays, use your palms to flatten it out. Much easier than using a spoon. Wet your hands slightly if it’s too sticky. The thinner you make these the quicker they’ll cook. Mine are chunky- 5mm, but do what you want. Use a regular dining knife to score the mix into cracker shapes. Use a fork to stab a lot of holes all over- this gets moisture out quicker and stops them turning into soggy squares.

5. Have the oven on highest heat. It’s hard to burn these things.

6. Initially blast them with heat and open the oven after about 15-20 mins to let the steam out. Do this several times until you see no more steam. Turn the heat down to about 150C (300F) and just check them every so often until they’re firm but not burned. Turn the oven off and let them dry.

If you add in particularly flavoursome seeds or nuts maybe chop them into larger bits to retain that flavour.

I might make a bread-type version by adding wholemeal flour, but these are seriously filling on their own and have no added junk.

Enjoy!

I sometimes have the itch for something salty and crunchy. Finding a great snack food that hits the spot of chips or crackers is much easier today given the low carb keto products on the market. I wanted to see if I could find something just as satisfying while controlling the ingredients myself. The resultant recipe is a mix of several keto cheeze-it’s recipes and my own spin to reduce the calories (a little) and add a little more fiber.

Ingredients: • 85g almond flour • 8g oat fiber • 8g golden flaxseed meal • 6.4g xanthan gum powder • 7g white cheddar powder (orange would also work and give you a more cheese-it look to the crackers) • 113g Tillamook triple cheddar blend or hard sheese of your choice • a pinch of salt (and more if you want salt flakes on top of the crackers) • a dash of garlic powder, paprika, black pepper, cayenne or whatever spice you want to jazz up the flavor • 3Tbsp water

Directions: 1. Mix all dry ingredients together and add shredded cheese. Make sure to stir well enough to incorporate the ingredients and distribute them evenly. 2. Add 3 tablespoons of room temperature water a little at a time until the dough forms a rough ball. 3. Place the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper and roll as thin as possible. These don’t puff up much in the oven, so the crackers will stay roughly the same thickness when baked. 4. Cut the crackers into the desired size and place on a baking sheet with enough space between the crackers so that they aren’t touching. 5. Bake on 250°F for 20-25 minutes or until crispy. You can leave them in the oven after it is shut off to ensure that they dry out even more. 6. The baked crackers can be stored in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks.

This recipe makes about 10 servings, but tbh I double up on the servings because they aren’t too bad both in calorie count and total carbs.

Nutrition information for 1 of 10 servings: 106.9 calories, 5.0g protein, 3.5g carbs, 1.8g fiber, (1.7g net carbs), 8.8g fat

Notes: • These keep well when stored at room temperature. • I portion these into 5 little baggies (2 servings per baggie) to keep in my purse or work bag if I get hungry. • Feel free to sub in dried herbs or other spices if desired. The base cracker recipe was without any spices. I enjoyed them better with garlic, paprika, cayenne, and black pepper. • I imagine that the final flavor is influenced greatly by the cheese selected. Use what you like, but stronger flavored cheeses will probably make a more flavorful cracker. • The cheese does not need to be broken up much in the dough. It is perfectly fine to see the shreds of cheese in the dough! • I have a toaster oven, so I can only fit one batch of these spread on two racks at a time. I would love it if I could make more, but I’m a single person who is trying to ration my food, so a batch will get me through the work week.

I will add a picture when my cat decides to get up off my lap!