dietribe

I’m a little gaga over garbanzos these days so when I came across a recipe for Chickpea Crackers (no oil used!) I just HAD to make them. The result? A fabulously crunchy snack that satisfies the munchies while providing excellent nutrition.

Garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas) are a very good source of folic acid, fiber, and manganese. They’re also a good source of protein and minerals such as iron, copper, zinc, and magnesium. Chickpeas can help lower cholesterol and improve blood sugar levels, and when served with high quality grains, they’re an extremely-low-fat, complete protein food. (More about chickpea nutrition here)

Now on to the crackers. The original recipe from Love Food Eat is dead easy, with only 4 ingredients needed, but I tweaked it a bit because I wanted to use less flour and more flavoring. You’ll need:

• a can of chickpeas (450 grams net weight) rinsed well and put in a strainer to drain
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp each of your preferred spices (I used dried thyme and garlic powder)
• 1 tsp. sea salt (or regular) 

Preheat oven to 160C/320F.

Mash the chickpeas well by hand or in a food processor, then mix in spices, salt and baking soda. Add flour, little by little, until you can form decent dough balls that don’t fall apart. I was ready to use up a whole cup of flour, but I found that after 1/4 cup the dough was good to go. 

Put your dough between two sheets of cling wrap or wax paper and roll thin —- not too thin though. (It occurred to me a few hours later that I probably could’ve skipped the rolling workout by using a pasta machine but oh well… maybe next time.) 

Cut the dough into your preferred cracker shapes and sizes, and bake in a preheated oven until they’re crisp and slightly browned. This should take about 20-25 minutes, but it depends on your cracker thickness so check every once in a while to make sure they don’t burn or get too brown. 

This entire recipe is 664 calories, and it’ll make about 20 crackers, so each cracker is only 33 calories. 

Notes:

• If you use dry chickpeas instead of canned, soak them in water for 5-6 hours first, then boil with a pinch of salt until soft.
• If you don’t want to use flour at all, you can make a gluten-free version by using a tablespoon of olive to hold the dough together.
• These crackers go really well with a creamy, cheesy type of spread, but if you want to eat them on their own, you might want to add a little more flavor. Use more than 1 tsp each of your spices, and/or sprinkle additional salt and seasoning on top of your crackers before you bake.

Photo source: Lovefoodeat.com