Easy Homemade Seed Crackers
Another great idea by Lynn Galbreath
My parrots love anything crunchy – wood, cardboard, door jams, baseboards, pellets, Nutri-berries and yes, crackers. Yummy, yummy crackers.
Our Maximillian Pionus came from a Craigslist ad posted by a family that inherited her. They knew nothing about parrots and didn’t want to learn. In the few months that this little MaxiPi was in transition she lived on goldfish crackers and almonds. She was, needless to say, rather addicted to both when she came home with us, as well as being on the cusp of major malnutrition. She is still a picky eater and does not accept new foods well. In fact, she totally refuses all fruit —- what parrot doesn’t like at least some fruits?
We adopted our brown throated conure Sunny AKA Alonzo from Phoenix Landing. Coming through the Phoenix Landing program he was certainly in a much better nutritional place. In fact, Alonzo is a great little eater… if he thinks it’s food he will try nearly anything. His one exception is nuts —- what parrot refuses to eat any kind of nut?
I have two seed cracker recipes that both birds love and are healthy for all of us. These crackers are actually “people food” as well as “parrot food” so it is nice to be able to make something using only one recipe that everyone in my family can (and will!) eat. Crackers, even healthy ones, are obviously not good for a full-time diet but they can and do make wonderful treats or rewards. Also, the two birds are just so cute sitting there munching away while making little happy “this tastes yummy” sounds.
Crackers are easy to make. Crackers are also simple — well at least these recipes are. I don’t cook anything fancy or complex as it’s too much bother. So, if you want a cracker that will take all day and will dirty every dish you own you’ll have to search for some other recipe, because I’m not going there. There are really only 3 tricks to having a great homemade cracker:
#1 Use parchment baking paper so they don’t stick to your pan
#2. Spread the dough mixture somewhat thinly – super thin is more crunchy but a bit thicker makes more sturdy crackers
#3 Keep an eye on them as they bake because crackers can burn quickly (thinness does that)
Here are my two recipes. I have included pictures of the process for making the first recipe – The Basic Seed Crackers.These two types of crackers are similar to each other but also different. The second recipe – KnekkeBrod- has rye flour which the first one doesn’t so it tastes and looks different. As far as I can tell no one in my family of four (1 husband and 2 birds, plus me) has a real preference between the two crackers. The human’s choice of cracker seems to depend on a dip (if one is available); and the avian’s choice of cracker is whatever they can get their little beaks on. One bonus of baking seed cracker recipes is that they are quite forgiving – you can swap one seed for another as you see fit or to use whatever you have on hand. The other bonus is that obviously you know exactly what the ingredients are, and you don’t need preservatives. If you think you cannot eat the crackers in a timely manner they can be frozen.
A big plus for me is that both these crackers contain ground flaxseed. This is so very nutritious for the parrots and I’m always on the lookout to find things they like to eat that are good for them. The birds become excited when they see me getting the cracker container out of the cupboard, with Sydney the Pionus doing a little twirly dance. Alonzo prefers to signal his excitement with a series of Beep, Beep, Beeping calls.
Since these crackers don’t contain anything but seeds, the recipe is dairy-free, egg-free, grain (gluten) free, soy-free, nut-free, and sugar-free. If you take this recipe and make 24 crackers each one is supposed to have 56 calories.
⅓ cup sesame seeds, unhulled has much more calcium
You want the recipe’s amount worth of seeds (½ cup plus ⅓ cup): I have at different times substituted some pumpkin seeds, an organic 6 seed mix that I also use for sprouting, chia seeds, or a few pine nuts and so on for a portion of the official seeds named in the recipe. It actually doesn’t hurt to have just a tiny bit more seeds but too many and the ground flaxseed won’t be able to “glue” it together.
#1. Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 300*F.
#2. Mix. Add all the seeds and salt into a mixing bowl and stir everything until well combined. Add the water and stir again. After a minute or so you’ll notice the mixture begin to thicken.
#3. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes – 2 or 3 should be enough. The key to making these crackers work is to allow the ground flaxseeds to absorb all the water. It will gel.
#4. Spread. Transfer the mixture onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Spread into an even thin layer. A damp rubber spatula is great for this, but you can just wet your hands and kind of pat it down. The thickness of the crackers is up to you.
#5 Bake. (This is easier to do than to describe.) Bake for 10 minutes, then remove and score with a knife or pizza cutter so that breaking it into nice cracker shapes will be easier after it’s done. If you want a rustic look and think breaking into odd shaped pieces is fine, skip the scoring. I’ve done both and to me it doesn’t matter. Bake for another 20 minutes.
At this point, whether you scored the crackers or not you have baked them for 30 minutes total.
Now you need to “flip” the crackers. Take the baking sheet out of the oven. The easiest way to flip the cracker is to slide the parchment paper off from the baking sheet onto a big cutting board or a second baking sheet or even the top of the oven if you are desperate. The crackers are still on the parchment paper. Then take your baking sheet (careful it’s still hot) and cover the crackers. Pick up the cutting board (or the edges of the parchment paper -this is harder) and flip the entire thing over. Now your crackers are upside down on the original baking sheet.
Peel the parchment paper off and bake until the edges are golden brown, about 20 minutes. Adjust the baking time depending on how golden and crispy you prefer. Keep an eye on the crackers now so they don’t burn as that happens quickly. You can feel how crisp the crackers are becoming by poking them with a finger. They also crisp up a bit as they cool.
#6 Cool and Store. Transfer the baked cracker to a cooling rack and let cool completely. This may be unnecessary, I let mine cool sitting on the baking sheet just the way they came out of the oven. Then break the cracker along the scored lines. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week or in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
KNEKKE BROD (Norwegian Crisp Bread)
This is a Norwegian Seed Cracker. As a human food you can’t beat pairing it with cheese or jam. As a parrot food it competes with any other treat in my bird’s opinions. The baking method for these crackers is easier than for the Basic Seed Crackers as you do not have to flip them over. I don’t have any calorie amounts for this recipe as it came to me hand-written and passed through the family. I also don’t care enough to struggle to figure it out— if you must calculate calories have fun.
½ cup quick oats – (but regular oats will work)
½ cup sesame seeds, unhulled has more calcium
I have at different times substituted some pumpkin seeds, an organic 6 seed mix that I also use for sprouting, chia seeds, or a few pine nuts and so on for a portion of the official seeds named in the recipe. I know that’s heresy to some KnekkeBrod purists however at least pumpkin seeds are included in other recipes, so there you go. Parrots First!! 🙂 There are lots of KnekkeBrod recipes on-line with all sorts of tweaks; this is my family’s recipe.
#2. Mix together and let it sit for 10 minutes.
#3. Spread thinly on parchment baking paper. You will probably need 2 large cookie sheets for this amount. I have discovered the mixture also bakes fine in a casserole dish if you only have one cookie sheet. A damp spatula or damp finger works well to spread and smooth the mixture. Try not to leave any holes because the edges of the hole will probably burn.
#4. Bake for 10 minutes. Then remove from oven and score crackers with a sharp knife or a pizza cutter. You don’t have to cut all the way through the crackers and they do not have to be separated because when they bake they don’t “rise” they merely dry out.
#5. Return to oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Keep a close eye on the crackers that last 15 minutes as they can burn quickly. Turn off oven, open oven door, and let them cool in the oven. They cool slower this way and it’s supposed to assist their crunchy-ness. I don’t know if that is true or a family KnekkeBrod legend but I’ve always done it.
#6. Then break the cracker along the scored lines. Store in an airtight container. These seem to keep very well.
