Keto Nutty Cheese Crackers

This keto nutty cheese crackers recipe is one of my family’s favorites and originally appeared in my book, “Diabetic to Ketogenic: Reclaim Your Health With Real Food” as “Low Carb Nutty Crackers with Parmesan.”

In fact, my friends and family love these keto nutty cheese crackers so much that they inhale them when I’m not looking. So I stopped bringing them with me to gatherings. They’ve got their own crackers they can eat!

I really think my keto nutty cheese crackers recipe is better than the almond thins in the store. I hope you’ll like them as much as my family does. They take a little bit of work, but they’re worth it!

INGREDIENTS

2 cups blanched almond flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt (or seasoning salt is GREAT)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
2 1/2 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
(Grana Podano, Romano, or Asiago work, too)
2 eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

DIRECTIONS

In a medium bowl, add all the dry ingredients (except for the cheese) and combine well with a fork or whisk.

In a food processor or stand mixer, combine the eggs and half the oil together well. Pour in the dry mixture and pulse a few times. Add in the cheese and blend until a dough ball forms, then drizzle in the remaining oil. It will be sticky, but scrapes out fairly easily with a rubber spatula.

Cut a sheet of parchment to fit a baking sheet (a rimmed half-sheet pan is what I use) and lay it on the counter top, then scrape the dough ball out from the food processor bowl onto the first sheet of parchment.

Lay another parchment sheet of equal size over the dough and using your hands, flatten it a bit.

Flatten the dough between the sheets with your palms, and then spread/stretch it as far as you can, starting from the center outward diagonally, trying not to go past the sheet of parchment. This is best done using a rolling pin or other cylindrical object like a jar or bottle).

You want to go to about 1/8” thickness, at most. The thinner you roll the keto nutty cheese crackers, the better they will crisp as they bake and dry. The keto nutty cheese cracker dough is very forgiving and repairs easily if you need to patch a hole or tear.

Preheat the oven to 400F

Next, using a large knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into rows horizontally, then vertically, to make 1” squares. In between cuts, you may need to use a damp cloth or paper towel to wipe your cutting blade of dough residue, which makes cutting cleanly difficult. If using a knife, don’t drag the blade, but place it straight down into the flattened dough and then pick it back up to create lines.

Poke the flattened cheese cracker dough with holes in the center of each square (optional, but for decorative purposes—unlike traditional flour crackers which need to be perforated in order not to crack while baking—these don’t).

Gently pull the sheet of cut crackers onto your baking sheet (this is fairly easy).

Bake 15 minutes and remove pan from oven to sit and cool about 5 minutes.

Once the cheese crackers are cool enough to handle, I recommend pulling any that look already well browned, they may burn otherwise. Any of the crackers that are very dry and crisp but not browned are OK to leave, they get nice and toasty brown—your preference, of course. You can taste one at this point and decide.

If the above does not apply, break the crackers apart and bake another 10 minutes, Let cool 30 minutes. Store in airtight container.

These keto nutty cheese crackers stay fresh 7-10 days (they never last that long in my house, your results may vary!).

Makes 10-12 servings of 10 crackers per serving.

NOTES:

I have not yet tried making these keto nutty cheese crackers using just coconut flour. I will update this recipe with results once I do (I do plan to).

If you find most of the crackers have browned well and seem dry after the first bake, you can leave them at that stage, to cool on the counter in order to crisp up more. I like to leave them in the oven overnight to get them fully dry and crisp.

Optional add-ins: You could add sesame seeds, dried herbs like Italian seasoning blend, or even some of that bagel seasoning with the poppy seeds, dried onion, etc.