homemade fruit and nut crisps

Confession: I could live on cheese and crackers.

One of my favorite meals is this: Cheese, crackers, fruit, olives, maybe a cured meat like prosciutto or summer sausage. Plus wine. And chocolate for dessert. The end. Repeat forever and ever.

Every few weeks, the husband and I will make a smorgasbord of these foods for dinner and just snack away while catching up on our Netflix queue (House of Cards, amiright?). It’s the best, because we usually buy too much of everything and then end up with a ton of leftovers to enjoy for lunch the next day.

Recently I introduced to our snack-y dinner situation some fruit and nut crisps I got from the grocery store that are insanely delicious. I first had them at the dinner club I’m a part of and I could. not. stop. eating. them. But the box costs a pretty penny and because they’re so good, we tend to devour the contents within a day or two. No bueno.

So I did the food blogger thing, and I made some myself.

Guys and gals, these are the real deal. They taste just like those fancy, expensive storebought crackers but they’re made from scratch and much more affordable. They’re also incredibly easy, and the recipe makes more than what you’d get in a typical box — which is to say, we went through this batch in about four days as opposed to two.

They’re also incredibly versatile. You can mix in your own favorite nuts (I used a combination of almonds, cashews, pistachios and hazelnuts) and dried fruits (I used golden raisins, but cranberries, regular raisins or chopped dried apricots would be fantastic, too). The same goes for the seeds — I used flax seeds, but sunflower seeds or pepitas would be great additions as well. You can even add chopped fresh or dried herbs, like rosemary or thyme, if you want. Just mix it all together in a bowl with some flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and milk, bake it in a loaf pan, freeze it, slice it and bake again until crisp.

And because they’re so thin, they cool very quickly and you can eat them pretty much right away. BONUS.

We, of course, have been eating them with cheese, but they’re good with just about anything or nothing at all. Just don’t be surprised if you, like us, leave them in a container on the kitchen counter within constant view and suddenly, they disappear. Good thing another batch is just hours away.

Me + couch + cheese + fruit and nut crisps + wine + Thursday night + Netflix = let’s do this.

Homemade Fruit and Nut Crisps

★★★★★ 4.9 from 10 reviews

• Author: Girl Versus Dough
• Prep Time: 1 hour 20 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hour 5 mins
• Total Time: 2 hours 25 mins
• Yield: About 4 dozen crackers 1x
• Category: Snack
• Method: Bake
• Cuisine: American

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup unsalted mixed nuts
• 3/4 cup golden raisins
• 1/4 cup whole flax seeds
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup milk

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Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter or spray bottom and sides of 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. In large bowl, stir flour, nuts, raisins, flax seeds, brown sugar, salt and baking soda. Stir in milk. Pour batter evenly into prepared pan.
3. Bake 50 minutes until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on cooling rack. Transfer to freezer and freeze at least 1 hour, but no more than 3 hours.
4. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Remove loaf from pan. Use sharp serrated knife to cut loaf into 1/8-inch thick slices. Arrange slices in single layer on rimmed baking sheets. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown, flipping halfway through baking. Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
5. Store at room temperature in airtight container up to 1 week.

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