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.
PrintHomemade Fruit and Nut Crisps
- 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
Ingredients
- 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
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter or spray bottom and sides of 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
- In large bowl, stir flour, nuts, raisins, flax seeds, brown sugar, salt and baking soda. Stir in milk. Pour batter evenly into prepared pan.
- 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.
- 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.
- Store at room temperature in airtight container up to 1 week.
I’m so making these this weekend! Love it! 🙂
Hi! !how do you cut whole nuts without breaking the thin slice of this loaf???
A sharp serrated knife. Slow sawing motion without appealing too much downward pressure. Let the knife do the work.
What a wonderful recipe!
I have dried cherries, sunflower seeds and some assorted mixed nuts in my pantry so I am going to make these tonight when I get home from work! What kind of cheese did you spread on them?
I know the commercial product you referred to. But looking at your recipe, the homemade version wins, hands’ down.
Now, if there is a way to turn this into a yeast bread, you would have an almost perfect replica of Publix’s breakfast bread. If you’ve never had it, it’s delicious, just sweet enough with dried fruit baked in. My Florida friend introduced me to it during a recent visit, and I enjoyed it slathered with plain Greek yogurt, rendering it even more healthful!
Thanks for the recipe for the crisps; I will definitely give it a go.
Any suggestions for slicing the loaf into thin slices? I know a serrated knife is helpful, but I always end up with thicker and broken pieces! Really wanna try this recipe this weekend!!
Freeze then slice then bake
So much yumminess is happening here!! Love the mix of nuts and raisins!
Would you recommend raw or roasted nuts?
I’ve never thought to make these. I can’t wait to try this with some runny brie. Yum.
Wow these look great! Very cool.
I loooove those fruit and nut crisps, and with a slather of brie, I have myself a meal 😀 I’ve got to try making them myself, and I love how customizable they are!!
Amy — Raw, unsalted nuts are best for this recipe.
Lisa — I used a very, very sharp serrated knife. That would be best, but if you have a regular chef’s knife that’s very sharp, that should work, too. Enjoy!
Misha — Sounds perfect! I spread Kerrygold Dubliner spreadable cheese on them and it was amazing. Any spreadable or soft cheese (or slices of hard cheese) would be great!
I could so live on these crisps, they look beyond fab!
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