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.
Like my sourdough discard crackers, 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
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup unsalted mixed nuts
- ¾ cup golden raisins
- ¼ cup whole flax seeds
- ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
- ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
- ¼ 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.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!Before You Go
I hope you enjoyed this chef-tested. Check out all out our snack recipes, like this date nut bread next!
I’ve made these twice now and both times I’ve had trouble with the fruit burning at 400 degrees even though I watched them like a hawk! Everything went well until that final baking. I’m questioning tgat temp as I see other recipes call for much lower temps on the final bake.
Donna, I’m sorry to hear that! The temperature is correct, so I want to ensure that you are baking them on the center rack of the oven, that your oven temperature is accurate (if you don’t have an oven thermometer, I highly recommend one — it’s amazing how off an oven’s temp can be sometimes!), and that you are using golden raisins (or similar) per the recipe, as another dried fruit might contain more moisture and be more prone to burning. That said, the fruit does get quick dark on the exposed slices as you can see in my photos. I hope that helps!
This looks so good! What a great healthy and filling snack!
Love this recipe! Thank you so much!
Thanks for sharing! Do they keep long?
This looks so good! What a great snack for the afternoon!
These are amazing! We have made over a dozen loaves. . Learned if we wrap in parchment paper, then air tight glad ware? Lasting over 4weeks. We also bake 2 at a time. Freeze. Slice. Then freeze one loaf, bake the other. Come out perfect. Thank you for this great recipe. Has become a staple in our diet and to give away to neighbors…
Fantastic and easy recipe!
Thank you for this.
I am never buying another overpriced box of these ever again.
I used dried cherries, unsalted pistachios, pepitas, subbed-in coconut sugar for regular sugar, lactose-free milk, added a tiny bit of orange zest, and a sprinkle of herbes de provence.
Perfection!
You don’t need to brush the sliced bread with oil or butter before the second baking? Do they hold up very long? I want to make these for an event, but don’t know how far in advance I can make them. Thanks!
Carol, No need to brush with oil/butter. These will keep for up to a week when stored, fully cooled, in an airtight container at room temperature.
Very first time for posting a review.
Can’t stop eating these crisps.
So good.
Thank you for sharing.
These crisps are great. They also can be sliced using an electric meat slicer when semi frozen.