Superfoods: Hemp seeds / Seed crackers

Today I wanted to post another superfood post and I chose to write about hemp seeds. The recipe I will be sharing with you in which I use hemp seeds is one of my favourite things to make. I make a batch of this once a week as I'm addicted to it. It's such a great snack to have a stash of available and will stop you reaching out for biscuits and chocolate! 

Hemp seeds come from the hemp plant. They are apparently the most nutritious seed in the world which instantly makes me want to get them in my diet! They contain all 10 essential amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks which create proteins and as such, provide complete protein and are a perfect source of protein for vegetarians and vegans. They are also a more digestible source of protein than meat, eggs, and lots of other high protein foods. They contain extremely high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids and are high in fibre and rich in magnesium, iron, zinc and potassium.

For the recipe which follows, you want to make sure you buy hemp seeds which still have their shell on as we want them to have a crunch (when the shell is removed they are known as hulled hemp seeds). I use the biona organic hemp seeds as shown below. 

Seed Crackers

Ingredients

80g polenta

30g hemp seeds
20g sesame seeds

20g linseed

35g sunflower seeds
20g pumpkin seeds

100ml boiling water

25g coconut oil (can be replaced with olive oil)
Pink Himalayan salt (or normal)

The exact seeds you use do not really matter, neither do the ratios. In fact, I usually buy a mixed bag of seeds which contains sesame, pumpkin, sunflower and linseed and I use 80-90g of this and then add in the hemp and top up with whatever seeds I fancy. The mix I buy is from Holland and Barret and is the omega sprinkle mix.  You can use a mix which contains a seed not listed above, or on the other hand you can leave a certain seed out. Either way, make sure you have a total of approximately 100g of seeds and you definitely want to get the little ones (sesame and linseed) in there if possible as they held bind the crackers together.

Polenta is an Italian staple. It is a cornmeal and is therefore gluten free. There are a load of different ways that it can be cooked - it can be thick and creamy or you can allow it to set. In this recipe it is the base of the crackers and we allow it to set so it becomes crispy!

First things first, turn your oven on to 160C. We cook these crackers on a lower heat over a longer period. For the hemp seeds, I like to first put them in a pestle and mortar and give them a little bash. I don't grind the hemp seeds up at all, just a 10 second bash to slightly crack some of the shells. You don't want them to look any different after you have bashed them so go easy and even though it won't look like you are have done anything, you will be able to hear the shells crack.  However, this step is not necessary so if you don't have a pestle and mortar just skip it out. Mix all your dry ingredients together - this is everything bar the oil and water.

Next, if using coconut oil, you want to melt this. The best way to measure this out is to tare you empty saucepan on your scales, then add in the oil before you melt it so you only melt the right amount and aren't trying to measure hot oil! Add this in to your dry mix, along with the boiling water (just use water straight out a kettle) and then combine.

Now you need to spread it thinly over your greased baking tray, and when I say thinly, I mean as thin as you can get it before it breaks and reveals the base of the baking tray. This is so important otherwise your crackers will not be as crispy as we want them, and also when stored, they will lose their crispness over night.

These quantities are the perfect amount to spread it over a standard size baking tray (approx. 30x20cm). If you do not have a tin this size, use a couple of smaller ones. It doesn't matter if the mixture doesn't cover the entire baking tray, just spread it to cover as much as possible if this is the case.

To finish, sprinkle some salt over the top. I use pink Himalayan rock salt, so I just use my pestle and mortar to grind it down before sprinkling over the top. This step is not vital and can be missed out, but a little bit of salt on top really does complete these crackers.

Pop in the oven for 50-60 minutes until golden and crispy.

Allow to cool before removing from the baking tray and breaking up into pieces!

My only problem with these is that I struggle not to each the hole batch at once. They are ridiculously good and stopping yourself from having just a couple is not easy! But, it's not the end of the world - there is nothing bad in these crackers and they are packed with protein from all the seeds. They are a seriously tasty way of incorporating hemp seeds in to your diet. 

Find my other superfood posts here!