Norwegian Crispbread | Zero-waste Gluten Free Seed Crackers

It is NO secret that I am obsessed with the Trader Joe’s norwegian cripsbread. It’s crunchy, it’s filling, it’s the best. And people are always asking me for a recipe for it. So this is my norwegian cripsbread recipe, and it’s a zero-waste, gluten free cracker recipe that will change. your. life.

Now this recipe is “zero waste” because I use leftover almond meal from my Almond Cow, but you can totally use almond meal or oat flour to do the same thing. This recipe is incredibly simple, so it’s all about subbing out the ingredients that work best.

PS if you want to see the TikTok video where I talk more about my almond meal and Almond Cow, you can check it out here.

What is a Norwegian Crispbread?

Besides being my favorite thing to buy at Trader Joe’s, a Norwegian Crispbread is an all-around amazing snack. The traditional name is knekkebrød, and it is a crisp bread, or “breaking bread” that historically accompanied almost all Nordic breakfasts or lunches. Now it’s used more fluidly, but is still a great as a side for a meal or for a snack all on its own.

A Norwegian crisp bread is typically made of whole grains and seeds, and most usually made with rye flour. My version relies more on nuts and seeds to make them gluten free crackers, and Trader Joe’s has a gluten free Norwegian Crispbread recipe that also does this as well.

The Origin of Norwegian Crispbreads

This type of cracker has a wild history – think Vikings. Some historians they preferred this kind of bread because it was light, easy to carry and did not go stale as quickly. Also it used to be baked on hot stones. Again. Wild.

Now it is much more popular due to its health benefits, versatility and overall amazing flavor. Plus I love that you can mix and match the ingredients to fit your needs. This simple origin story is exactly how I was able to create this zero waste cracker recipe – you gotta use what you got!

Now that we have the background covered – let’s make it:

Ingredients you will need to make these Gluten Free Crackers

For the almond portion:

• 200 grams almond pulp from after making almond milk

OR

• 150 grams almond meal one cup, packed
• 5 tbsp almond milk

OR

• 140 grams oat flour about 1 & 1/3 cup
• 5 tbsp almond milk

For the other ingredients:

• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, shelled
• 1/2 tsp rosemary, thyme, red pepper flakes if you don’t prefer spice, omit the red pepper flakes.
• 1 tbsp olive oil, or a neutral oil will also work

How to make this Norwegian Crispbread Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the almond pulp, nutritional yeast, salt, spices, sunflower seeds and oil. Stir until it forms a sticky dough.
3. If you are not using almond pulp, saturate your almond/oat flour with almond milk first, and then add to the bowl where you are mixing all the ingredients. The goal here is to mimic what almond pulp does in this recipe.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread out the cracker dough until it is about a quarter of a centimeter thick. The dough will be very thick, so you might need to use your hands to do this.
5. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes or until the crackers are golden brown on the edges.
6. Once the are out of the oven, let them cool completely (this will help the crispness!)
7. When they are cooled, you can either break them apart with your hands or cut with a knife into your desired cracker shapes!
8. Eat whenever 🙂

Tips, Tricks & Subs

Let’s talk substitutions first – here are few things you can substitute for this recipe:

• No nutritional yeast? You can use parmesan cheese (although that’s the untraditional route!) or 1/4 cup oat or almond flour in its place.
• Substitute for sunflower seeds? And nut or seed of your choice will work! Just make sure to ground it up to the size of shelled sunflower seeds.
• No olive oil? Canola, avocado, or any oil will work.

And for tips, here are a few things I HIGHLY recommend when you make this recipe:

• Saturate your oat flour/almond flour with the almond milk BEFORE mixing it in with the other ingredients. The almond mixture is the main binder of the dough, so you want it to be wet and hella sticky.
• Spread out the cracker dough as thinly as possible before you bake. You want all the dough to still be touching, but you want it to be very very thin. This will get you the crispiest cracker in the end.
• Let the crackers cool completely after they are out of the oven. This will help them set fully and crisp up in the end.

FAQ

And that’s about it for this recipe! If you make it, please let me know what you think in the comments below. And since y’all know I live on Instagram or Pinterest, please feel free to tag me over there if you have a pick of what you made! I live for that stuff.

And now happy crisp-breading 🙂