The best crazy good fruit crackers are Apricot Pecan Crisps

Apricot Pecan Crisps | PERFECT snack attack solution. Even better on a cheese tray! www.LiveBest.info

Seeds, nuts and dried fruit make the best gourmet artisan fruit crackers. Apricot Pecan Crisps are perfect on a cheeseboard!

I love these things! Great on a cheese board or when you want a cookie. Bake and freeze so you have them whenever you want!

Homemade artisan crackers for your cheeseboard

Buying these seed and fruit-flecked crackers can be expensive. I wanted to reduce the pinch by making my own. A search on the Internet reveals many bakers are into DIY, which makes it difficult to give credit to a recipe creator. This is the first one shared with me a few years ago when a friend tucked some in a Christmas bag.

These crackers make great gifts. Give them nibble-ready or gift the loaf with slicing and baking instructions. Your gift recipients will thank you. And call you for the recipe ;-). Serve them with cocktails like this grapefruit martini.🍸

What are Artisanal Crackers?

Unlike a saltine or a Ritz, think unique, small batch, handmade. You might see artisanal labels on expensive jams and preserves, local cheeses, gourmet chocolates.

How to make healthy, high-fiber fruit and nut crackers

The really great news is that you can shop your cupboards to see if you can make these without a grocery store run. The recipe is super flexible. You are the designer to make uniques small-batch crackers.

  • Replace the molasses with honey or the apricots with other dried fruits.
  • Sub in herbs and nuts for those you prefer.
  • If nuts aren’t your thing, leave them out.
  • In this recipe, I ground the flaxseeds by whirling them in my blender for a few seconds because flax digests better if it’s ground. I use white whole-wheat flour to boost the fiber, but all-purpose flour works, too.
dried apricots, pecans, flax, herbs

dried apricots, pecans, sunflower dies, flaxseed, herbs

Ideas to flavor gourmet fruit crackers…

  • dried plums and crystallized ginger
  • dried cranberries and orange zest
  • dried figs and Kalamata olives
  • dried cherries and almonds
  • raisins and walnuts

What’s a quick bread?

A quick bread is, well, quick, because rather than relying on yeast to do the leavening, baking soda and/or baking powder provide the gas for the batter to rise. With a little moisture and heat these breads climb right out of their pans. There is no kneading or rising time required, just a hot oven. Quick breads do best when they go into an oven that is the right temperature for the food. Biscuits like 425°-450°F, corn bread and muffins prefer 400°-425°F and banana bread is happy at 350°-375°F.

Apricot Pecan Crisps batter ready for the oven

Apricot Pecan Crackers ready for the hot oven.

I used mini-loaf pans but for more interest, I also wanted some round crackers. I took a lesson from my grandma who used to bake raisin bread in coffee cans. Didn’t really want crackers THAT big, so I used clean, empty bean cans. I sprayed the cans generously with cooking spray, then sprinkled flour in the can to make sure the baked loaf would slide out easily. I rolled and tapped the can so the flour covered the surface. Of course, you can also use regular bread pans. If you do, the baking time will be 10-15 minutes longer.

A quick bread becomes a homemade artisan cracker

Speaking of happy, these seed-studded crackers make lots of people smile. Doesn’t matter if I serve a dip or a cheese tray, these are the first to go from a cracker selection.

baked loaves Apricot Pecan Crisps

Cooks’ Note: If baking crackers on mixing day, before slicing, put the loaf in freezer for an hour or two. The firmer the loaf, the easier to slice. However, you don’t want to slice a frozen loaf. (ouch!)
For the “second bake” (to crisp the crackers), heat oven to 300°F. With a serrated knife, slice thin pieces, approximately 1/8-inch. Place on baking sheet, bake 30 minutes or until dry. The crisps will continue to “crisp” after removal from oven. Cool thoroughly and store in airtight container.

slides of Apricot Pecan Crisps

Freeze the loaf for 1-2 hours to make slicing easier

Gourmet crackers for cheese board

These crackers are great on a cheese board. They can be baked when you have some down time and then frozen. When you’re ready to serve, slice and bake. They also keep well once baked in the cracker form. So whenever you want them it seems they’re ready for cheese. 

plate of Apricot Pecan Crisps

You might like to use all these seeds, nuts and fruit in

  1. Pumpkin Spice Seedy Granola
  2. Apricot Ginger Biscotti
  3. Nut and Seed Butter
  4. Coconut Seed Clusters

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See my Apricot Pecan Crisps video below for all the details.

A delicious cheeseboard with Apricot Pecan Crisps

cheese board with dips, crackers and vegetables

Fill your cheeseboard with these recipes

  1. Artichoke Jalapeno Dip
  2. Red Pepper Walnut Dip
  3. Salted Honey Sesame Almonds

Pin it for later!

nut and seed filled crackers on a tray

Print

Apricot Pecan Thyme Crisps

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 2 reviews

Seeds, nuts and dried fruit make the best crackery crispy things you want to eat. Apricot Pecan Crisps are what I call them but I’m pretty sure you’ll call them those yummy crackers!

  • Author: Judy Barbe
  • Prep Time: 20 mins
  • Cook Time: 60 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
  • Yield: 100 1x
  • Category: Appetizer, Snack
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 cups flour, all-purpose, white whole-wheat, or a combination with even some of it rye
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • Black pepper, pinch or more, depending on taste
  • 2 cups milk
  • 2 tablespoons vinegar
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 1 cup chopped dried apricots
  • 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
  • 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
  • 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
  • 1/4 cup sesame seeds
  • 1/4 cup ground flax seed
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried

Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 350° F.
  2. Spray 4 mini loaf pans with baking spray. Set aside.
  3. Combine milk and vinegar and allow to stand 10 minutes to thicken.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt and pepper. Remove a couple tablespoons of flour mixture and in a separate bowl toss that with the dried fruit to coat the fruit. (This keeps the fruit from sinking in the batter).
  5. Pour sour milk and molasses into flour mixture. Add nuts, seeds, thyme, and fruit. Stir gently to mix, you just want ingredients combined.
  6. Divide batter between prepared pans, filling 3/4 full. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown and toothpick inserted near center of loaf comes out clean. Remove from oven and set pans on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn the loaves out of pans onto the cooling rack to cool completely. At this point the loaf may be wrapped tightly and frozen.
  7. If baking crackers on mixing day, before slicing, put loaf in freezer for an hour or two. The firmer the loaf, the easier to slice. However, you don’t want to slice a frozen loaf (ouch!).
  8. For the “second bake” to crisp the crackers, heat oven to 300° F. With a serrated knife, slice thin pieces, approximately 1/8-inch. Place on baking sheet, bake 30 minutes or until dry. The crisps will continue to “crisp” after removal from oven. Cool thoroughly and store in airtight container.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 4 crackers
  • Calories: 30

Apricot Pecan Crisps | This recipe uses real food such as dried fruit, nuts, seeds to make a cracker that is just right - not too sweet! PERFECT snack attack solution. Even better on a cheese tray! www.LiveBest.info
nut and seed filled crackers on platter

Comments

  1. Thank you for a recipe using more common ingredients. As I looked at the other quick bread recipes, I stopped when ingredients such as spelt flour were called for. Looking forward to making your crackers, but will never do as well as BM

    1. Author

      Hey Vicky, I agree with common ingredients. Much more fun to be able to make something with food you already have. So frustrating to have to drive all over town to find something. Betty is the bomb at these!

  2. So genius to use bean cans to get the round shape! Can’t wait to try these and some of the other flavor combos you suggested…having dreams about fig & olive with goat cheese.






    1. Author

      Hi Dana, The round shape sure adds interest to the plate, but the square ones taste just as good! Just spray and flour the cans, give them about a 10 minute rest on the cooling rack and they slip cleanly out of the can. We’re not eh same page…I made fig and olive yesterday 😉

  3. These look great and I know exactly what you were going for. I like a seedy crisp and I imagine these are very flavourful.

    1. Author

      Thanks, Steph! They hit all my sweet spots…good flavor, crunchy texture with some chewiness, not too sweet, easy to make…I could go on, but maybe I’ll just go eat one 😉

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  10. Thank you for this great recipe. I made a dried cherry with sliced almonds version, because that’s what I had on hand. They turned out perfect,






    1. Author

      That sounds like a great combo, Lin! So nice to use what you have to make something good!
      Judy

  11. These sound just what I am looking for. We had artisan crackers in Switzerland at our friend’s home and returning to the states to purchase something similar am realizing I would have to mortgage our home to buy them!!!! Terribly expensive for such a small amount. Your recipe gives me hope that I can save our home and still eat delicious crackers! : ). Thank you.
    BTW, Can I leave out, or reduce the brown sugar or molasses to make them more diabetic friendly?

    1. Author

      Hi Jan, thanks for the note. So glad you don’t have to mortgage the house! Though I haven’t done it, I think you can reduce the brown sugar and molasses by one third without much impact. Think about what you’re eating the crackers with – protein and fat make these more diabetic friendly, so cheese, hummus, or a nut butter are good spreaders.
      Thanks,
      Judy

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