Elana's Pantry

New York Times Bestselling author Elana Amsterdam founded Elana’s Pantry, the go-to website for easy, healthy, grain-free, Paleo recipes, in 2006

sesame crackers

Sesame Crackers

132 Comments

If you’ve ever wondered how to make crackers at home this easy cracker recipe is your answer. With just 5 healthy ingredients –almond flour, sesame seeds, egg, olive oil, and salt you can whip up these gluten-free Sesame Crackers in no time at all! This low-carb snack recipe is crunchy and totally addictive! You won’t want to go back to expensive gluten-free store bought crackers once you make these paleo crackers because they’re so incredibly good.

We serve these crackers with my homemade Guacamole recipe or Olive Tapenade, either way, they’re perfect for parties or snacking! Store these crackers on the counter. Or, after cooling overnight, you can place them in a mason jar in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Sesame Crackers
Serves: 72 crackers
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl, stir almond flour, salt, sesame seeds, eggs, and oil until well blended
  2. Separate dough into two halves
  3. Place each half of dough between two pieces of parchment paper
  4. Roll out dough to ⅛ inch thick
  5. Cut into 2 inch squares using a pizza cutter or knife
  6. Transfer dough to two large baking sheets
  7. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown
  8. Cool and serve

Every time my friend Patricia, Pilates Diva extraordinaire, comes over she walks out of the house with a handful of these gluten-free crackers. I promised her I would make this easy cracker recipe my next post. Happy crunching!

Here are some of my other easy paleo cracker recipes:

Comments

    • Thanks for your comment Danielle, if you make the crackers, feel free to use less salt. This is my go-to cracker recipe, and given that this makes several dozen crackers this amount of salt works super well :-)

      Reply

  4. Could you please tell me why you say not Meal when the recipe calls for Almond Flour. I find it really hard to buy Almond Flour and when I do it is twice the price of the Almond meal.

    Reply

  5. Hi Elana:)

    We have egg, gluten, wheat and milk issues. I have used flax meal to replace eggs in the past. I also have guar gum and xanthem (sp?) gum. What do you recommend for your crackers?

    Thanks!

    Jeanne Hanes

    PS…I just found your website and am anxious to get deeper into it!!

    Reply

  7. Hi :) May I ask what is the another substitution for sesame seeds that can be paired with almond flour? I HOPE YOU CAN REPLY. Thank you!

    Reply

      • How about if I’ll make patty. Is it suitable for almond flour? Thank you for answering my question Ms. Elana! Appreciated :)

        Reply

        • Hi Princess, I haven’t ever tried making patties from this recipe, and I don’t really think that will work. If you do try it I hope you’ll let us know how it goes!

          Reply

  9. I made these for NYE and they were a big hit! Made a second batch that were Mexican flavored and went great with guac and salsa- thank you for giving me the ability to have an easy snack at hand again after 2 years on paleo.

    Reply

  10. I’d like to make small cracker “bowls” to fill with salmon and creme fraiche. Do you think if I shaped the dough over balls of aluminum foil they would hold the bowl shape?

    Reply

    • Karl, l would love to know if these workes also. I am catering for a wedding in April and would love to offer a snack bowl like this, Fab idea.

      Reply

    • Karl and Merrin, though it’s too late now for the events you mentioned, you could still experiment; try pressing dough over the bumps of an overturned mini-muffin tray. I have done this with cookie dough and filled the resulting cookie cups with coconut ice-cream/raw vegan chocolate/nut butter/cashew cream… go mad. A savoury version would be sublime.
      Elana thanks so much for this site. You are a marvel. I enjoy it immensely here in Brisbane, Australia, and so (consequently) does my family!

      Reply

  11. Trying not to eat oils at all. Do you think melted ghee or butter would substitute well? What might need to change if anything?

    Reply

  12. These crackers are so delicious, thank you for sharing your recipe. They are my go to item when I’m dying to eat potato chips.
    I’ve also tried taking out the sesame seeds, and adding coconut and a drizzle of dark chocolate for my sweet tooth!

    Reply

  15. I made these today and they are absolutely addictive, I can’t stop eating them. Can’t wait to try your other recipes.

    Reply

  16. Hi Elana. I made these just now for a Saturday evening snack and they really are stunning. So easy. And I love how the sesame seeds get all toasty. Thanks for a fabulous recipe!

    Reply

  17. I’ve made these several times without a problem but the last three times the dough was so crumbly I couldn’t roll it out. Used the correct ingredients and proportions. Any suggestions?
    Thanks

    Reply

  18. Absolutely love this recipe and make it all the time. One day I accidentally grabbed black chia seeds instead of the black sesame seeds I thought I was using. Results were the same and they are a great taste variation. I also mix sesame and chia sometimes. Really appreciate all the recipes you post Elana. Thank you!

    Reply

  19. Thank you! I just started the candida diet this week and was needing a filler/snack food that crunched. So tasty! I didn’t have sesame seeds on hand, so I put in sunflower seeds instead. Just great! And, I ordered your GF/Almond Flour book for my son. I am sure he will enjoy it. I can’t wait to try out some of your other recipes. Keep them coming!

    Reply

  21. These are the easiest things I have made. They are great and don’t last very long my family loves them. Thanks for all the good receipes you post. Love your site

    Reply

  22. Hi,

    I am wondering if you could do a post on ‘Monk Fruit sweetener’. I hadn’t heard of it and I don’t know how processed it is. I react violently to stevia in a any form. While I don’t use much sweetener because mostly I just don’t eat treats, it is nice once in a while to make something to share with others. Do you know about this sweetener? How processed it is? What are the characteristics? Does it lend itself more to some uses than others?

    Thanks for any information.

    Reply

    • Since you can’t use Stevia (& I only use the pure Stevia, nothing added) But I also use Xylitol – you might want to do research & see the benefits of using this. It is really good! – But as with any sweetener, always watch how much you eat – AND not watch as you are putting it in your mouth – ha ha

      Reply

      • If you try using Xylitol, please remember it is absolutely deadly for dogs. That’s just in case you have a pooch who likes human treats. :-)

        Reply

  23. I made these for the 2nd time today. Rolled them out to the edges this time and baked for 14-15 mins. Will lower over temp next time and cook longer. Substituted coconut oil–worked well and really reduced the amount of the salt–way too salty w/recipe as is. Forgot to toast the seeds first, wish I had done so. Overall, these are excellent–I like my food more on the plain side) and will make again and be adventuresome and use some of the suggestions above. I am planning to take these with me on vacation and will see how they hold up. Thanks everyone for the feedback and for Elana’s great recipes.

    Reply

  25. These were delicious! Thanks for the recipe – its one of many from your site that I have tried and they are all good!

    Reply

  26. Thank you for a truly wonderful recipe! Love that it is high in protein and fibre and of course gluten free. Made recipe as is. :)

    Reply

  28. Do you think these need to be refrigerated if we don’t eat them right away or can they stay at room temp for a while?

    Reply

  30. I just made these and will be making it again. i can’t stop eating them. I will try it with different flavor next time. Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply

  31. Made a half batch of these today, and they are the best tasting crackers! Far better than any store-bought and guilt free. Thank you!

    Reply

    • Help Elana or someone!!!

      I made “Rochels Cashew Bread” this afternoon. I didnot have cashew butter so substituted sun flower butter. All the other ingredients were
      the same as the recipe. Everything seems fine until I cut into the bread and it was GREEN. I did taste it and it seemed fine but there is
      something about green bread and I didn’t want to eat any more. Any idea why this happened? Is this a version of “Green Eggs and Ham”?

      Thanks for any help you can provide.

      Reply

  33. Forgot to mention you use blanched almond meal/flour, I have the whole almonds so have been using them look a little darker but still taste great.

    Reply

  34. Hi Elana love this recipe I have used this several times now, but have twigged it a bit used black and white sesame seeds, also added caraway seeds just added that extra dimension of taste, there is only one problem with these, cant stop eating them, great with anything or even just a snack to munch on. Love your recipes. Thanks and keep up the good work.

    Reply

  35. I’m not on a gluten free diet , but I do care for a gentleman who is on a gluten free diet . And he had asked me to make him some gluten free crackers, because he was tired of the prices of the store bought ones. So I’ve just finished making these and well let’s just say I don’t think they are gonna make it very long. I too love them!! Great recipe!! I’m planning on making these for myself! Great with spinach dip btw.

    Reply

  36. Amazing, Elena! I cooked them for about 18 minutes to make them extra crispy and they were fabulous. Your recipes never disappoint.

    Reply

  37. Mmmmm, second time making these. This time I added a bit of Thai seasoning to the dough. Going to eat them with my beef stew this evening!

    Reply

  39. These crackers are delicious. I added parmesan, extra salt, black pepper and chives to the mix. So delicious with cheese.

    Reply

  41. I LOVE the breakfast bar recipe – my husband is literally “nuts” about it. I would like it to be a little more “sticky” instead of cakey anyone have any suggestions on how to do this? I thought of underbaking a bit, anything else?

    Thanks

    Reply

  42. Hi,

    I recently saw a post in paleo parents that said you can substitute sunflower seeds for almond flour by grinding up the sunflower seeds. Do you think it would work in this recipie? Desperately trying to find a cracker my boys will enjoy but have nut allergies. Thanks so much.

    Reply

  43. I just made these! Divided recipe in 1/3s and did one with the sesame, one with parmesan cheese and one with minced garlic and rosemary! They were SO easy and SO good! Thank you so much for creating and sharing!!!

    Reply

  47. I attempted to make crackers with ener g egg replacer and added additional grapeseed oil and they were very crumbly even after baking for a longer time. It wasn’t a total fail bc t makes a good salad and soup topper.

    Reply

  48. So I tried making this today without the sesame seeds. Instead, I compensated for volume using an additional cup of almond flour instead of the 1 cup of sesame seeds. I also did half grapeseed oil and half sesame oil for the sesame aroma. The flavor turned out quite well! I did have to leave them in an additional 5-10 minutes. Their texture is slightly dense and doughy, similar to wheat thins, but without the crunch. The pieces around the edges had more crunch though, so I think next time I will possibly almost double the time in the oven. Thanks for the lovely recipe again!

    Reply

  49. Ohh! I’m very excited to have found this recipe! I was looking for some healthy alternatives to add some crunchy texture to my salads. I think using this recipe, and perhaps either slicing thinner cuts or just breaking up the normal-sized crackers over a salad would be perfect! I love the subtle flavor of sesame seeds. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  50. Hi I love your website. My Husband has Ankylosing spondylitis and has found that being starch free helps with the pain and bloating stomach. I have found your recipe’s inspiring and oh so tasty for a not so easy diet. Thanks so much.

    Happy eating

    Nikky

    Reply

  51. Hi Elana, I am an avid follower of your recipes and I’ve tried several of them so far of being gluten free and trying to follow a paleo diet for a couple months now. For the crackers how do you store them without them getting soft overnight? And how long do they keep usually? I have made the sesame crackers and your cheddar crackers so far (which are delicious and addictive) but I have to ‘re-toast’ them when I want some the day after I make them. Thanks for your time, advice, and amazing recipes!

    Reply

  52. I found the mixture too dry and had to add another egg and some water to be able to roll it out. The crackers ended up tasty but I musn’t have rolled them thin enough!

    Reply

  53. What’s Happening i’m new to this, I stumbled upon this I’ve found It positively useful and it has helped me out loads. I hope to contribute & help other users like its helped me. Great job.

    Reply

  54. I just tried these with 1/2 almond flour and 1/2 sesame flour. I also sprouted the sesame seeds for a few days before I added them in. They are delicious, but not really crispy like crackers. Are they crispy for you? I used the convection setting on my oven, and I actually ended up baking them for a good 15 minutes. I’m wondering if maybe the moisture from the sprouts changed it up a little, or if they are just not supposed to be that crispy either way. Will you let me know? Great recipe!

    Reply

  55. Elana, I have your cookbook and am curious, what type of cucumbers are on your Sesame Crackers in book picture? They look amazing, I also see them in the picture with the Salmon Dill Burgers.

    Reply

  57. This recipe is delicious! I couldn’t stop nibbling on the edges while they were cooling. They are very nutty and yummy. I didn’t feel well after eating them, though, so I might have just discovered an issue with sesame seeds. Gotta love this food intolerance thing, eh?

    Man, these are so good, though. Thanks again, Elana, for your wonderful recipes!

    Reply

  59. Hi.

    I wish you would have specified whether or not the sesame seeds should be toasted before adding to the mixture. These crackers are very bitter! I think toasted sesame seeds (before adding to the mix) would have made a difference! Is there any way I can fix this?

    Sincerely,
    Laurie

    Reply

    • These crackers are delicious and my husband is crazy about them with his olive tapenade. I subbed out one of the eggs for some flax meal and water and they turned out great. I also divided the dough into 3 batches to roll them very thin and they took just 8 minutes to bake to a golden color and were very crispy–Thanks so much, Elana!

      P.S. Laura: I once used unblanched almond meal in a recipe and found them very bitter in the final product. For some reason the skins make quite a difference in taste for certain recipes, especially. Could this have anything to do with your batch tasting bitter?

      Reply

  61. Hi Elana,
    I am a big fan of your almond flour cookbook! I have made these crackers a few times. This morning, after splitting the batch of the base recipe, I added some Penzey’s Italian seasoning to one half and chocolate and cinnamon to the other. The Italian seasoning half tastes great. The other half, made with Roasted Saigon Cinnamon and Dutch process cocoa powder didn’t have much flavor and seemed to want to burn (extra fat in the cocoa powder, I assume.) I thought that the chocolate cinnamon base would be interesting with creamy cheeses as an alternative kind of cracker, but I have to say, there’s not much flavor to them, which makes little sense as I put a fair amount of both chocolate and cinnamon in them. Is it possible the flavor profiles of the cinnamon and chocolate canceled each other out? This doesn’t make a whole lotta sense to me. In any event, would love to hear what others have added to this base and what was truly successful. Many thanks!

    Reply

    • After letting them sit for a day and tasting the chocolate cinnamon ones again, I decided that the bitterness of the sesame seeds and the bitterness of the chocolate (without the benefit of any sweetener) were the culprits. So, I topped one of the crackers with some freshly ground peanut butter, a dab of honey and a slice of banana. And, then it was good. The sweet counteracted the bitterness and the banana and honey flavors were a nice complement to the sesame/chocolate… The peanut butter was there for it’s Reese’s reference. Am now making a batch of the pumpkin Flax crackers from the cookbook. Have added cumin seed, thinking that might be a nice flavor tweak.

      Reply

  62. Thanks so much for this recipe! I’m going to try it this weekend as I am getting tired of rice crackers and need something to resemble my beloved wheat thins :-)
    It looks easy and the baking time is far better than other recipes I’ve seen that say to bake at 150* for several hours – lol

    Reply

  63. Hello Elana,
    Love your website. as i’m a gluten free eater, i want to make your Gluten Free Sesame Crackers, they look delicious. I would like to know how to store them please? In an air tight container, or in the fridge in a container?

    Thank you for your help.
    regards,
    Glen

    Reply

  65. Hi Elana,

    Do you think this recipe can be used as a good GF matzah? I found a link to a matzah recipe that tasted good but did not hold together. Any thoughts?

    Thanks,

    stephanie

    Reply

  66. This recipe sounds great. Do you have the breakdown of nutrition facts per serving. Like how many calories, carbs, etc.

    Reply

  67. This recipe has made such a huge impact on my family! I have a 2 year old who wants to eat the snacks that she sees at playdates – mainly cheese crackers. I used this recipe as the starting point, altered the egg/oil ratio and added Parmesan cheese. Viola! Homemade cheese crackers that everyone loves! Tonight I rolled the cheese cracker recipe out thin and used it as a pizza crust – another huge success! Thank you so much for providing such great ideas and recipes!

    Reply

  68. These are sooooo good! It’s been 5 years since I’ve had crackers, since I had to go gluten free. And these are better than most wheat crackers! You totally made my day. :)

    Reply

  69. These crackers are really yummy and extremely easy to make! I made them today and I love them. I had some with some goats cheese and avocado…yummy!
    Thanks for sharing these wonderful recipes!
    Regards,
    Xintia

    Reply

  70. These crackers are the bomb! I make them to go with soup and many other dishes. My family is into all the traditional junk food and I use these instead of serving bread at many meals – my teenager LOVES them. Thanks for all the great recipes!!!

    Reply

  71. I just made these this morning. I was pleasantly surprised at the ease with which they came together. I baked them a little longer to get them toastier (I turned down the oven a little in order to not burn them). Delicious.

    Reply

  72. Hi Elena, absolutely love your blog and amazing recipes. I have made this one many times and love it. I have made a couple of substitutions that have made them that much more tasty (not that yours isn’t) :)

    Chiefly, I toast the sesame seeds lightly before adding them to the recipe, and I substitute half of the grapeseed oil with sesame oil…

    Sometimes, I also remove 1/4 cup of the almond flour and add 1/4 of a cup of golden flaxseed meal instead which gives them a “whole grain” like taste and texture.

    Just wanted to say thanks to you because going gluten free seemed so scary at first, but your recipes really helped me…keep them coming!

    Reply

  74. I ordered your book last week, and I can´t wait to make all those fantastic recipes! I made these crackers yesterday and I love them. I published them in my spanish blog, I ´m sure a lot of people will love them too.
    Thanks for this blog, it´s a constant inspiration.

    Reply

  75. This recipe was worth the price of your cookbook alone. I make these almost weekly and serve with homemade hommus. Everyone loves them. I’ve made a number of things out of the cookbook and it is now has the crusty stained appearance of a cookbook well loved. Thanks.

    Reply

  77. hi Elana,

    I recently bought your cookbook and then came over to your blog – great stuff!

    Just wanted to post a comment that when I first made this recipe, I didn’t have enough sesame seeds, so I used about 2/3 sesame seeds and 1/3 flax seeds – they were fantastic! I then later made with all sesame seeds, and I actually prefer the combo.

    Thanks for all the tasty ideas!!

    Patty in Seattle

    Reply

  78. My partner and I are trying to do the whole no wheat thing cause we are thinking that is whats hurting our stomachs and making us feel blah, so I just wanted to thank you for sharing all these fantastic ideas with every one, I really appreciate it, it is hard finding gluten free meals!
    thanx,

    Michael & Eric

    Reply

  79. Hi Elana! I am slowly making my way across many of your recipes. This one took me two times to get right. The first time, I was afraid to roll the dough too thin and ended up not rolling it thin enough. I took my learnings to trial #2 and toasted the sesame seeds first before adding to the mix and sprinkled a little bit of kosher salt across the top before baking. Delicious! Most people are afraid to try them when I tell them there is no flour, but it’s fun to see the eyes light up after one bite!

    Reply

      • Coconut flour is not a good sub for almond (or other nut) flours. Coconut has unique properties that make it soak up liquids where other nuts are not as porous and do not. If you don’t have almond flour a better sub would be hazelnut or pecan. Someone above in the comments mentioned using other grain flours and gave her ratios. But coconut is in a very different class with much different properties. Not a good sub in almond flour recipes…… I hope this helps.

        Reply

        • Thanks Karen, I tried this with a mix of coconut flour and potato flour and wondered why it was soooo crumbly! Had to add about a cup of water to get the dough to stick together. But the end result was still crispy, delicious crackers!

          Reply

  80. Hi Elena,
    I started visiting your blog about a month ago and I absolutely love it!!!
    I eat gluten, wheat, yeast, red meat, dairy, egg, sugar & additives (I think I got it all…) free food for health reasons and in your blog I can actually find recipes that I CAN eat. It’s great!
    A question about this recipe – Do you think I can replace the eggs with some ground linseed mixed with water? Or maybe something else? I know it’s a recipe modification question… but, if possible, I would really appreciate your advice.
    Thank you so much for all the wonderful recipes!

    Reply

  81. Made these for the second time and they’re delicious. This time I used 3/4 cup regular sesame seeds and 1/4 cup black sesame sees and the contrast is super – they look so lovely!

    I loved them with ginger spread but I also put out cream cheese and almond butter and it was a hit with my husband and with our guests.

    Second time around I divided the dough into 3 instead of 2 to roll out so that it was easier to make them crunchy crispier!

    Reply

  82. Thanks very much for all the great recipes!
    I just ordered from the Honeyville site and I am excited to try this recipe and many of the others!

    Reply

  83. Thanks so much for a NUTRITIOUS and EASY cracker recipe! My 4 gluten free boys are eating crackers with peanut butter for the first time in a long time. It feels good to know they aren’t just eating empty rice flour carbs too!!! Thank you!!!!! :)

    Reply

  84. Hi Elena,
    I will be making these lovely things quite soon, but need to order the Honeyville almond flour first!! Can you tell me about how many cups of flour you get from a pound of almond flour? I didn’t see any information on that in your FAQs, nor on the Honeyvillegrain.com site. It will help me determine how much I should order. Thank you.
    Blessings,
    ~Evelyn Mae

    Reply

    • I buy Trader Joe’s Almond Flour which comes in a one lb bag. The bag yields 1/4 C per serving and there are 16. I think that should be pretty standard for all almond meal/flour.

      Reply

  85. Wow! These crackers are delish! I love the toasted sesame flavor and they have just the right amount of saltiness for me. Next time I will definitely roll them across the entire pan in hopes that they will be crispier – I didn’t make the dough go quite to the far edges. Thank you again for sharing your recipes and experience! I love your recipes and enjoy reading your blog.

    Reply

  86. Lenee -Thanks for your question. In all honesty, there are thousands of ways to alter a recipe and its outcome as well, not sure that I can intuit each one over the internet :-) I might need to come to your kitchen. I leave my crackers in a bowl, uncovered on the counter and they keep that way for at least a week –if they last that long.

    Reply

  87. Hello Elana,

    I received the almond flour in the mail from Honeyville and this is my first recipe using it! The dough looked a bit lumpy so I added an extra egg then the batter was smoother. The thinner crackers on the outside were crunchy. Do you think the inside crackers would be crunchier if I hadn’t added the extra egg?

    I enjoyed them with some almond butter and pomegranite jelly smeared on top!

    Also, How do you store these wonderful crackers?

    Thank you,
    Lenee

    Reply

  89. do you think the crackers would hold up just as well without the sesame, that is an allergen in our family. you are an awesome cook, they look so good. Can’t wait to try them.

    Reply

    • I didn’t use sesame ( I was out) and it worked fine, I did use garlic powder for flavoring, and lightly brushed the top with olive oil to crispy it up. They were great.

      Reply

  91. These look great and I’m very much in need of a cracker recipe however, DS can’t do eggs. Is this recipe totally out for us or is there a good sub?? Thanks!

    Reply

  92. Dear Rosie,

    That sounds like a great idea. Please let us know the results of your experiments.

    You can also post this query in the forums; there are a bunch of folks there who cook without nuts.

    Elana

    Reply

  93. Great recipe – the whole family loved it. It’s always great to find gluten and dairy free recipes that are both tasty and healthy!

    Can you think of any way of making it nut free also for kids school lunches (they can’t take nuts to school)? Any kind of substitution of flours you could make for the almond meal? Maybe ground seeds like pepitas or something, with some ground coconut? I also thought about whether you could add a bit of baby rice cereal and water to help it stick together enough? What do you think?

    Reply

  94. Hi Elaine-
    Thanks for stopping by and for your great question. I have never used sesame flour –didn’t actually know it existed, so unfortunately cannot be of help with this one.

    Thanks,
    Elana

    Reply

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Your comment will need to be approved before it will appear on the site.

Like my recipe and health tips?
Get free updates sent to your inbox!

Get free recipes by email!