I love raspberry jam but most people turn their nose up at the “seediness” of the jam. So now I put my raspberries through a vegetable juicer to separate the jam from the seeds. I wish that my juicer could leave all the jam and just give me the seeds, but inevitably I also lose a lot of jam with seeds. Since I am a waste-not girl, I found a use for all those seeds in the form of raspberry seed crackers!
Come on. I will show you how.
Sweet, puckery and crunchy. What else can you ask for?
Why Not Compost them?
Surprisingly raspberry seeds are pretty darn good for you.
- They contain fiber which helps limit your risk of cancer, constipation, high blood sugar, cholesterol and heart disease.
- They contain antioxidants which helps reduce damage from free radicals thereby reducing your risk of diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, cancer and heart disease.
- Are rich in vitamin E and Omega-3 fatty acids.
And yummy as heck.
How to Make Raspberry Seed Crackers
Just an FYI. You can use this recipe for blackberry seeds as well. I did.
Ingredients:
Separated raspberry seeds and jam
Lemon Juice (This is the one I use.)
Lemon Zest
(That’s it!)
Instructions:
1. Separate the raspberries from the seeds. You can either mash them through a strainer which is tedious. (See above.) Alternatively, you can use a vegetable juicer to extract the seeds from the juice. My machine isn’t that great so I had to run the seeds through twice. You will have a lot of jam with the seeds which you want.
2. Put raspberry seed mash in a bowl and add a tablespoon of lemon juice or more to the mixture. I added a tablespoon but I had a cookie tray of mash.
3. Then add half to one lemon peel zest. Use fresh. Don’t use dried lemon peel. (I love adore my lemon zester.)
4. Spread raspberry seed mixture on either a silicone mat or parchment paper for the oven or the dehydrator. Note: if you use parchment paper, it will make permanent lines in your cookie sheet. (Just sayin’ so you don’t get upset if your cookie sheet is marred.)
5. Spread thinly–about a 1/2 inch thick. If you have too much, don’t pile it on. You will get Flintstones like cracker. They will be like biting into a rock. You can’t eat them. (You can grind them up to use them in your smoothie.)
6. Once you spread the mash, score it with a knife as if you were cutting brownies. Just don’t go all the way down to the parchment paper. Scoring allows you to have perfectly square cracker. It is so much easier to lift up the crackers if the mash is scored.
7. Crack open your oven with a prop such as Chinese chop sticks. There is a lot of moisture in the mash so you want to let out the steam. Half way through, I removed the chop sticks and let the oven do its thing.
8. Cook forever. I am not kidding. It took me 2 days to cook this mixture at 130 degrees. One batch was my fault since I did make Flintstones’ crackers. It took forever to dehydrate. Just keep checking your oven. (I have this stainless steel dehydrator. By the way, the racks are chrome.)
9. Alternatively use your dehydrator and set at 110 degrees and get a very long book.
10. They are done when they snap like a cracker. Pry them apart and put them in an air tight container.
Enjoy!
They are very sweet!
Alternatively, you can just same the raspberry seed mixture and use it for smoothies. But what fun would that be?
PS You know I grow raspberries? Want to learn how? Read HERE.
Join the Conversation:
What do you do with the leftover raspberry seeds?
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Emily @ Recipes to Nourish says
What a fun idea! I bet the flavor is great too!
Anna@Green Talk says
Emily, so sweet without any sugar. Anna
linda spiker says
Wow those look amazing! I have never seen anything like them before!
Anna@Green Talk says
Linda, you would love them. I am sure you would know exactly what to pair them with. Anna
Jessica says
Fun idea! I love raspberry anything!
Anna@Green Talk says
Jessica, me too!
Betsy (Eco-novice) says
Those look just wonderful. So pretty! Perfect with some goat cheese.
Anna@Green Talk says
Betsy, never thought of that pairing. OMG, that would be delicious.