Homemade healthy crackers to complement the new Ilchester® Light Cheese Selection Net
To celebrate the launch of the ilchester® light cheese selection net, which contains a lighter version of mexicana®, smoky applewood® and ilchester® cheese, i have created 3 different healthy and delicious crackers to complement each cheese
20 mins
30 mins
339 kcals
serves 1
HOMEMADE HEALTHY CRACKERS TO COMPLEMENT THE NEW ILCHESTER® LIGHT CHEESE SELECTION NET
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Norseland.
If you’re a cheese-lover or a savoury snack lover, then this is for you! Ilchester® cheese (who famously brought us the Cheese Advent Calendar in 2018!) have released 3 of their delicious cheeses in a Light Cheese Selection! The net contains Fiery Mexicana® (my absolute favourite!), Smoky Applewood® and Creamy Ilchester® . The brilliant news, is that the cheeses are in the perfect portions to be your Healthy Extra A if you are following Slimming World!
To celebrate the launch of the new Ilchester® Light Cheese Selection, which is now available in Waitrose, Morrisons and Asda, I have created 3 delicious and healthy flavours of oat crackers (and watch out for the secret ingredient!) to complement each cheese!
What are the cheeses, and how do they fit into the Slimming World plan?
Mexicana®- I am absolutely thrilled that Ilchester® Cheese have released this light version of Mexicana®, because previously it was not counted as Healthy Extra. Now, 2 of these cute little 20g portions of Mexicana® cheese count as 1 Healthy Extra A! Mexicana® is packed full of flavour, it’s spicy, with Mexican flavours and is absolutely mouth-watering!
Smoky Applewood®- This is a British cheddar which is made in the Westcountry and gets its golden colour and smoky flavour from added paprika- it’s creamy and full of flavour. 2 20g portions from the snacking net count as 1 Healthy Extra A on Slimming World!
Ilchester® Light- A lighter cheddar that has a subtle flavour and a creamy texture. Each 20g portion of Ilchester® light is 3 syns, and 2 are 1 Healthy Extra A.
How can I make delicious, healthy and Slimming World friendly cheese crackers at home?
I’ve always meant to have a go at making my own cheese crackers for special occasions/snacks for the children and easy lunches, and after making a chickpea crust for pizza a while ago, I thought that these could make a brilliant cheese cracker if combined with some oats! Using tinned chickpeas completely removes the need for flour, and provides a crispy and fat-free cracker!
I made 3 flavours of crackers, to complement each of the cheeses in the net:
Rosemary and sea-salt crackers, to go alongside the Smoky Applewood®
Red onion crackers to go alongside the Mexicana® cheese (SUCH a good combo!)
Salt and pepper crackers to go alongside the Ilchester Light® cheese.
How are they made?:
The full recipe and ingredients are below, but you will make a dough from chickpeas, oats, egg, and your favourite flavourings. You will then roll this out using greaseproof paper, and cut out the biscuit shapes. These are then baked until golden and crispy.
You will need a food processor for this recipe.
Make a ball of dough using a food processor
Pat the dough down between to pieces of baking paper
Roll the dough out to about 3-4mm thick
Cut out the biscuit shapes and place onto a baking tray on top of baking paper
For more information about Ilchester cheeses, visit the Ilchester Cheese website
How do these crackers work on Slimming World:
You may be aware of the term ‘tweaking’ – it’s how Slimming World avoids ‘free’ foods being used in a way that could cause you to overeat- for example scones made out of mashed potato, and biscuits made out of cous-cous.
Chickpeas are a free food on Slimming World, but chickpea flour would be synned. These crackers are full of the goodness of chickpeas which contain protein, fibre, iron and many other vitamins and minerals. Personally, I would not syn the chickpeas, just the oats, as I would be eating a controlled portion of the crackers alongside my cheesy snack! However, if you feel that this is tweaking then these cookies are 1.5 syns each (Counting 38 syns for the chickpeas by synning them as gram flour, and 14 syns for the oats). If, like me, you are just synning the oats you can have 3 crackers for 1 syn.
Homemade healthy crackers to complement the new Ilchester® Light Cheese Selection Net
- Total Time: 50 minutes
Description
Syns: 3 crackers for 1 syn
Ingredients
- 80 g Oats
- 400 g tin chickpeas
- 1 egg white
- Variations:
- For Rosemary and Sea-Salt flavour: 2 tsp dried, chopped rosemary and 1.5 tsp sea salt flakes
- For salt and pepper flavour: 1.5 tsp sea salt flakes and 1.5 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- For red onion flavour: 1 small red onion, finely chopped and fried gently for 6 minutes to soften
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C
- Rinse and drain the chickpeas, and then whizz them up in the food processor
- Add the oats, and then whizz up again
- Add whichever flavour combination you have chosen, and the white of one egg, and blend. At this point the dough should form into a ball in the mixer
- Place the ball of dough onto a large piece of greaseproof paper, and lay another piece over the top
- Using a rolling pin, roll the dough to a thickness of around 3mm
- Using a small, round cutter, cut into biscuits. Place on top of baking paper on a large baking tray
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until crisp and slightly golden
Notes
Best eaten fresh, store in an airtight container
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
