I’ve always loved those delicious, but pricy, thin fruit and nut crackers you can buy to have with cheese. They have a texture that seems like it would be impossible to duplicate, being not entirely crisp like a typical cracker, but not entirely soft either – a sort of chewy crunch.

I’ve made nut and seed crackers very successfully before, but adding dried fruit always seems a bit risky – some of you have probably experienced trying to make your own toasted muesli and ending up with dried fruit hard enough to crack your teeth (hence why my favourite has no fruit)!

So after that lead in, you won’t be surprised that I’ve found a fantastic recipe with the perfect taste and texture. Amusingly, given the number of cookbooks I own, I found it in the free magazine I got when I bought my fabulous new stove (as a side note, I now have my perfect oven) 🙂

The method is similar to biscotti, but, due I think to the amount of dried fruit plus the honey, they don’t set as hard as biscotti, and are much thinner, so you still get that lovely chew.

They are fabulous with soft cheese, and you could easily vary the fruit, nuts and seeds to whatever is your favourite combination, as long as you keep the amounts similar.

Fruit and nut crackers – Fig, Cherry & Walnut / Apricot, Almond & Pepita / Date, Pistachio & Pecan

Adapted from a Winning Appliances magazine

Cracker base

• 250ml milk
• 90g honey
• 70g full fat yoghurt
• 75g plain flour
• 80g wholemeal flour
• 1 tsp bicarb soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 Tbs brown linseed

For fig/cherry/walnut crackers

• 10 dried figs
• 130g dried cherries
• 100g walnuts
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cracked pepper
• zest of 1 orange

For apricot/almond/pepita crackers

• 160g roasted almonds
• 150g dried apricots
• 80g pepitas
• 1/8 tsp cardamom
• zest of 1 lemon

For date/pistachio/pecan crackers

• 140g dried dates
• 140g pistachios
• 100g pecans
• 35g sesame seeds
• 2 Tbs tahini
• 1 tsp grated ginger

Preheat oven to 180C fan forced. Grease or line a small loaf tin (mine is 21 by 10 cm) with baking paper.

Add milk and honey to a large microwave proof jug or bowl, and heat until honey is melted and combined with milk. Cool to just warm. Roughly chop dried fruit and nuts for your chosen cracker flavour. Stir yoghurt into milk, followed by dry ingredients, along with fruit, nuts, spices and flavourings. For the date and pistachio crackers, add the tahini with the yoghurt.

Smooth into the tin, and bake for 30-40 minutes until springy and a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes before cooling completely on a rack.

Wrap loaf in a plastic bag, and freeze for about 2-3 hours until very firm, but not completely solid. Slice very thinly (aim for 2mm slices, but otherwise as thin as you can). Set oven to 120C. Line trays with baking paper, and lay out slices close together. Bake for about 30 min (depending how thin you sliced) until golden and firm, then cool on the tray. They won’t be crunchy straight our of the oven, but should firm up quickly. If they’re still a bit soft, then bake for another 5-10 minutes.

The crackers will keep for a couple of days in a tin at room temperature, but will get leathery after that, so freeze in an airtight container or bag for longer storage.

Makes approx 30-35 crackers from each batch