Sunflower Cheese & Dill Crackers

All my life I always had a sweet tooth. I loved chocolate, cookies, cakes, ice cream, soda, candy – anything and everything sweet. When I went vegan, I noticed that after a couple of months, my sweet tooth began to disappear. Many of the sweets that I used to love just didn’t appeal to me anymore. Instead of ice cream now it’s banana nice cream. Instead of milk chocolate it’s dark chocolate. That kind of thing.

As my sweet tooth faded, it was replaced by a savory tooth! I love savory foods, especially if they incorporate an umami taste. This recipe for Sunflower Cheese & Dill Crackers checks off so many boxes. You get the savory, umami, cheesy, nutty Sunflower Cheese complemented with the lighter tasting cracker that is gluten free and contains yummy hints of dill. They pair together so well!

So preheat your oven and soak some sunflower seeds and let’s get started!

What You Need:

For the Sunflower Cheese

• 1 3/4 cup sunflower seeds, soaked overnight
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tsp miso
• 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp pink Himalayan or sea salt

For the Dill Crackers

• 1 cup gluten free flour (I used brown rice flour)
• 1 tbsp dried dill
• 1/2 tsp salt (plus extra for sprinkling)
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp vegan butter (like Earth Balance), melted
• 1/4 cup water (more as needed)

I adapted the cheese recipe from Sweet Potato Soul, and the amount of cheese you see in my photos is actually about half the recommended recipe. It makes a lot!

I stuck pretty close to the cracker recipe from The Pretty Bee. I had to get creative though, when the directions called for a rolling pin, because I don’t have one!

What You Do:

For the Sunflower Cheese

1. Place all of the cheese ingredients into a food processor and blend until creamy. I don’t have a food processor, so I used a blender. It didn’t get the mixture as smooth as I wanted, but it was doable. Also, feel free to tweak the ingredients to your taste. If you want it cheesier, add a little more nutritional yeast. It you want it tangier, squeeze in some more lemon.
2. Shape the cheese mixture into a disk. You can make one large disk like I did, or you can even use cookie cutters to make smaller shapes!
3. Serve immediately or place in the fridge for 1 hour to firm up. Serve with dill crackers, as well as veggies or bread.

For the Dill Crackers

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Mix together your dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Add the oil, melted butter, and water. Stir until a ball forms. Add more water if needed, a few drops at a time.
3. Make a disk with the dough. Place it between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out with a rolling pin until it’s about 1/8 inch thick.
4. Gently peel off the top piece of parchment paper. Use a knife to cut the dough into 1 inch pieces, but don’t separate the squares.
5. Sprinkle water on the squares and smooth with your fingers, then sprinkle with salt.
6. Transfer the dough to a cookie sheet and bake about 15-20 minutes, turning the sheet halfway through. You want your crackers nice and crisp, but not burnt.
7. Let crackers cool then break apart the squares.

Trust me, this cheese will not last long! And feel free to get creative with toppings. I sprinkled mine with paprika, but the options are endless. The crackers are so simple, but so addictive! And they can be used for hummus and other fancy vegan dips. Enjoy!

Jillian