Nooch-Its! They’re like Cheez-Its, but with no cheese! Get it? No . . ch! Wait, it gets cheesier. (I’m on a roll here). Instead of cheese, these are made with nutritional yeast, which is affectionately referred to as “nooch.” See what I did there?
Don’t they look like the real thing? I know, I was excited too. It gets better. These are naturally gluten-free thanks to the power of CHICKPEA FLOUR. Hold the phone. Chickpea flour, you say? What in blazes is that? Ok, so this is going to sound crazy, but chickpea flour is ground up chickpeas. MIND. BLOWN.
So, you can make chickpea flour at home, but it’s one of those things on my list of Things That I’m Not Going To Do. So where do you find this wonder flour? Well, it will likely be sold in the bulk section of your local fancypants grocery store, the kind with artisanal bathrooms. However, that is pretty much the most expensive place to buy it. Lucky for you, it’s hiding right in your local ethnic market! Have you ever passed by an Asian or Indian grocer and thought, “hey, I should stop in there sometime?” Well, you SHOULD. It’s a goldmine! Depending on the store, they will carry all kinds of awesome stuff at even awesomer prices (yeah, I said awesomer). I will do more in-depth posts on this topic, TBD. In the meantime, if you go in to one of these awesome stores asking for chickpea flour, be aware that it goes by a few different names, such as besan, gram, or garbanzo flour. They are all the same deal. Chickpeas ground up into flour. It’s good stuff.
Once you have your chickpea flour, you are ready to get your Nooch-It on. Wait, you’ll need a few more things. Here they are.
Hold up. COCONUT OIL? Yes, I know it sounds nuts. But here’s a little secret. Refined coconut oil doesn’t taste like coconut. Crazy, right? Don’t be scared by the refined part, it’s going to be ok. The refining process is mechanical, no nasty chemicals are used. So it’s still got the goodness of coconut oil, just not the scent. Which is exactly what we want for this application. You can also use oil or vegan butter, but it won’t have quite the same texture. So it’s up to you. I’m not the coconut oil police.
So, to get these bad boys going, you want to dump all of the dry ingredients into your food processor and whiz em’ together for a couple seconds. Then, pulse in the coconut oil until it’s fairly evenly distributed. Then, add in the non-dairy yogurt or cold water, a little at a time, until a dough ball forms, like this:
Another super cool thing about this dough is that it is really easy to work with. A light dusting of flour is all you need, it should roll out really easily. And here’s a nifty tip. Invert a cookie sheet and cut parchment paper to fit, and roll out your dough right on the parchment paper. Then once the crackers are cut out, you can just put the cookie sheet directly into the oven. No need to precariously transfer the parchment over to the cookie sheet, it’s already there! You’re welcome.
Roll the dough out as thin as you can, and then use a pizza cutter or knife to score the dough into squares, or whatever shape you fancy. If you have any bamboo skewers around, the flat end works perfectly to make the tell-tale dot in the middle of the square. As you can see, mine weren’t all that square, but it’s all good. They tasted square, dangit.
Now let them hang out in the oven for 18-20 minutes. They’re ready to go when the outer edges are golden brown. If you keep them pale, they won’t be very crispy. That’s your call. After you exercise the virtue of patience, and let them cool down for a few minutes, you’ll have achieved cracker nirvana. Nooch-its! I think it’s fun to say, don’t you?
Keep calm and cracker on.
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Regarding the oats, be sure to use certified gluten-free oats to ensure that these are 100% gluten-free. Alternatively, leave out the oat flour altogether and increase the chickpea flour to 1 cup.
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup chickpea flour
- 1/3 cup oat flour (can be made by grinding up whole oats in food processor)
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast (the nooch!)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder or granulated garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder or granulated onion
- 1/8 teaspoon paprika
- 3 Tablespoons refined coconut oil (vegan butter, or other neutral flavored oil (such as grapeseed))
- 3–5 Tablespoons cold water or plain/unsweetened non-dairy yogurt (check to make sure it’s not vanilla!)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Add all dry ingredients to the bowl of your food processor fitted with the metal S-blade ( I tried the dough blade, and it didn’t work). Pulse a few times to mix all the ingredients together. Add the coconut oil and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the non-dairy yogurt or water, one tablespoon at a time, until a loose ball of dough forms in the bowl.
- Invert a cookie sheet and cut a piece of parchment paper to fit. Turn out the dough onto the parchment paper and pat into a rectangle shape. Roll dough out to a 1/8 inch thickness, and cut into square shapes using a pizza cutter, pastry cutter, or knife. Add the dot in the middle of each square using the flat end of a bamboo skewer, or the tine of a fork.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool so the crackers can crisp up, then enjoy! If you can wait, that is.
Notes
Adapted from Minimalist Baker
godskidglo
April 28, 2014 at 3:09 pmThey look super yummy, Beth!! Can’t wait to try them! I just hope I can find the chickpea flour around in my neck of the woods! One question, did you dust them with salt before baking?
Beth
April 28, 2014 at 7:03 pmYep! So that they look and taste even more authentic. 🙂 Oh, and I’ll be posting more info about chickpea flour soon, once I find the cheapest online source (for those who might not be able to source it locally).
godskidglo
April 28, 2014 at 7:26 pmI thought I detected a hint of salt on the tops! YUM!
Ok, so I found the chickpea flour on iherb.com for $2.56/lb, but you have to buy $20 worth of merchandise to get free shipping…otherwise it was going to add another $4 to my order if I only wanted to get one. I am going to keep looking to see if I can get it somewhere that I do regular online ordering.
Hannah Elizabeth
April 28, 2014 at 5:12 pmYummers!! Weird, we were just talking about y’all and Cheese-Its…and this homemade version sounds absolutely addictive! I’ve been wanting to try chickpea flour ever since I first heard about it, but I haven’t yet. This may be a good excuse to try (especially because some people in my family don’t care for nutritional yeast, while I love it, sooo…all the more for me, right? ;))!
Beth
April 28, 2014 at 7:05 pmI wonder if anyone will even detect the nutritional yeast in this, Hannah. Let me know if you try them!
Beth
April 29, 2014 at 5:07 amSee Erin’s recent comment! 🙂
Erin
April 28, 2014 at 6:42 pmCan’t wait to try them. I bet my kids will devour them with glee! I remember picking up my daughter from Sunday school to find her gobbling goldfish crackers despite a big red sticker on her name tag that says “no dairy, no eggs, brings own snack” the well intentioned volunteer was aghast at my objection “there’s dairy in goldfish crackers!?!” I’ve been meaning to make something like them ever since and this doesn’t look as hard as I thought. 🙂
Beth
April 28, 2014 at 7:04 pmThey are so easy! I remember you telling me about the goldfish cracker incident. I plan to do the same thing for my little love!
Lindsay @ Pinch of Yum
April 28, 2014 at 9:07 pmVery cool, Beth! Your site looks great!
Beth
April 28, 2014 at 11:14 pmThanks so much, Lindsay! And Happy Birthday! 🙂
Andrea @ Dash of Reality
April 29, 2014 at 1:57 amBeth your site and pictures look great! You are off to a fantastic start.
Beth
April 29, 2014 at 3:22 amThanks so much, Andrea!
Erin Jean
April 29, 2014 at 4:08 amI made these this afternoon and they turned out amazing, everyone loved them, even my nutritional yeast hating husband! 🙂 I followed the recipe exactly, making a double batch and used the cold water option. They are all gone as of this writing. Delicious and easy, will be bookmarking this for future use for sure!
Beth
April 29, 2014 at 5:06 amThis makes me so happy! So glad everyone enjoyed them!
Kim Bradbury
April 29, 2014 at 1:49 pmI can’t wait for Beth to bring some to me! I bet they will be awesomer than I could ever imagine!
puree juice bar
April 29, 2014 at 9:59 pmi love everything about this. especially your oversized sunglasses. 😉
Beth
April 29, 2014 at 10:27 pmThank you! Life always looks better through oversized sunglasses. 🙂
Bjork
April 30, 2014 at 1:20 pmYour site looks awesome Beth. Congrats!
Beth
April 30, 2014 at 5:32 pmThanks so much, Bjork! I’m having a great time getting started.
Kim Bradbury
May 2, 2014 at 1:40 pmBeth brought me some Nooch-Its today as she promised. Two snaps in a circle! That probably dates me. Anyway they are deeeelicious! Maybe a variation with pesto or pepper flakes would give them more of a grown up party snack taste. The original is fantastic.
Beth
May 2, 2014 at 1:45 pmI am cracking up laughing over the “two snaps in a circle” reference. It dates me, so it absolutely dates you. 😉 Great idea for the flavors! Will work on that for another round.
Dana Shultz (@minimalistbaker)
May 2, 2014 at 10:11 pmGorgeous job friend! I love your adaptation 😀
Beth
May 2, 2014 at 10:39 pmThanks friend!!! I am so glad! Thanks for all of your encouragement along the way.
Colleen
May 3, 2014 at 6:41 pmHi Beth , these look so great and I am so excited as I’m about to embark on an elimination diet for my 16 month old and have been looking for a cracker recipe he can eat! These fit the bill with the exception of the oat flour. Do you have any suggestions for a replacement please? Buckwheat flour or coconut flour? I’m new to this! Thanks for any advice!
Beth
May 3, 2014 at 6:49 pmHi Colleen! I think buckwheat flour would work just fine, coconut is a little bit trickier to substitute cup for cup. I have been meaning to try it with only chickpea flour (1 cup total), and I suspect it would work out just fine. Give it a go with the buckwheat flour or the chickpea flour alone and let me know how it goes. I’m so happy this is going to be helpful for your little one! I have a 19-month old and she scarfs these down happily. 🙂
colleen
May 4, 2014 at 12:18 pmHi Beth,
I made these as you suggested with a full cup of chickpea flour, and they are awesome!!! My little one is sitting here on my lap chomping them down as I type!
thanks so very much!
Beth
May 4, 2014 at 12:25 pmHi Colleen,
This makes me so happy!!! Thanks for letting me know!!
Alyson
May 11, 2014 at 6:34 amTo be GF – you must use GF oat flour/oats. Not ALL oats are GF – most are not.
Beth
May 11, 2014 at 11:08 amGood point, Alyson, I’ll update the recipe with that note.
godskidglo
May 15, 2014 at 7:23 amI made these yesterday and took them to prayer meeting where there is an entire family (with 5 kids) that are vegan/GF eaters and they LOVED them! One little boy told me that I ought to make them and sell them in the store bc they don’t have anything nearly as good in the store. He asked if he could take the crackers home with him (of course I said yes!) 🙂 They are a hit, Beth!
[email protected]
May 21, 2014 at 8:23 amThese look tasty and yum that they are GF, Earth Balance cheese crackers are a bit expensive for me to eat everyday, but making your own is a brilliant idea! I love Minimalistic Baker, they are awesome!
Beth
May 21, 2014 at 11:43 amHi Rika! Thank you for the comment! I absolutely love your site, by the way. Vegan Miam, indeed, everything looks delicious! I agree, Minimalist Baker is the best! I have made so many of Dana’s recipes and it was so much fun to adapt one for my first post. This version ended up being a fun surprise because the chickpea flour does a lot to bring out the classic color of the crackers and it also bumps up the protein and fiber by quite a bit, not to mention being gluten-free. I hope you try them!
Trish
August 11, 2014 at 11:54 amHi! I nearly fainted when I saw someone successfully recreated Cheezeits 🙂
I’m GF, and I was reading the comments about the appropriate flours to substitute.
But how about the nutritional yeast for anti candida eating? Would folks mind providing educational feedback please as how best to make these into anti Candida snacks?
Thank you and regards,
Trish
Beth
August 12, 2014 at 10:53 pmHi Trish! It’s funny, I was just wondering about the anti-Candida thing because I’m doing the Conscious Cleanse right now and can’t have nutritional yeast (sniff, sniff). I was planning on trying Chickpea Miso to try to give it that fermented/cultured flavor. Can you have Chickpea Miso?
Sangitha
June 20, 2015 at 9:17 amThank you very much for sharing!! Just made them for our toddler daughter and gave her a sample and she kept coming back for more! Tasty and besan has protein and so I’m very excited. My husband and I found it externally salty and I followed the reci
Beth
June 21, 2015 at 12:48 pmI’m so glad your toddler liked them! So sorry you and your husband found them salty. I think I have a salty palate. 🙂 I have also recently learned that some brands of salts are “saltier” than others, who knew? I hope you will try them again with less salt to suit your tastes. All the best! ~ Beth
Sangitha
June 21, 2015 at 5:37 pmI absolutely will be making these again Beth! Will reduce salt and it will be just perfect :). Thanks!!
Donna
July 9, 2015 at 1:07 pmYou are so funny! Your post here was a delightful read! You had me smiling or laughing most of the way through! Hope to find chickpea flour at W.F.’s tomorrow and make these a.s.a.p. Wish I could make them right NOW!!!
Brigitte
October 11, 2015 at 7:34 amWhat could I substitute for the non-dairy yogurt? I have everything in my pantry but that and it’s not available in any of my usual grocery stores.
★★★★
Beth
October 11, 2015 at 9:06 amHi Brigitte! I would try slightly less non-dairy milk with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
Let me know how it goes!
Ben Richardson
November 23, 2015 at 3:44 amThanks for the recipe! I made them, well I made them with a few modifications. I substituted buckwheat flour for the oat flour, added fresh rosemary and oregano and 1/2 cup of soaked flax seeds. Then instead of baking them I dehydrated them for 24 hours.
The outcomes are pleasing, cheesy, crunchy, flavorsome on their own and strong enough to hold whatever kind of topping or dip I might like to scoop up – I made the crackers large, about 1/3 the size of a slice of bread. Fantastic for scooping hummus or anything hummus-like.
★★★★★
Kay
August 21, 2016 at 5:43 pmThanks so much! this was really good!
Renee
November 20, 2016 at 12:38 pmHave you ever used quinoa flour? I tried this using quinoa flour, and it was real crumbly. Any suggestions?
JN
March 4, 2017 at 12:15 pmHi Beth, I found you more than a yr ago with this recipe and just wanted you to know that I make them SOO often that it is a staple. I give it to my dog as well, who loves it. I omit the onion powder and reduce the salt.
THANK YOU!!!!!!
★★★★★
Jan K
April 30, 2017 at 1:38 pmI like JN’s comment about making dog crackers out of these, what a great idea! I just made these for myself, first time making crackers and I think I’ll tweak them for more flavor and make them thinner next time but all in all a good effort, thanks for the recipe idea!
★★★★
Stephenie Langston
May 3, 2017 at 8:39 amDo you have a recommendation for subbing chickpea flour? My husband is allergic to them and any legumes along with quinoa. Thanks!
Judy
November 10, 2017 at 10:36 amDoes anyone know the end result of water vs yogurt? These look great but we are dairy free. So, I was thinking of trying Sundubu (soft tofu) thinking that the consistency would be much closer to yogurt. I’m assuming I still need to use 1 T of lemon juice? Thanks much.
Beth
November 10, 2017 at 11:53 amThese are dairy-free too! All of the recipes here are. There should be plain unsweetened dairy free yogurt in stores, but if not in your area I️ would try some plain unsweetened non-dairy milk with the lemon juice. Just start with a smaller amount and add more if needed. Hope that helps!
Judy
November 10, 2017 at 9:44 pmThank you, Beth, it does. I am looking forward to trying these bc yours look so much like the real deal. I have made many times a similar recipe, which my allergic to everything hubby & I really enjoy. They don’t come out looking as good as yours though, either in my kitchen or in the pictures in the blog I found the recipe in. I have never heard of non-dairy yogurt, but I’ll find it somewhere & I’ll let you know how it goes. BTW, I have spent a lot of time on your blog today & I want to say THANK YOU! I’ll be trying several of your dishes. I also want to say that you present an enjoyable read.
Chelsay Long
March 29, 2019 at 12:19 pmMine did not come.out orange ;( I used water because my homemade almond yogurt is vanilla 🙁 and I used vegan butter because my coconut oil was unrefined. Help please. Also my nutritional yeast was in flake form. I have no idea where I went wrong. Mine turned like a wheat flour brown and taste like chicken and biscuit crackers
★★★★★