There’s only enough batter there to keep things together, letting all the nutty goodness really shine. We munched on these from the fridge for more than a week and the flavors just kept on getting better. I used a cayenne-flavored dark chocolate for the topping, but regular would be fine – maybe sprinkled with a bit of extra cayenne for more spicy kick. I also used whole cane sugar and agave as sweeteners, but to simplify things I’m sure using just one or the other would work as well.

Here’s what I used:

• 2 and 1/2 dl assorted nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, and almonds)
• 1 dl raw coconut flakes
• 1/2 dl chick pea flour (gram or besan)
• 1/2 dl whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 dl coconut oil in room temperature
• 1/2 dl whole cane sugar
• 2 and 1/2 tablespoons agave syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
• 1 tablespoon soy yoghurt
• 60 grams (cayenne-flavored) dark chocolate, chopped

First, I preheated the oven to 175 degrees Celsius, covered my baking dish with parchment paper, and sprayed it with a bit of olive oil. I also chopped the nuts and the chocolate – the nuts quite coarsely, dividing them only in 2-3 pieces each.

To make the batter, I mixed the dry ingredients except nuts and coconut flakes (chickpea flour through cayenne) in one bowl, and the wet ingredients (coconut oil through soy yogurt) in another. Now I poured the dry into wet and stirred with a fork just enough to mix. Then I poured nuts and coconut flakes in the batter bowl and stirred until they were evenly coated with the batter. There should be just enough batter to coat.

Now I spread the mixture in the baking dish and baked the squares for 15 minutes, until nicely browned. I turned down the heat in the oven, sprinkled the chocolate evenly over the nutty layer, and then placed the baking dish back in the oven for 1 minute to melt the chocolate. I removed the dish from the oven and spread the chocolate evenly with a butter knife, then let the whole thing come to room temperature, and refrigerated for a few hours before cutting into small squares with a sharp, unserrated knife.

Ever since I learnt to use our mandolin I’ve been making oven fries from scratch. I’m guessing they’re almost as quick to prepare as frozen fries but way more tasty, especially the crusty bits with potato skin. I enjoyed these with a mayonnaise dipping sauce that consisted of 2 parts plain soy yoghurt, 1 part vegan mayonnaise and a pinch of salt. Mayo was never a favorite of mine until I spent some time as an au-pair in Brussels and learnt to love it with fries.

This is what I used (serves 2-3):

• 4 large potatoes
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

I set the oven to 225 degrees Celsius. Then I scrubbed the potatoes and used our mandolin (aka v-slicer) to chop them into 1 cm thick strips. This could be done without a mandolin but the tool really makes the whole process much quicker and easier.

Now I spread the fries on a kitchen towel on a single layer and then folded the other half of the towel over the fries, patted them lightly, and let them dry until the oven was ready. Meanwhile, I mixed the paprika, cayenne, thyme and oil in a bowl, and when the oven had reached the right temperature I just tossed the fries in the oil until they were all evenly coated.

I spread the fries on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper in such a way that none of them were overlapping – important for crispy results. Then I baked them for 15 minutes in the upper third of the oven, tossed them up a bit, and baked for another 10 minutes until they were nicely fried and crispy. After baking I sprinkled them with sea salt and they were ready to serve.

I imagine oat flour can be bought commercially as well, but grinding rolled oats does the trick just fine. I first learned about this method from a cookbook I checked out from the library a while back, Dreena Burton’s The Everyday Vegan.

The oat cracker dough:

• 2 dl rolled oats, finely ground
• 1 and 1/4 dl wheat flour
• 3/4 dl nutritional yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (for color)
• 1 dl water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed

I set the oven to 175 degrees Celsius, and proceeded to make the crackers exactly like the last time. The only thing I had to do differently was to ground the oats, which I did in our mini food processor. I processed them until they were fine, much like whole wheat flour.

I combined water, olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, and garlic, and placed the resulting wet mix in the fridge. Then I mixed the rest of the ingredients in a bowl, and covered a baking sheet with parchment paper. When the oven was ready, I added the fridge-cold wet mix to the dry mix bowl, stirred with a fork until combined, and rolled it out on the baking parchment with the help of a little bit of extra flour. I cut the cookies with a pastry wheel and baked them for 20 minutes, until nicely browned and crispy.

After doing a lot of online research I settled on a recipe that uses a combination of white and whole wheat flour, includes nutritional yeast, and is seasoned with garlic, cayenne pepper and a little bit of mustard. I also wanted my crackers to have a light texture, so added baking soda and lemon juice – some cracker recipes don’t have any kind of leavening to my great surprise.

This recipe is very adjustable and the spices can be just about anything. I made a batch with only whole wheat, seasoned with tahini, sesame seeds, and wakame seaweed, and Heikki really liked that combo. For me, this is the recipe that works best:

Cayenne Garlic Crackers:

• 2 dl whole wheat flour
• 1 dl wheat flour
• 3/4 dl nutritional yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika powder
• 1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (for color)
• 1 dl water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed

First, I set the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Then I combined the water, olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, and garlic, and placed the resulting wet mix in the fridge to cool down. I mixed the rest of the ingredients in a bowl, and covered a baking sheet with parchment paper. When the oven was ready, I added the fridge-cold wet mix to the dry mix bowl, and stirred with a fork until combined. The dough was a little sticky at this point but that’s okay, it was still easy to roll out with the help of a little bit of extra flour.

I sprinkled the parchment paper with some flour, and rolled out the dough with a rolling pin, adding a little more flour here and there when the dough started to stick. I rolled it out until it filled the whole baking sheet, trying to make it as even as possible, and then cut it with a pastry wheeler into triangles as pictured here:

This can be done with a knife as well. It’s not necessary to cut all through the dough – the crackers will bake more evenly if they stick together in the oven, and they’re easy to separate after baking.

Now, I baked my crackers for 20 minutes, until they started to brown just a little bit. These burn very quickly, so it’s best to keep an eye on them after the first 13 minutes or so. Our oven is old and tired, and for some reason it gets very hot in the central area, so the crackers in the center of the baking sheet got a little browner than the ones around the sides. If your oven bakes unevenly, it might be a good idea to turn the baking sheet around midway through baking.

The crackers don’t need to be completely crispy once taken out of the oven, they do crisp up while cooling down. I let mine cool completely on the baking sheet, and then stored them in an airtight container.