Hi ho. Today we're going to make cheesy pecan crackers.
I needed some nutritional yeast for my recipe, so I had to go to a local health food store that my sister and I have nicknamed "Women and Women First". Like Toni and Candace on Portlandia, the women who run it are similarly humorless and unhelpful. (video below)
The woman who checked me out looked at the nutritional yeast and said, "I use that stuff sometimes. You get used to the taste." I said, "You can get used to anything, I suppose." She completely agreed.
You can skip the nutritional yeast, if you don't want to brave your local health food store, but it does add an extra punch of cheesiness to these little crackers.
This recipe is based on a family recipe for Southern Pecan Cheese Biscuits that we make every Christmas. According to my aunt, every Junior League south of the Mason Dixon Line includes one of these in their cookbook.
To make the dough low carb, I changed up the ingredients to include almond flour, cheddar cheese, cream cheese, and eggs. I based the dough on a great cheese cracker recipe that I found on I Save A to Z. Then I added in some spicy ground red pepper and a pecan on top to keep it Southern. I daresay that these low carb crackers could go head to head with anything the Junior League could produce.
And don't worry, you get used to the taste.
Spicy Low Carb Keto Cheese Pecan Crackers
These low carb cheese and pecan crackers are a Southern treat. With only 1g net carbs per serving, they make for a great holiday appetizer.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 16
- Total Time: 26 minutes
- Yield: 30 crackers 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: Southern
Ingredients
- 2 cups extra sharp aged cheddar cheese, freshly grated
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 oz cream cheese
- 1 cup almond flour
- ¼ teaspoon ground red pepper
- 1 egg, beaten
- ½ cup pecan halves
Instructions
1. Mix cheddar cheese, nutritional yeast, salt, cream cheese, almond flour and ground red pepper together in a medium sized microwave safe bowl.
2. Microwave on High for one minute until the cheeses are partially melted. Stir well to combine. If the dough can't be fully combined, then give it another 30 seconds in the microwave.
3. Allow to cool for several minutes and then mix in the beaten egg.
4. Roll the dough into a cylinder that is 1 ½ inches wide. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 45 min - 1 hour in the freezer to make it firm enough to cut. Chill longer if necessary.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and cover two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
6. Cut the dough cylinder into thin ⅛" thick rounds. (The thinner the better.) Place on the parchment covered cookie sheet.
7. Press one pecan into each cracker.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes until browned all over. There will be oil released from the cookies. Just leave it.
9. Cool the crackers on the cookie sheet. They'll crisp up as they cool.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 3 crackers
- Calories: 164
- Fat: 22
- Carbohydrates: 3
- Fiber: 2
- Protein: 9
Keywords: Low Carb Cheese Pecan Cracker, Ketp Cheese Pecan Cracker
If you liked these low carb crackers, then you might like my recipes for Pepperoni Chips or Everything Seed Crackers.
Karen says
These are really yummy. My favorite new staple for a low carb keto snack.
If you’re following the recipe step by step as you go, like I did the first time, careful at step 1 where it says mix all ingredients. Omit the egg. You add that AFTER you microwave most of the ingredients. I added the egg at step 1. It turned out just fine but you don’t want to cook the egg at this point.
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Thanks so much for catching that, and letting me know. I’ll fix the recipe now.
Holly says
Toni and Candace forever!
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Ha, they are a match made in feminist heaven.
Andra says
Trying these this weekend to take to a Super Bowl party. We're fairly new on this Keto journey and have decided that because we are losing weight and LOVE the way we feel this will be our forever eating lifestyle. By the way - love the Toni and Candace reference 🙂
Emily says
So glad you are going to bring these crackers to a Super Bowl party. These were my go-to for Christmas party snacks. It's such a relief to know that you'll have something on your diet to snack on when once you leave your house. It makes it so much easier to stay on a restrictive diet like this one.