If you’ve been following My New Roots for a while, you will know that I LOVE BUCKWHEAT. Like, a lot a lot. I try to make all kinds of things with it, from pancakes and waffles, to toppings for yogurt, smoothies and salads. These Pizza Party Crunchies are another addition to the long list of recipes featuring this beautiful food. Whole, activated buckwheat groats and sunflower seeds get slathered in a pizza-inspired sauce, baked to crispy perfection and can be put on all the things.
They are the best thing to add some crunch to your salads, soups and stews, savoury porridge, or avocado toast…but they also work as a put-your-hand-in-the-jar kinda snack for those in-between meal moments when you just need a hit of savoury satisfaction!
If you don’t have time to soak the grains and seeds, no worries, just skip this step and carry on with the remaining steps in the recipe. It’s always a stellar idea to soak, or “activate” your grains and seeds, but of course it’s not a deal-breaker.
Pizza Party Crunchies
Ingredients
- 1 cup / 170g buckwheat groats
- 1 cup / 135g hulled raw sunflower seeds
- ½ cup / 10g dried shiitake mushrooms
- ⅓ cup / 25g sun-dried tomatoes dry, not oil-packed
- 1 clove garlic peeled
- 1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. dried rosemary
- 1 Tbsp. tamari
Directions
- The night before, get your soak on:
- Bowl 1: Buckwheat with filtered water and a splash of apple cider vinegar
- Bowl 2: Sunflower seeds with filtered water and about a 1 tablespoon of salt
- Bowl 3: Mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes with filtered water
- The next morning, drain and rinse the buckwheat and sunflower seeds, and place them together in a large bowl. Drain the mushrooms and tomatoes, but keep the soaking liquid and set aside.
- Place the mushrooms, tomatoes, garlic, nutritional yeast, oregano, rosemary, and tamari in a blender or food processor and blend on high, adding the soaking liquid from the tomatoes and mushrooms as needed (I used 1/2 cup / 125ml). The sauce consistency should be creamy and thick but spreadable (kind of like hummus).
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C.
- Pour sauce over the drained buckwheat and sunflower seeds, toss to coat well, using your hands if necessary. Spread out in an even layer on a standard rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 1 hour, turning at 20 minutes, then every 10 minutes until the 1-hour mark. If the mixture is not crispy at this point, turn the oven off and let the mix sit in the oven with the door closed until totally dry.
- Remove from the oven and let cool. Transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to one month.
