These falafel-inspired chickpea crisps are a delicious and creative appetizer or snack to serve guests! The accompanying spicy red lentil dip is the perfect complement.
I jumped at the chance to try the Middle Eastern Falafel Crisps along with a Spicy Red Lentil Dip to join them. My chickpea crisp dough started out fairly wet (in its defense, it's quite humid these days), so I kneaded in a bit of extra flour to get a nice pliable consistency.
Rolling out this dough by hand was easy and reminded me of rolling out a savory soft cookie dough.
I used a ruler to cut perfectly straight and even crackers. This was a piece of cake! Why had I never made crackers before?
I omitted the final step of brushing extra olive oil on top of the crackers (they already had plenty of olive oil in the dough) and still found the crackers to bake up beautifully golden and crisp.
They were crisp and flaky and had a wonderful flavor from all the spices within as well as the sweet chickpea flour, with a bit of sesame seed and salt crust on top. They were SO GOOD!! Dangerous too because it's hard to stop snacking on them. At least they're homemade, so there's less guilt 🙂
I additionally made some Spicy Red Lentil Dip, although the crackers are absolutely fantastic without it. The dip is simple and quick and features fast-cooking red lentils and spicy harissa (a Tunisian chili pepper paste--I found mine at Whole Foods, but you can also make your own).
It has the texture of a bean dip (thicker and more spreadable than hummus) with a great Middle Eastern flair. Although the crackers are awesome on their own, this dip definitely adds a great edge.
Making homemade crackers is not nearly as fussy as you would imagine, and worth a bit of added effort to give yourself, your friends, and your family better and more natural homemade snacks! And seriously, what's more impressive than showing up to a party with HOMEMADE CRACKERS AND DIP?!
Other recipes you may like
- Homemade Cheddar Cheese Crackers
- Liptauer (Austrian/Slovakian Cheese Spread)
- Kashke Bademjan (Persian Eggplant Dip)
- Buffalo Chicken Dip
Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also follow me on social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
Middle Eastern Falafel Crisps with Spicy Red Lentil Dip
Ingredients
Falafel Crisps:
- 1 cup (105 grams) chickpea flour
- ¾ cup (90 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 5 tablespoons (75 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) water
- 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
Spicy Red Lentil Dip:
- 1 cup (195 grams) red lentils
- 1 bay leaf
- Fine sea salt
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 garlic clove finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
- 2 teaspoon harissa
- 2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- To make the falafel crisps: In a food processor or a medium bowl, pulse or whisk together the chickpea flour, all-purpose flour, parsley, cumin, garlic powder, baking powder, coriander, onion powder, sea salt, black pepper, and cayenne.
- Add the olive oil to the flour mixture and pulse or stir with a fork until the mixture forms crumbs. In a small measuring cup, combine the water and corn syrup and stir until the syrup dissolves. Add the water mixture to the flour mixture and pulse or stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together in a slightly sticky dough (Mine was too wet so I kneaded in a bit of extra flour until it came together). Knead gently on a lightly floured surface until smooth, about 5 strokes. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and allow the dough to relax for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper (I used 2 baking sheets and took turns baking them). Divide the dough into two balls and roll each ball out on a lightly floured surface until it is ⅛-inch thick, picking up the dough and rotating it a quarter turn frequently to make sure it is not sticking, if necessary.
- Using a pastry wheel or pizza cutter, cut the dough into rectangles measuring 2-by-1-inches and use a lightly floured spatula or bench scraper to transfer the crackers to the prepared baking sheets. Repeat the rolling and cutting with the scraps.
- Sprinkle the crackers with the sesame seeds and coarse salt, and tamp down the toppings with the bottom of a measuring cup to adhere them to the crackers. Bake until the crackers are golden brown and crisp to the touch, 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the pan once from back to front while baking. If some of the crackers are done before others, transfer them to a cooling rack and return the undone crackers to the oven for a few more moments. Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Makes about 50 crackers.
- To make the red lentil dip: Rinse the lentils with cold water and drain. Combine the lentils, bay leaf, and 1 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan. Add enough water to cover by 4 inches and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently until the lentils are tender and falling apart, about 10 minutes. Drain the lentils in a fine-mesh sieve. Discard the bay leaf and let the lentils cool for 10 minutes in the sieve.
- Transfer the lentils to a food processor and add the lemon juice, tomato paste, garlic, cilantro, harissa, cumin, and olive oil. Blend until smooth, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Season the dip with salt, if desired, and transfer it to a serving bowl. Allow the dip to stand for at least 1 hour before serving to allow the flavors to develop. The cooled dip can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Makes 2 ½ cups.
Notes
Nutrition
*All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.*
Bea says
I really loved the falafel crisps! I never thought of that before. The dip is certainly delicious too. I thought about buying the crackers & dip book but would you recommend it? Thank you so much!
Victoria says
Hi Bea,
I'm glad you loved the recipe! The book is good although I've only tried out a few recipes myself, including the Cheddar Cheese Crackers. If you enjoy baking and like fun DIY from-scratch projects, there are a lot of interesting cracker and dip recipes worth trying including savory and sweet options.