Moroccan-ish Sweet Potato Dip with Sesame Chickpea Crackers
This post is sponsored by Mountain Rose Herbs.
I think this is the first “game day” appropriate recipe I’ve ever made before some sort of big sports event. SPORTSING! People are still doing that? Guess men in tight pants vicariously bludgeoning each other in play-war is still entertaining to good ol’ US of A. Nothing like watching enormous dudes smashing headlong into each other to get your adrenaline rushing, eh? But can we be real for a second? Most people are “sports fans” for the snacks and beer and adorable collaborative-screen-yelling with their bros, right? It’s really about appetite and love. I knew it!
I never watched football growing up. I never got it. While my friends families were watching football growing up I’m sure my family was watching re-runs of Star Trek, or having dialectical discussions on early American history over bowls of ice cream or something. Not too shabby, but definitely not the cultural norm.
This is all to say, my only frame of reference for football is the Super Bowl. I’ve gotten pretty good at feigning interest whilst watching, even though I’m really there for the commercials, half-time show and dip smorgasbord. Speaking of dip…
This Moroccan-ish sweet potato dip has been on my list of recipes to make for months. One of my favorite things about Moroccan food is the use of cinnamon and cardamom in savory applications. Plus I just generally love the earthy-bright vibe of Moroccan food, which relies on ginger, citrus and fresh herbs to make stews and heavier dishes feel sunshine-y. Keeping that in mind, I figured bringing a Moroccan vibe to a creamy whipped roasted sweet potato dip with tahini would really hit the spot as we go into the Winter doldrums.
The recipe I have for you guys today has lots of lemon, fresh ginger root and dijon mustard — as well as cinnamon, cardamom, cayenne and black pepper (all of which are from Mountain Rose Herbs — Organic, sustainable and my top pick regarding quality). Once I blended that all together in my food processor, I served it with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, fresh parsley and sliced tomatoes. It’s really a show-stopping dip, just as worthy of a fancy dinner party as it is a game-day spread.
And the crackers? I had some curvy, free-form, crispy crackers at a restaurant in Virginia Beach called Esoteric back in September. And ever since then I’ve had it in my head that I’d develop a copy-cat recipe. I wouldn't say the sesame crackers I’ve posted today are as light and airy as theirs (I WISH) but they have a wonderful crunch, lots of flavor and they get some organic curves in the oven. I made them with chickpea flour and teff flour, which makes them both naturally gluten free and protein-rich. There’s some nutritional yeast up in there, which gives them a bit of a “cheese cracker” feel. It’s not heavy-handed. Although if you love cheese crackers by all means add more if you like!
They're my ideal cracker, I think. I really hate tiny little dainty crackers that make shoveling dip into my face an awkward procedure. Like when you go for a big dip scoop and end up with dip on your fingers instead of your cracker-trowel. ANNOYING. So these break up into big crackers, or just-right-for-you sized crackers. And did I mention they're flavorful? Another thing about crackers that annoys me is when they're just poofs of flavorless nothingness. I mean, put some friggin spices in there man!!! Some texture! Do SOMETHING. So all in all these are both highly effective dip scoopers and just plain delicious all on their own.
Chickpea Sesame Crackers
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 20-25 crackers
A free-form, addictively crispy cracker recipe full of flavor! For square/rectangular crackers score the dough with a knife before baking so they break apart cleanly.
Ingredients
- 1 cup chickpea flour
- 1/4 cup teff flour
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 tsp garlic pepper (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper)
- 1/8 tsp cayenne
- 1/4 tsp sea salt + more to taste
- 6 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients: chickpea flour, teff flour, nutritional yeast, sesame seeds, garlic pepper, cayenne and sea salt.
- Add the wet ingredients: water and olive oil. Massage it all together until the mix is malleable. You want a pliable cracker dough. If the dough is too wet and sticking to your hands, add a bit more flour. And if the dough is too dry and not holding together, add a bit more water until it comes together. Form the dough into a ball.
- Line a work surface with parchment paper. Place the dough ball on the surface and cover with another sheet of parchment paper. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough ball until very thin, 1/8" or so. The thinner the cracker the crispier it will get. Transfer the rolled out dough to your baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges are browning. Remove and let cool 5 minutes before breaking into pieces, then set back in the oven for 2-5 mins or until totally, dry, crisp and golden. Note: IF YOU CHOOSE TO SCORE YOUR CRACKERS or do cut-out shapes you may not need to re-crisp in the oven. If the crackers feel flexible and moist at all after 12 mins, that's how you know you need to let them bake a few more minutes. Let cool before handling. Enjoy!
Notes
You can replace teff flour with brown rice flour or buckwheat flour. You may need to adjust your water content down as teff is more absorptive than other flours; start with 4 tbsp water and keep adding until the crackers come together.
Courses Snack
Moroccan-ish Sweet Potato Dip with Tahini
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield ~2 1/2 cups dip
A creamy whipped sweet potato dip made with tahini, spices and fresh ginger.
Ingredients
- 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes (aka 2 cups cooked, skin removed)
- 1 tsp virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- Juice 1 lemon (~1 tbsp)
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp cardamom
- 1/8 tsp cayenne (more or less, to taste)
- 1 tsp coriander, freshly ground
- 1 inch fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced
- 1 date, pitted
- 1/2 tsp black pepper + more to taste
- 1 tsp sea salt + more to taste
- handful chopped parsley
- garnishes: virgin olive oil, garlic pepper, chili flakes, sesame seeds
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (this isn't necessary but makes clean-up easier).
Slice your two sweet potatoes lengthwise down the middle. Rub the cut sides with olive oil and place cut side down on your baking sheet. Prick each sweet potato all over with a sharp knife.
Bake the sweet potatoes for 40-50 mins, until meltingly soft (a fork will easily pierce through the centers). Remove from the oven and let cool before handling.
Peel the sweet potatoes and discard the skins. Add the sweet potato to a food processor fitted with an S blade, along with the rest of the ingredients (except the parsley and other garnishes): tahini, mustard, lemon juice, cinnamon, cardamom, cayenne, coriander, ginger, date, black pepper and salt. Blend on high until creamy and smooth, scraping down the sides as needed to get all of the ingredients incorporated.
Scoop the dip out into your serving bowl, using the back of a spoon to smooth it out. Sprinkle parsley over top along with your other garnishes: a drizzle of olive oil, sprinkling of garlic pepper, chili flakes and sesame seeds. Serve with chickpea sesame crackers. Enjoy!
Courses Snack
This post was created in partnership with Mountain Rose Herbs! Don't miss out on their monthly specials, which are up to 60% off of their hand-picked herbs, spices, teas, natural body products and apothecary items (I usually stock up every month). Thank you for supporting the brands that support this site.