Tuna Cheesies

I’ve been making these creamy, cheesie goodies for probably 20 years or more.  My husband just LOVES these things so I’m making a pan of them for our lunch today.  Mmmm, I forget how good these are.  The inspirational recipe I found years ago in a newspaper used saltine crackers.  My low-carb version here uses my Almond-Flax crackers.   You could alternately use baked low-carb flour tortilla wedges or baked, low-carb pita bread wedges.   This time I cut my almond cracker recipe into 12 oblong larger rectangles as shown above (instead of my usual 48 small square crackers for the cracker recipe).  These tasty treats are suitable once you get to Atkins Phase 2.  They are OK for Keto dieters if they fit your daily macro limits.

INGREDIENTS:

½ recipe my Almond Flax Crackers  (or 24 pre-baked low-carb crackers/chips of choice)

1   6-oz foil pouch tuna (or a 5 oz. can, drained)

1 c. shredded Cheddar cheese

2 slices Kraft American Deluxe cheese, shredded

3 T. homemade mayo (or soft butter)

2-3 shakes cayenne pepper (more if you like things “hot”)

4-5 drops Worcestershire sauce

1/8 tsp. onion powder

VARIATION:  Add a bit of chopped green onion.

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  As to making the cracker base for these, I tend to mix up a whole recipe of the cracker dough and shape it on the baking sheet into two rectangles, one on each end, not quite all the way to the edges of the pan, with a slight separation between them.  I use half the cracker recipe for these Tuna Cheesies and save the other rectangle to cut into plain crackers to have on hand for other uses.  Or if you’re having a party, you could double the topping ingredients and use the entire recipe of crackers for a total of 48 Tuna Cheesies.  They disappear fast, so make the batch of 48 for a party! 🙂

Prepare and bake the crackers by that recipe’s instructions at 350º.  Cool slightly on the pan.  If you made the full recipe of crackers, but only want 12 or 24 portions, store the rest of the crackers in a lidded container on your kitchen counter for up to 2 weeks.

While the crackers are baking, mix the tuna-cheese topping in a bowl.  When crackers are cooled and cut into the number you want, spread tuna-cheese mixture on top.  Pop back into the oven for about 5-10 minutes longer to melt the cheesy topping nicely.  Remove from the oven and enjoy!  Serve warm.  Often for parties, I’ll make two pans of 24 each, waiting untilt he first pan has been wolfed down by guests before popping the second pan in the oven.  They are definitely better hot so the cheese is gooey.  🙂

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 12 rectangular Tuna Cheesies, each contains:

147 calories, 11.83 g  fat, 3.5 g  carbs, 2.01 g  fiber, 1.49 g  NET CARBS, 7.9 g  protein, 203 mg sodium

NOTE:  If crackers cut into 48 squares and you use 24 for this recipe, divide the nutritional numbers above for by 2 to get the per serving numbers for each smaller square.