Sourdough Crackers

Sourdough Crackers are a satisfying way of using up excess sourdough starter. But I think they’re so good it’s worth making extra starter just so you can bake them.

Great on their own as a tasty nibble, or eat with cheese, dips or as a base for canapés. Vary the dough by including seeds like sesame, chopped herbs such as rosemary or top with flaky salt or grated cheese before baking.

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It’s been well over a year since I discovered that making crackers at home is dead easy.

Fed up with so many shop bought crackers and savoury biscuits containing palm oil, I decided to start baking my own Easy Homemade Crackers.

More recently, I’ve been looking for ways of using up excess sourdough starter or discard. One outcome of that were fantastic Sourdough Pancakes and the other was Sourdough Crackers.

SOURDOUGH DISCARD

First off, I should say a word about sourdough discard.

When I posted on social media about find ways of using discard rather than throwing it away, I got a couple of quizzical comments.

That’s because some people never have any discard to throw away. They simply remove some of their starter to make bread, then feed the starter with more flour and water so it’s ready for the next loaf a day or two later.

But others, such as me, might only make Sourdough Bread once a week or even less often. These means that our starter goes dormant.

The result is that it might take a few days of feeding before it’s lively enough to bake with. However, before each feed we still need to take some out and it’s this which is the sourdough discard.

I keep my sourdough discard in a jar in the fridge and just keep adding to it until I’ve enough to make Sourdough Pancakes or these wonderful Sourdough Crackers.

In fact, even if you don’t have discard, I think these crackers are so good it’s worth making extra starter just so you can bake them.

SOURDOUGH CRACKERS

For my Sourdough Crackers, I like a flour mix of fifty per cent white plain flour and fifty per cent rye flour. This keeps the crackers nice and light but also adds depth of flavour.

But I think it’s the generous amount of sourdough starter in there which gives great complexity and makes these crackers so moreish.

I’ve taken to adding melted butter to the dough as I love the additional flavour it brings. But you can use olive oil instead if you prefer.

I sometimes add white and black sesame seeds to the dough. Finely chopped rosemary is good too.

ROLLING, CUTTING & BAKING

After you’ve chilled the dough for at least thirty minutes, the technique for making Sourdough Crackers is exactly the same as for my Easy Homemade Crackers.

I work with half the dough at a time and roll it out VERY THINLY (no more than 1-2 mm) onto floured baking parchment that’s been cut to fit my baking tray.

Once you’ve cut the dough into your chosen size of cracker (I use a ruler and pizza wheel), take a fork and prick each one all over. This stops the dough bubbling up as it cooks.

I give them a brush of olive oil, but you could leave this off if you prefer. However, if you do want to sprinkle over toppings like grated Parmesan or flaky salt, this will help them stick to the dough.

Next, the paper is transferred to the baking tray and popped into a preheated oven.

The crackers will take 15-25 minutes to cook but do keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t burn. The crackers at the edges of the tray often brown more quickly, so take them out early if you need to.

If you didn’t roll the dough quite thinly enough, you may need to turn the crackers over for a minute or two to make sure they’re nice and crispy all the way through.

While the crackers are baking use up the rest of the dough, including any scraps you’ve cut from the first batch, to make more crackers.

STORING & SERVING SOURDOUGH CRACKERS

Left on a wire rack until completely cold before putting in an airtight container, the Sourdough Crackers will stay crisp and crunchy for weeks. I’ve eaten them a month later and they were still good.

I think these crackers taste good enough to eat on their own.

But do use them as you might any other cracker: for eating with cheese, for dips like Roasted Beetroot Hummus or as a base for canapés topped with things like Smoked Salmon Paté and creamy Baba Ganoush.

Have you made these Sourdough Crackers? Leave a comment to let me know what you think & remember to rate the recipe!

5 from 3 votes

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Sourdough Crackers

Sourdough Crackers are a satisfying way of using up excess sourdough starter. But I think they're so good it's worth making extra starter just so you can bake them. Great as a tasty nibble, or eat with cheese, dips or as a base for canapés.

Vary the dough by including seeds like sesame, herbs such as rosemary, or top with flaky salt or grated cheese before baking.

Course Side Dish, Snack, Bread, Cheese, Biscuit

Cuisine Vegetarian, World

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Chilling Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings 2 or more trays of crackers

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• 60 g plain white flour plus extra for dusting
• 60 g rye flour
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 250 g sourdough starter
• 60 g butter, melted or olive oil
• olive oil (optional if not adding toppings) for brushing

Optional toppings

• Parmesan cheese finely grated
• Sea salt flakes

Instructions

1. Stir together the flours, salt, sourdough starter and melted butter or olive oil until combined into a soft, smooth dough.

   Wrap in foil or cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan /Gas 6

3. Cut out two pieces of baking parchment or greaseproof paper to fit two shallow baking trays.

   Cut the dough in half and re-wrap one half.

4. Put one of the pieces of baking parchment on the work surface and sprinkle with a little flour.

   Put one piece of dough on the parchment, sprinkle flour on a rolling pin and roll out to cover the parchment. The dough should be no more than 1-2 mm thick.

   Using a ruler and pizza wheel or knife, neaten up the edges and save any scraps of dough.

5. Cut the dough into your chosen cracker size.

   Prick them several times with a fork.

6. If brushing with the optional olive oil, do so now then sprinkle over any optional toppings.

7. Carefully transfer the paper and crackers to a baking tray and put in the oven.

   Cook until crisp & golden (15-25 min)

   Tip 1: Check after 10 minutes that the crackers aren't browning too quickly. Turn the oven down slightly if you need to.

   Tip 2: Crackers at the edges of the tray may cook more quickly so remove them before they burn.

   Tip 3: If you haven't rolled the dough thinly enough, you may need to turn the crackers over and bake for a further 2-3 minutes to ensure they're crisp all the way through.

8. While the first batch of crackers is cooking, make more crackers with the second piece of dough on the other baking tray. Save any scraps.

9. Use any scraps of dough from both batches to make more crackers.

10. Transfer cooked crackers to a wire rack until cool enough to handle. Break into individual crackers along the marks you cut if necessary.

11. Leave until completely cold before storing in an airtight container.

    Crackers should keep fresh for several weeks.