Even though I am dedicated to my beloved sourdough starter, Louise 2, I don't bake bread every week. Sometimes I don’t have the time. Other times, we just aren’t in a bread mood (don't tell Louise). However, I make these crackers almost every week...and sometimes more than once a week! If you need instructions for making a sourdough starter, you can read this post.
They are incredibly easy, and they are a great way to use up your sourdough discard. Even better? You can use cookie cutters or a cookie stamp to make them look super cute. My son loves to help me cut them out, and I love that we can have fun making a non-sugary treat together. And even if you don’t have kids, who wouldn’t want to eat such an adorable cracker?
I have yet to make a batch that lasts longer than 24 hours.
If you don’t have time to cut them out individually with cookie cutters, you can also roll out the dough and cut them into rectangles with a pizza wheel in no time flat.
To make these crackers:
Ingredients:
250g Sourdough Discard (1 scant cup)
120g Whole Wheat Flour (1 scant cup)
4 TBS Butter (Use olive oil to make recipe vegan)
1/2 tsp salt
Olive oil for brushing
Additional salt and/or other seasonings for sprinkling over dough (optional)
Mix together 250g (approximately a scant cup) of sourdough discard (unfed sourdough starter), 4 tablespoons of cold butter cut into small pieces (olive oil will work too if you’d like to make the recipe vegan), 1/2 tsp of salt, and 120 g (about 1 cup) of whole wheat flour. White whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour both work great if you can find them. Otherwise, regular whole wheat works fine too.
Work the dough together with your hands until all of the butter and salt is incorporated. Cover and put it in the fridge for about 30 minutes to firm back up (though honestly, I’ve forgotten about this dough for 3-4 days before baking and the crackers turn out fine no matter what).
While the dough chills, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
After the dough is chilled, roll it out so it is about 1/16 of an in thick. After the dough is rolled, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Feel free to add any other herbs or seasonings. I use the Everything Bagel Seasoning from Gneiss Spice and it is absolutely delicious. Just sprinkle over the top to your liking.
Now the fun part: Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes and patterns, then gently transfer your shapes to a baking sheet lined with either compostable parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. When you get to the point that your scraps are too small to cut any more shapes, gather it into a ball and re-roll it out to cut more shapes. Brush with olive oil and, if you wish, season them again (otherwise, the salt and/or seasonings will have gotten rolled up with the dough, so your crackers will still have some flavor).
Bake in the oven until brown and crispy. I usually check them at about the 12-minute mark, and then every couple of minutes after that. I find there is such variability among ovens that it is best to be cautious with baking times. They can go from underdone to burned quite quickly (though honestly, the slightly burned ones are delicious too).
If you don’t have time to cut all of the crackers into shapes, simply place your rolled dough directly on a piece of parchment paper or a silicone mat. Brush with olive oil and season. Then, use a pizza wheel to cut them into squares or rectangles. They do not need to be perfect (in my opinion, the weirder the better. I always go for the wonky-shaped ones first)!
Transfer the paper or mat to your baking sheet and put them in the oven.
Store them in an airtight container. I honestly have no idea how long they can last in the cupboard (probably a couple of weeks) because I barely get them out of the oven before they are all eaten!
I love this recipe because it is so forgiving. I’ve forgotten the dough in the fridge, singed them in the oven, been a little short on butter or flour, and they still come out great. They are also totally customizable. You can adjust the amount of salt and the type of seasonings to your liking, or you could add ½ cup of shredded cheddar cheese to the dough to make cheese crackers.
Enjoy the recipe and let me know how things turned out in the comments!