Sourdough Herb Crackers
A combination of flour, butter, salt, herbs, freshly grated cheese, sourdough discard, and topped with olive oil couldn't make a better crunchy cracker! Forget ANY store-bought version! Little time and little effort produce an amazingly tasty snack cracker that stores very well for a long period of time and STAYS super crunchy! No dip needed. What more do you want in a cracker? This recipe is adapted from https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/sourdough-crackers-recipe
Servings: 2 large sheet pans
Ingredients
- ½ cup whole wheat flour
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt plus more for sprinkling on top
- 1 cup sourdough starter any sourdough starter that is 100% hydrated = 50/50- flour/liquid
- 4 tbsp softened butter = ¼ cup = ½ stick, at room temperature
- 2 tbsp dried herbs of your choice optional (Italian seasoning or herbes de Provence)
- ¼ cup grated Pecorino or Parmesan Cheese optional
- olive oil for brushing top
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together both flours, herbs, and salt. Stir in grated cheese until all are combined. Make a well in center of the dry ingredients and stir in sourdough starter and softened butter until a well combined dough is reached.
- Divide dough roughly in half and leave both halves in the bowl. Refrigerate the dough halves in the bowl for 30 minutes or so until dough is firm and can be manipulated without being too sticky.
- Preheat oven to 350°F/ 177˚C. Remove one dough half from bowl and place remaining back in fridge. Each dough half will make one large cracker sheet.
- Place one dough half on a lightly floured 16.5 x 11.5 inch sheet of parchment paper. Flour a rolling pin and roll out one dough half to about 1/16" thick or the full sheet of parchment paper. The rolled dough may have jagged edges, but try to even them out as much as possible. You can trim the dough edges with a knife or pizza wheel if you choose for aesthetic purposes.
- Carefully transfer the dough and parchment together onto a baking sheet. Lightly brush the top with oil and add a sprinkling of salt. Use a sharp knife or pizza wheel and cut the dough into 1 ¼-inch squares or preferred cracker size. Use a fork or sharp tip knife and prick each cracker a couple of times to prevent each from puffing up during baking.
- Repeat above steps 4 & 5 for rolling out, cutting, and preparing the other dough half.
- Bake both pans of crackers (or bake one while you prepare the other) for 20 to 25 minutes until the crackers start browning around the edges. Rotate the baking sheets at 10 minutes switching them out and turning them around to help brown the crackers evenly. Remove the edge crackers if they brown quicker and allow the others to continue to bake, removing as necessary until all crackers have turned browned (without burning).
- When all crackers have browned, remove the remaining crackers or pan(s) from the oven and place them on a rack to cool.
- Store crackers in a tightly sealed container or zip-top bag at room temperature for 2 weeks or freeze for longer storage.
Video
Notes
*Possible herb/spice/seed combinations: In place of the herbs in the above recipe, consider rosemary and sage or lavender; basil and oregano; sage and thyme; cilantro and garlic powder; chives and tarragon; dill and parsley.
*Try ¼ cup nutritional yeast with 1 tbsp ranch seasoning.
*The thinner and browner the cracker, the crunchier the texture. If your crackers are too thick, they will not crunch as much, but they will still have a good flavor.
*If you prefer a plan cracker to be eaten with a dip, then just omit the herbs and cheese.