Sourdough Discard Crackers

In order for a home cook to keep a sourdough starter active and bubbly, there is bound to be some waste. Careful planning and refrigerating the starter helps but occasionally you still have to discard. I’ve always made discard pancakes and love them. Recently though, I decided that I needed an alternative and set out to find a cracker recipe that really thrilled me.

When I prepare home-made food, I want it to taste as good or better than what I can buy. I don’t want my family wishing they could have the boxed or packaged versions. These crackers fit that bill. Depending on how you season them, they can be cheesy, herby, or just crispy and salty. They are also super healthy for all the reasons we already know that sourdough is awesome.  Try this recipe next time your starter is about to outgrow its jar!

One last comment – The Internet is full of recipes. Why do we need another one for crackers? I looked far a wide and didn’t find something that satisfied me. I want two things here… First, I want a recipe that tastes delicious. I talked about that above. But two, why are we bothering with sourdough crackers if they aren’t fermented? Some of the most popular recipes suggest mixing the ingredients and making the crackers right away. This defeats the whole purpose of sourdough! What I’ve done here is combine delicious and healthy. Anyone committed to sourdough because their bodies can’t handle digesting regular flour, can eat these crackers. AND they taste awesome. I’m so happy to fill in a gap, where both flavor and nutrition are priority. Please comment with your results.

Ingredients

220 grams or 1 cup All-Purpose Flour

110 grams or ½ cup Spelt Four

5 grams or 1 teaspoon Course Salt, plus more for dusting

2.5 grams or ½  teaspoon Baking Soda

320 grams or 1 ⅓ cups  Sourdough Starter

90 grams or 6 tablespoons Fat – refined coconut oil, olive oil, or melted butter

Optional Flavorings – herbs, finely chopped nuts, seeds, dry cheeses

Mix the flours, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. In a sperate bowl, measure the sourdough starter. Pour the flours on top of the starter and sprinkle the fat across the flour. Knead the ingredients together until they begin to form a cohesive ball. Depending on the natural humidity of the day, you may need up to a tablespoon of water for the dough to come together completely. Add it slowly so that the dough does not become wet.

When you are ready to prepare the crackers, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place one of your oven racks on the top and one of the racks on the bottom.

Now very lightly flour your work surface. Cut the rectangle of fermented dough into 6 approximately equal pieces. One piece at a time, roll the dough out until it is about a 4 by 7-inch rectangle. It is not important to be exact. Sprinkle the seasonings of your choosing onto the dough. Fold the dough over on itself in an envelope as pictured.

Roll the dough out until it is thinner than you think it needs to be! The approximate measurement is 2 millimeters remembering that it will poof up some in the oven. Once you make this recipe a time or two, you will know exactly how thin you need to go during this step for perfect crackers. You may sprinkle more salt on the dough and press it in with the rolling pin or palm of your hand now if desired.

Using the rolling pin or a ruler as your guide, use a pizza cutter to cut the rectangle of dough into equal pieces. If you like, you can trim away the ragged edges of your dough. These trimmings fold back together easily into a new, much smaller rectangle which can be rolled and cut again to avoid waste. Use a fork and score each cracker at least twice.

Place the crackers on an ungreased baking sheet and put them on the bottom rack of the oven. Set the timer for 10 minutes. When the 10 minutes have elapsed, move the baking sheet to the top rack of the oven. Depending on the thickness of your crackers, it will take about 10 more minutes for them to finish baking. I set my timer for 8 minutes and check them often until I see that they are golden, but not dark brown.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven an allow the crackers to cool. Repeat the process with the remaining rectangles of dough. Package the crackers in an airtight container to store them.