I have been keeping my sourdough starter out on the kitchen counter and feeding it daily, rather than storing it in the fridge and feeding it only weekly. Here’s why:
I wish I had taken a crumb shot of this. It’s the best loaf I’ve baked thus far. It tasted fairly sweet, which you’d expect when using a starter stored at room temperature. But when you leave starter at room temperature, you need to feed it every day. That means you accumulate tons of discarded starter. If you don’t find something to do with all of that starter, you’ll drown in the stuff. So I use it to make crackers. Lots of crackers. Good thing they’re addictive…and good for sharing…
You can read about tending a sourdough starter here, here and here.
I bake these crackers every week or so and have learned a few tricks since I wrote my first post on them. I have wanted to update the recipe for months.
What’s new in version 2.0
- I make a double or triple batch of the dough and after it has fermented on the counter for several hours, bake some of it and store the rest in the refrigerator. When I want more crackers later in the week, I can just grab a hunk of dough and whip them up. It’s almost like having convenience refrigerator dough on hand without the over-packaging and nasty chemicals.
- Refrigeration halts the fermentation. I find that when I let the dough ferment at room temperature for too long (let’s say over 8 hours), it starts to break down, making a big mess when I attempt to roll it out. But in the refrigerator, the microbes go dormant. Now I can make a pile of this dough at once—and use up even more starter! No more baking dough bleary-eyed at night and cursing myself for having started it in the morning. If I’m too exhausted to bake, I simply put the dough in the fridge!
- I no longer use Silpat silicon mats for baking these. The crackers contain enough oil that they don’t stick to cookie sheets. I hate washing those mats and feel a bit wary of using them. (Are they truly safe to bake on? I’m asking. I don’t know.)
- I no longer brush olive oil on top. You can do that if you want to but the salt (or seeds or nutritional yeast or whatever) sticks to them just fine without having to take the extra step of brushing these with oil. I’m not sure which I like washing less—Silpats or pastry brushes. I stopped using both.
Sourdough Crackers
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup unfed starter from the refrigerator
- 3 heaping tablespoons coconut oil or olive oil
- ¾ cup whole wheat flour
- ¼ teaspoon coarse salt, plus extra for topping
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Combine starter and oil in a non-metallic bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt and baking soda.
- Add dry ingredients to bowl with wet ingredients. Combine. If necessary, knead the dough a few times to incorporate the last bit of flour. Cover bowl with a plate or towel and let rest for six hours at room temperature. Store in the fridge after this if you won’t bake right away. The dough will keep in the refrigerator for about a week. Let it warm at room temperature for 15 minutes to half an hour to making rolling easier.
- When you’re ready to bake, divide the dough into two halves on a generously floured surface.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Roll the dough out about two millimeters thick. If necessary, sprinkle with flour between rollings to prevent dough from sticking to your work surface.
- Transfer the dough to ungreased cookie sheets.
- Cut into rectangles with a pizza cutter or a knife. Sprinkle with salt.
- Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, turn trays and bake 6 to 8 minutes longer. Crackers are done when crispy and slightly browned. (My oven is a bit cool, so your crackers may bake faster.)
- Transfer crackers to a rack to cool. Store in a glass jar. These also freeze well.
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I was in need of a new cracker recipe. This looks perfect.
Thanks Hilda. They are VERY good. And they use up all that discard. Win win 🙂
I bet they are delicious!
They’re highly addictive Karen!
I just came across these on Pinterest and they’re AMAZING…just finished my second batch in 2 days!! This time, I added freshly grated Parmesan and fresh rosemary to the dough after the 6 hour rest. After rolling them out, I topped then with fresh-cracked pepper and garlic salt. Oh my word they’re fantastic! Thanks for a great recipe!!
Hi Sarah,
I’m glad you like them. That sounds like an amazing combination. Enjoy!
~ Anne Marie
How cool is that?!
Thanks!
Looks fabulous. Just a question, how long do these typically last, either in a jar or a freezer?
Thank you 🙂 They last quite a while in the freezer. I would say a couple of months. If I don’t freeze them, we gobble them up within a day or two but I would say they are fresh for about a week.
been meaning to tell you for so long how much we love these crackers
I make them once a week occ twice and find the recipe very forgiving to adaptation.
one of my weaknesses has been buying crackers and stalking the ones with the least offensive packaging – not easy and not even possible so these are a goddess send.
Thanks Sandra. I’m glad you like them so much. They really help solve the I-want-a-snack-but-not-the-nasty-packaging dilemma 🙂
Thank you for this recipe, I will definitely tri it. I have been frustrated with cracker recipes with too much fat, sugar, cheese…and I hate wasting the starter. I have a recipe from Theresa Greenway to make flour tortillas and i willl never again buy tortillas . The dough freezes well and I divide it in 3, which gives you about 400 gr portion, roughly 12 med tortillas. I have a chest freezer, not great for jars but I will reorganize my fridge freezer ,I promise 😊 Thanks for the great tips!
You’re welcome Suzanne. Thanks for checking out the post! No kidding I am looking down at my to-do list right now and one item is “make tortilla dough” (sourdough of course). You commented in the nick of time 😉 I will google the recipe. I would be SO happy if I had tortilla dough in the freezer ready to go. I hope you like the crackers. They are addictive. And they’re great for older starter too. It makes them more tangy. Enjoy!
Reblogged this on Poli.V and commented:
Reblogging so I can have a go at making these, they sound like just the ticket and I do love sourdough and I do love crackers, win win!
Thanks so much for the reblog!
You’re very welcome 🙂
Hello. I’m new to baking so excuse the silly question. What is a starter? And what is an unfed starter at that.
Thanks!!
That’s not silly at all, Adi. A starter is wild yeast. Most bread recipes call for commercial yeast (like Fleischmann’s). A starter is made of flour and water and you “feed” it fresh flour and water every day until it’s bubbly and full of bacteria and yeast. Then you bake bread with it. When you feed it every day, you end up with a lot of extra. These crackers are a great way to use it up. Here are a few posts I wrote on starter: http://zerowastechef.com/2015/02/10/happy-birthday-eleanor-how-to-make-a-sourdough-starter/
http://zerowastechef.com/2015/03/01/how-to-make-a-sourdough-starter-in-stick-drawings/
http://zerowastechef.com/2015/10/08/kitchen-science-for-kids-sourdough-starter-lesson-plan/
I hope those help 🙂
Looks soo good 😀 I’m also making a lot of crisp bread, which is just big scandinavian crackers 😀 ! Would like to try making it with sourdough, but do you think I can make it with rye flour(yep I’m all scandinavian! 🙂 ) ? 🙂 Else I guess I’ll just have to try out!!
Happy thoughts from Denmark from another Zero Waster who loves spending time in the kitchen 🙂 And thanks for all the inspiration 🙂
Hi Rikke. I have made these with rye and they were good. I’ve also used spelt, or a mixture or whatever I had on hand. How do you make your crips bread? Happy thoughts from my kitchen in the US and thanks for checking out the recipe 🙂 Enjoy!
Then I have no excuse to not try it out soon, guess I need to start up a sour dough 🙂 And I make them mostly with a lot of seeds 🙂
This makes 2 baking trays:
Dry: 1dl rolled oat, 1dl sunflowerseeds, 1 dl pumpkinseeds, 1 dl flaxseeds, 1 dl sesameseeds, 3 1/2 dl rye flour, 1 teasp. salt
Liquid: 1 d olie(usually use cold pressed rapeseed oil), 2 dl water
Mix it all, roll out, bake for 15-30 minutes at 200 degree celsius 🙂
I usually never follow the exact recipe but use whatever seeds I have on hand 🙂
[…] flavour… and oh yeah, super amazing with some waste not, from scratch hummus. Yum! Recipe HERE. I also found a recipe for pizza crust that I’d like to try next, because maintaining a […]
[…] Try making sourdough crackers: http://zerowastechef.com/2015/11/18/sourdough-crackers-2-0/ […]
Just baked these yesterday and I am hooked!!! They are so good. My crackers actually puffed up. I don’t mind but do you think it’s because I didn’t roll the dough flat enough (I thought it was just a millimeter or so)? Thanks for the great and simple recipe using discard!!
Great Nancy! I’m glad you liked them. Sometimes mine puff up. I like them best that way but it doesn’t always happen, so I don’t consider it a mistake 🙂 I’m not sure why they sometimes puff up. I should pay more attention. Maybe younger discard puffs up more??? ~ Anne Marie
I just made a second batch last night and they turned out perfect! Very thin and crispy (but not puffy, oh well). This time I left the dough on the counter for like 10 hours…last time when they were puffy, the dough was sitting in the fridge for almost a week before I had a chance to roll it out (and I didn’t really give it time to warm up). I also roller it as thin as I possibly could this last time. They are so addicting, but I don’t feel gross after “indulging” like I would after eating store-bought crackers. Thanks again!
Oh I know what you mean about not feeling sick! Store-bought would make me feel a bit queasy. I was the same way with store-bought cereal. Thanks for the notes about how you’ve been baking them. By the way, I find if I let them sit too long, the dough starts to break down and is very difficult to roll out. I’m glad yours are turning out so well 🙂
I want wondering if freshly grated Parmesan cheese can be added to the dough? How much and when in the process?
OMG. You are a genius. I would say add it to taste. Maybe try a couple of tablespoons at first? I haven’t tried this (but really want to…) so I’m just guessing. As for when to add it, I think you could mix it in at the beginning along with everything else. Or you could try sprinkling your work surface with grated Parmesan and rolling the crackers out on it. The cheese will stick to the dough.
I tried 2 ozs. of very finely shredded fresh Parmesan. I kneaded it into the dough. Good yet the taste still not strong enough. Will continue to tweek the amount. It is a nice addition.
Thanks for letting me know, Vickie!
Omg, I just made this a few seconds ago for my 2 year old snacker. It is currently 10:42pm in Western Australia. I cant stop eating it. I dont think these crackers will see the light of the next day!
Hi Arianne. Hahaha! I’m glad you like them! My daughter was the first to make them and I couldn’t stop eating them either when I first tasted them (and still can’t when I make them). They don’t last around here either. Occasionally when I have time I will bake a double batch and freeze some. They last maybe an extra two days. Enjoy! ~ Anne Marie
Oh my. These crackers have changed. my. life.
I was looking for an alternative for water crackers and their tin biscuit packaging and these are ten times better than anything I could buy! And then to use discarded starter- and that used to bug me as well- Thank you thank you.
Hi Kirsti, I’m glad you like the crackers. I love them too. They’re addictive, which is good because the starter can really pile up! ~ Anne Marie
This looks amazing and I am going to try making these! Just wondering if I can let it rest in the fridge instead of room temp? Can I substitute baking soda with something else? Thanks!
That would be fine to put the dough directly in the refrigerator. I haven’t made them without baking soda. I would try baking powder if you have any. Baking powder is a combination of baking soda and cream of tartar. If you don’t have baking powder, you could just try making these without baking soda altogether.
[…] I am getting places with my sourdough baking. On the left are crackers. Yes, that’s right ZW crackers!! This has been a long-time struggle of mine as I am a savory snacker and cheese and crackers was […]
[…] spelt crackers with fennel and cracked pepper (barely adapted from here) […]
Hello Anne Marie
Thanks for sharing your expertise. I’m looking after my son’s sourdough while he is away and googled what to do with excess starter as it seemed a waste to throw it away. In that process I found your wonderful blog. Such a pity it would be a long trip to one of your teaching days from Australia!
Anyway, last week I made a double batch of the crackers, one with coconut oil and one with olive oil, and am back on today to make some more to take to a NYE party tonight. Absolutely delicious!
Thanks again
Elizabeth
Hi Elizabeth. My pleasure! I’m glad you found the cracker recipe. Several people have told me they have put off starting a starter because they don’t want to waste the discard. This solves that problem. I hope everyone enjoyed the crackers at your party. Happy new year! ~ Anne Marie
Can you advise on how to bake with traditional yeast? I don’t have a sourdough starter….yet 😊
Hi Mel. The sourdough starter I use is unfed so it’s not at all lively. I haven’t tried making these with dry active yeast. That would make these rise and they would be difficult to roll out super thin. They would still taste good though. ~ Anne Marie
Have you tried a gluten free version on these? Thoughts? So excited to try them, regardless!
Hi Laila, I haven’t tried that but I think it would work. You don’t need (or want) these crackers to rise and that’s what gluten does. Cultures for Health has recipes and instructions for gluten-free sourdough. I found this there: https://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/gf-sourdough/art-of-gluten-free-sourdough-baking/ ~ Anne Marie
Oh my! These are so easy and so yummy! I’m eating them right now with goat cheddar and hummus. I don’t think they will make it to tomorrow! Thank you!
Hi Lauren. I’m glad you like them. Goat cheese and hummus sounds delicious with these! They don’t last long around here either 🙂 ~ Anne Marie
Thank you so much for this! I have been overrun with starter “discard” (I’ve never tossed it) and depriving myself of store-bought crackers as they ALL come in plastic. I found this just in time! They turned out so well! How have I never attempted crackers before? My life is changed for the better, thanks! No going back now:) I put nutritional yeast and dill on my first batch and they were so, so good! I’ll have to double the amount so they last longer, as they were popular in my household as well. Next time, I’m going to use garlic infused olive oil and add rosemary and pepper:)
Hi Lauren,
I’m glad you and your family like the crackers so much. They are a big hit here also. Garlic infused olive oil (and the rosemary and pepper) is a brilliant idea! I MUST try that! Thanks for the idea. There are so many good combinations for these. Enjoy!
~ Anne Marie
I can’t wait to try your recipe. The one I use now has no baking soda and the crackers just aren’t crisp enough. I have no trouble rolling them thin enough, I do it between two sheets of parchment. Then I peel off the top sheet and the bottom sheet goes to the baking sheet with the dough on it.
Hi,
European here, trying these today. roughly I rounded the 2/3 cup starter to 170g and the 3/4 flour to 100g, does this sound a good starter/flour ratio? next time you bake these, could you weight the ingredients? that would make it easier for us here, on the other side of the pond 🙂
Thanks
[…] spelt crackers with fennel and cracked pepper (barely adapted from here) […]
I am looking forward to trying the crackers! Normally when I feed my starter, I wash the old flat stuff down the drain with cold water. I reason that I’m feeding out septic with probiotics.
[…] conheço a primeira versão do Zero Waste Chef, mas não senti muita diferença entre os resultados finais das minhas duas versões. A grande […]
Hi, I am quite new to your wonderful blog and I am just about to start my 1st ever sourdough starter. I love bread, but the main reason is so I can make these crackers! Sourdough crackers are my absolute favourite! How many feeds/ days would you leave it before you use the discard to make crackers? (i.e Could I make some tomorrow?!) Thanks!
Made a batch of these today. Oh they are amazing! Grated Parmesan and sprinkled some thyme leaves on top! An idea I stole from one of the comments above.
It’s true they’re addictive alright!
Thank you for this recipe!🙏🏻
[…] Making crackers again, a simple dough recipe from zero waste chef. Sourdough crackers […]
Just made these crackers and stored them in a glass jar like you suggested. So tasty. So beautiful. They won’t last! Thank you zero waste chef…what we should all aspire to be!
I tried the crackers last night and made three batches. This gave me a chance to try with salt, without salt, using olive oil on top or not etc. They taste great and perfect for my cracker and hummous addicted boyfriend! The only issue was that they were soooooo wet I used a ton of flour to roll them out, but they were also (with or without flour) falling apart so it was difficult to get them really thin or onto the baking tray.
I read some of the comments and realise that it might be because I left them sitting out for 8hrs instead of 6…do you think it was that or could it be something else? It was frustrating to get through three batches like that (face palm).
Im thinking of adding nutritional yeast to amp up the cheesy flavor. Any advice as to if I should toss it in the dough or onto my rolling surface?
Uh oh, just took the rest of my dough out of the fridge and it smells like neglected starter, kind of acetone-y. Do you think they will still taste good? Should I make a new batch and add the old dough? Any advice?
Hi Abbey,
I find if I leave it too long it is hard to roll out and yours sounds like it might be at that stage. I think that’s a great idea to make more dough. These crackers taste really good so you can’t really go wrong with a double batch.
~ Anne Marie
Anne Marie,
Should we be using baking soda, or powder?
Does it make a big difference?
In reference to this recipe on another post, you mentioned – “Sourdough crackers. Old starter makes for a tangy cracker. These taste cheesy but contain only discarded starter, flour, oil, salt and **baking powder** .”
Hi Meg,
Oops, sorry! Good catch. Yes, baking soda. I don’t think baking powder will ruin them. I haven’t tried making them with baking powder, just baking soda and they turn out really well. Enjoy!
~ Anne Marie
Yeah, I’ve used baking powder and they are fine. As I understand it, baking powder (UK term) is just baking soda (what we would call bicarbonate of soda) with other stuff added so you might want to use a little more.
[…] crackers. I’ve made them twice so far, and they are very good. Both times, I loosely followed this recipe, but I suspect you can get away with adding the starter to your favorite recipe for crackers, if you […]
[…] Wheat & Honey BreadCrockpot BreadZucchini BreadBanana BreadSourdough CrackersDinner RollsPita […]
Just one question… Can I skip the resting time? 😀
Hi Meleri,
Yes, you can absolutely skip it. Thank you for asking!
~ Anne Marie
Absolutely delighted to be able to put my excess soughdough starter to good use, rather than put it in the compost bin. These bisuits are really moreish and I will be making them often!
Just made a batch of these using gram flour instead of wheat flour – just because I was out of wheat flour. And they are delicious, different but delicious. Plus added bonus of extra protein, I guess. I also made a batch with ground up fresh rosemary mixed in. Basically I can’t stop making these at the moment!
Just made these & am glad I gambled and doubled the recipe! So yum. I wonder if you or anyone else has tried adding nutritional yeast to get a cheesy, vegan friendly option! Also, they’re very pretty in my glass jars.
Whoever said above that these changed their life, I have to agree! I now make these literally by the kilo and hand them round instead of crisps on every occasion when I would have bought crisps – no packaging. Perfect with home made hummus, perfect with a gin and tonic, perfect as a mid-afternoon snack. I now actually keep my sour dough starter going just so I can make these. Thank you!
Love this! What do you suggest for dry dough? When I incorporated the wet and dry ingredients it did not form together as a cohesive dough. I added some extra oil but that didn’t seem to help much. I’m letting it rest for the 6 hours to see what will happen. Thanks!
HMM! My crackers ALWAAAAAAAAYS puff up and i don’t WANT them too! Because they puff up so much that they are more like pieces of toasted bread than crackers! I want the thin crispy dry crackers, not bready squares! I wish i knew what to do so they didn’t? could i maybe try a higher temps for less time? Wish someone knew why some puff and some don’t! 🙂
Hi Laylu,
How long do you let them sit and ferment? If you let them sit longer, that might help. Also, an older stater will be less lively and should reduce the puffiness. I hope that helps. If you try these tricks, will you please let us know how it goes?
Thanks,
Anne Marie
I dock my dough with a fork before I cut it into squares. That may help.
I had to stop making these crackers, because they were so good that I just kept on snacking all day long.
Love this recipe; it’s exactly what I’ve been hunting for a substitute for store bought, plastic wrapped rice crackers. Sadly I’m coeliac. Do you know how this could be made gluten free? Thank you kindly!
Hi! I was wondering why shouldn’t we use a metallic bowl?
Hi Erin,
The acid from the sourdough can react with the metal. It’s okay to mix ingredients in a metal bowl but to let the dough sit and ferment, glass or ceramic is better.
~ Anne Marie
[…] Sourdough English muffin recipe can be found here. […]
Great snack recipe – I have started to include seeds and spices by rolling out then adding whatever you want onto half of the piece then fold over and roll to the required thinness. Keeps all the flavour inside the cracker – I’ve tried – caraway seeds, cracked pepper and smoked paprika, sunflower seeds (hulled), za’atar – all have been absolutely delicious – the possibilities are endless !!!!
Hey Handy Andy- I was just having the same idea, thought about cumin…was looking to see and then saw your post top of the thread. oh yum… cumin/za’atar coming up!
Is the non metallic bowl essential? All my mixing bowls are stainless steel.
Hi Chris,
I think stainless steel is okay. I made sourdough tortillas in a stainless steel bowl last week and they turned out really well.
~ Anne Marie
I’ve just made the dough and have left it on the bench. It looks a little like it’s growing mould on it? Small circles of white. I used some starter from the fridge and some (I fed today) that was room temperature. Does that sound ok or should I start again?
Hi Lauren,
If you think it’s mold, I wouldn’t eat it. If it is mold, it will look like it–raised and furry. I haven’t had my dough turn moldy. I’m surprised that that has happened with dough made with starter that you just fed. I’d have to see it in person to give you a diagnosis though. I guess you’ll have to use your judgement. I’m sorry I don’t have a better answer.
~ Anne Marie
Hi Lauren,
I have had the same appearance with my dough before. It turns out to be the salt within the dough causing the small white dots throughout if not incorporated well. They still work perfectly fine and taste amazing though!!! I absolutely love this recipe and bake a triple batch each couple of weeks. By end of first week my husband has always finished them all off already though 😉
Hope that helps!
Georgina
Hey Lauren…….I had the same thing happen.
I believe it is from the salt because my starter is very fresh and well maintained
I don’t believe that mold could form that quickly unless your starter was already bad? The thicker your salt grain, the harder it would be to break down in the dough and I always work with coarser salts. Hope that helps! Bon Appetit!
This is a great recipe, thank you! Love the version 2.0 improvements – agree simple is better. I like to add roasted sesame seeds and wild rosemary, local to our area.
The top of my dough really dries out when I leave it to rest for the 6 hours. Is that pretty normal? Or is there something I can do to stop that?
Hi Mariko,
You could try rubbing a small amount of oil on top of the dough. That should help.
~ Anne Marie
Great crackers! The 6 hour ferment gives them a cheesy flavor. The dough is so simple and easy to roll. It was such a nice dough that I was able to roll them out using my pasta roller. Thanks for the awesome recipe!
What a great recipe, thanks for sharing! How much starter would you use in gram (instead op cups). I cannot convert that to metric system unfortunately. Thanks in advance for the reply!
Hi! I’m just wondering about the baking soda ingredient. I thought the whole point of sourdough was to replace using chemical leavening agents. It kind of feels like cheating, so could I skip adding the baking soda or somehow alter the recipe? I’m a total newbie at everything sourdough (my starter is only a week old), so I appreciate your expertise 🙂
I’d like a response about the baking soda, too. I’ve made similar crackers, and leavening (lightening the cracker rather than rise) was provided by the baking soda reacting to the acidic starter. But with a 6 hour ferment, that would negate the bicarb’s gas production.
Why do you add baking soda? Have you ever tried making the crackers without the baking soda?
Would rye flour work instead of WW?
Hi Syd,
Yes, that will work. I’ve made these with rye or spelt also or a combination of flours.
~ Anne Marie
Hello,
I want to make a batch of these crackers, can you suggest the measurements in Grams ?
I added
85gms starter
96 gms Whole wheat flour
3tbs coconut oil
2gms each of salt and baking soda…
Is this correct ??
Thank you.. 😇
These are so simple to make and the dough is a dream to work with. A great plain base to add herbs, spices and cheeses.
So please I gave these a go – no more wasting sourdough discard!
Hello, I’m from Italy, and I just wondered if you could give me the quantity in grams? Sorry here we don’t use Cups measurements, and I don’t want to mess up.
Love your blog <3
Thank you
Hi Alice, I am making these now and weighed the 2/3 cups starter to be around 175 grams and the 3/4 cups flour to be about 120 grams. I used white whole wheat flour. Hope this helps. I am anxiously waiting the 6 hours before I can start baking these. 😀
Thank you so much!
Thank you so much Christine!! I’m gonna give it a try ♥️
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My crackers taste great but they puffed up in the oven and became little pillows. I’m not sure what I did wrong? I’ve suspected my oven gets too hot in the past so that may be the case.
Hi Emily,
I would try pricking them with a fork before you bake them the next time. They should stay flat 🙂 I like the little pillows but I’ve heard this question several times, so I might be in the minority.
Enjoy!
~ Anne Marie
Hello – I made the dough and stored it in fridge for few days and the top of the dough is a way darker color then the bottom – almost looks like hooch dough on top of that makes sense? It’s not watery, it is still in dough form but the color is kind of freaking me out? Can I still use it?
Hi Stephanie,
Hooch dough sounds like a good description. It sounds like your starter just needs a meal. I would stir it up and feed it.
~ Anne Marie
What a gift to find your site! I started Jemima – my sour dough starter, and Jeremy – my ginger bug, this morning. I had a sour dough starter several years ago, but it ate me out of house and home. I eventually abandoned it. With your very pragmatic approach, you’ve given me a way forward. Thanks ever so much. I was making ginger beer using store bought yeast. Your way is way better. Thank you for this too. Am very happy lady :). I’ve included my web-site below. It goes back almost a decade as I gave up doing a lot of what I was doing. I’ve now started again thanks to covid… the silver lining in the cloud. Again thank you.
I just tried this yesterday, and I am wondering why this needs to sit out and ferment for 6 hours? It’s not like it grew at all and not sure it fermented… I have seen other recipes where the starter discard is mixed in and cooked after sitting for 30 minutes. Just wondering as I’m starting to experiment with this a bit.
Hi Jen,
I have baked these soon after making the dough. It works. I do like to chill it first though. It makes rolling it out a bit easier.
~ Anne Marie
I’m wondering if you could make these without oil. I don’t eat oil in my diet. Is there anything I could substitute? I use bananas or applesauce in sweet baked goods for the oil, but that obviously won’t work in these crackers.
Hi Tammie,
I haven’t tried making them without oil. You could experiment with a vegetable purée. If you try that, I’d make just a small amount.
~ Anne Marie
Blended white beans are sometimes used for oil, especially if you include the can liquid.
A sourdough genius, I know longer worry about Ursula thanks to you. These crackers are the most magnificent!
[…] it in other recipes. We belong to the second school so we’ll try some discard recipes for crackers and crumpets and we’ll let you know how those turn […]
I made these yesterday and I only have one complaint….they were soooooo good I ate all of them by myself. Yesterday. 🙄
Have you tried making these with white flour?
Hi Martha,
I have tried a combination of white and other flour but not only white. I think they would be good. I make mostly white flour tortillas. They’re delicious.
~ Anne Marie
I made the crackers and they were easy, great…crispy! I put them in a glass jar for storage as mentioned. However, by next day they were already getting soft. Any recommendations?
I had that problem with making fresh tostado chips. I took the moisture removal pod out of an empty vitamin bottle and out it in with the chips. It kept them fresh for almost a month. Maybe it will work with the crackers too. Just make sure it is one of the plastic sealed pods that is food safe.
Is there a way to re-crisp these crackers?
Thanks for the recipe. I got a started underway almost three weeks ago and have been looking for discard recipes; this has become my favorite cracker version.
For those bakers who like to work by weight, here are the equivalents; the starter weight was my own measurement, the rest from King Arthur Flour’s ingredient weight chart:
175 g unfed starter
38 g olive oil
85g whole wheat flour
1.5g salt
1.5g baking soda
Thank you for the conversions Scott 🙂
~ Anne Marie
I let the dough rest on the stove for 6 hours covered and when I attempted to cut it in half and roll out, I noticed a very STRANGE smell coming from the dough. My starter is very new and I’m new to the whole sourdough community so I’m not sure if the smell was correct or something is wrong with my baby starter. Do you have an idea of what the smell should have been?
I love these crackers! But twice now I’ve refrigerated for two or three days and my dough was very dark on top. It looked like it had oxidized? I discarded first batch but scraped darkened dough off and used the rest. Any ideas?
Mine goes weirdly grey if I leave it in the fridge for long enough…but still tastes amazing, and I’m still alive 😅 I’ve also made it with only plain white flour, part rye part barley, forgotten to add the baking soda, baked it too hot, baked it too long, left the dough too long and whipped up a batch straight away..I’ve essentially abused this recipe mercilessly, and never had abject failure.
My only recommendation is cut the crackers before baking, not after – mine split apart horizontally…but then that could have to do with any one of the above abuses…
Love these! So good and easy! Already on our third batch in the last week and half
These are one of the best ways I’ve seen to use up starter, it’s reeeally good! And so easy!
[…] carrot sticks or slice bell peppers for dipping. If you’re up for a challenge, you could even make your own crackers from scratch Zero Waste Chef style to go with your fresh made hummus. I haven’t tried making crackers […]
Hallo! So I made these for the first time yesterday, and ran into a little problem. I forgot to set a timer, so they sat out on my counter for an extra hour before I remembered to roll them out…and the surface of the dough turned a weird gray color. Does that ever happen for you? It wasn’t crusty, as I had coated the bowl and the ball of dough in oil…it was soft, but gray. Overriding my alarmist impulse to chuck it, I rolled them out and baked them anyway, but now I’m over here giving them the side-eye. I read a bit about dough oxidation this morning so I’m feeling pretty confident my crackers won’t kill me, but I wanted to see if this happens to you making these crackers, and if it’s going to be a normal part of the process.
Hi Sarah,
I’ve also had that happen and have eaten many batches that looked just like what you’ve described. I’ve also survived. You can skip the fermentation step and bake them right away if you prefer.
Enjoy!
~ Anne-Marie
[…] Anne Marie’s Sourdough Crackers 2.0 recipe from zerowastechef […]
[…] Sourdough crackers or cheddar cheese crackers / tuiles […]
i made the dough. turned out great. i left it out on the counter overnight, and none of the gray or black stuff on top that people are asking about. it was just fine. i don’t want to bake so just rolled it up into a ball and put in freezer. i think it will
be fine….?? i hope ….have you ever frozen yours?
Thank you for this recipe. I make these crackers A LOT! I mix it up a bit-sometimes use rye or pumpernickel flour with caraway seeds or I use the Brooklyn Everything Bagel Blend from Savory Spice. Those seem to be the most popular. I like mine plain with Maldon Salt flakes on top. I also love when I get the little pillows-if I don’t get any in a batch I’m disappointed.
Hi Pamela,
I’m so glad you like them! I too like the little pillows. Those combinations all sound delicious! Enjoy 🙂
Tried this recipe a few days ago using a bit more salt in the dough, as well as the zest of a lemon and a sprinkle of lemon juice. Topped with some extra rock salt for decoration and boy… the dough was meant to make two batches. I finished one straight out of the oven. #worthit
Thank you. These are delicious!
We just pulled the first batch our of the oven and now we are IMMEDIATELY making a double batch because it’s clear these are not going to last.
I really struggled making these. They were so sticky! Then when I needed to get them from the mat to baking tray they had stuck to the tray. I did again with more flour… And flipped the mat on top of tray and flour went everywhere. Have you got some suggestions perhaps? 😊
Hello there! I’m sorry to hear they were hard to work with. I would add more flour to the dough. Did you cut them on the baking tray or cut them and then move them to the baking tray? You may have already done this but it’s much easier to roll out the dough, lift the entire sheet to the baking tray and cut out the crackers on the tray. Generous amounts of flour on your work surface will also make rolling the dough out much easier. I hope that helps!
Thank you, thank you, thank you Anne-Marie!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just made a batch of these crackers and they are the BEST. I have been searching for a good homemade cracker using chickpea flour or rice flour (that was in my pantry) and always have had to throw them out (compost bin). I’ve had the sourdough starter for a week or so and had enough discard to make the crackers. Topped them with nutritional yeast and flaked salt and will be enjoying them shortly with hummus. You are so inspiring❤️