Sourdough Discard Crackers

The single best use for sourdough discard!

​I first had these while visiting my in-laws. I'll be honest, I was a skeptic. I'll be even more honest, I was completely, totally wrong.

The sourdough starter discard gives these crisp crackers the flavor of an aged cheese without a single gram of dairy. In fact, the older the discard, the more exaggerated the cheesiness.

The original recipe, from a popular and reliable company site, called for a bunch of butter and salt. After many rounds of experimentation, I've reduced the salt and entirely removed the butter in favor of olive oil. The dough is wetter and stickier, but the end product is, I think, better.

Let's get started.

Time: 1:15
Makes: 75-100 crackers

INGREDIENTS
220g SOURDOUGH STARTER DISCARD
110g AP FLOUR
45g OLIVE OIL
1/2 tsp SALT plus more for sprinkling
Optional - 1 tbsp assorted dried HERBS, PEPPER, etc (I've done garlic powder, rosemary, red pepper flakes, and more. It's all good, but the plain ones will amaze your friends and confuse your enemies.)

1- Combine all ingredients in medium mixing bowl. Bring together with a spoon, spatula, or fingers. (They're going to get dirty in a minute anyway.)

2- Knead on an UN-floured surface for 2-3 minutes. Dough will be smooth but still sticky.

3- Rest in the fridge for 40 minutes to 24 hours. This step is for firming up the dough for rolling, but a longer rest will develop flavor too.

4- Preheat the oven to 350F. Divide dough in half. Roll out each half between two sheets of parchment paper to the approximate size of a half sheet pan/cookie tray. (I usually get my rolled dough blob to fill about 80% of the space, and then call it good.) Move to a half sheet pan. Remove the top layer of parchment. Sprinkle the dough with another quarter teaspoon of salt or to taste. Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into 2 inch or 5 cm squares. Dock each cracker once or twice with a fork. Repeat with the other half of the dough.

5- Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the trays half way through. Remove when they reach medium brown. Leave to cool on the baking trays for extra crispness.

6- EAT!

NOTE: I've played with the OLIVE OIL level on this recipe, and found you can drop it down to 35g and still get a flavorful cracker, but too little fat and they get hard instead of crisp.