Sourdough Crackers

A simple rolled cracker recipe using discarded sourdough starter. A sprinkle of homemade za’atar spice takes these sourdough crackers to the next level.

These simple sourdough crackers make excellent use of discard. Mix together your sourdough discard with a few basic pantry staples, roll, cut, and bake! No rising time required.

As huge sourdough fans, we struggle with throwing away sourdough discard each time we feed our starters, and try to reduce kitchen waste as much as possible. That’s why we share so many sourdough discard recipes – and because they taste great, of course.

If you don’t have discard (if you use the levain method, for example) the crackers can be made with active starter, too. They’ll work in the same way, to add a delicious tangy flavour, though we recommend using weights rather than volume measurements in that case.

We love these crackers topped with homemade za’atar, but don’t worry! There’s a list with alternative toppings further down in the post and they’re all great.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Method
• Tips and Notes
• Substitutions
• More Topping Ideas
• Recipe

Ingredients

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

In a large bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, salt, sourdough starter, and olive oil to make a smooth dough. Knead for about 30 seconds, or until the dough looks consistent and feels pliable.

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Divide the dough in half. Place each half onto a piece of parchment paper (or reusable baking liner), and use your hands to flatten then into small rectangles. 

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Using a rolling pin, roll each piece of dough to about 2mm (1/16″) thick. The dough will have misshapen edges, that’s normal.

Brush the rolled out dough with olive oil and use a pizza cutter or other knife to cut the crackers into 4cm (1.5″) squares. Top with za’atar or other toppings.

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Transfer the crackers with the parchment paper to two large baking sheets (or bake one batch at a time). Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, or until the squares are starting to brown around the edges. 

Cool fully on the baking sheets. The crackers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a week.

Tips and Notes

Even if you’ve never made crackers before, this is a really simple and forgiving recipe, and easy to roll. It doesn’t stick to the rolling pin so there’s no need to roll between parchment or wax paper.

Try rolling the dough through a pasta roller for ultra thin crackers (thanks to Erin B in the comments for this tip!). Divide the dough into quarters and roll it out as you would pasta dough, getting progressively thinner. Top, score, and bake!

The original recipe instructions were to score before brushing with oil and adding the topping, but we’ve updated to brush before slicing. It’s just easier.

Substitutions

If you prefer, use all white flour rather than half whole wheat. This will make the crackers a little less flavourful, but still good. Alternative flours like spelt or einkorn are good substitutions for whole wheat.

We haven’t tried making these gluten-free, but you could try adding GF sourdough starter to our oat flour crackers for something similar.

More Topping Ideas

• Go simple with flaky salt
• Everything bagel seasoning
• Toasted sesame seeds
• Add a couple tablespoons of chopped herbs directly into the dough
• Try adding cheese to the dough (see these white cheddar crackers for inspiration)
• Poppy seeds
• Cumin seeds and black pepper
• Caraway seeds with lemon zest mixed into the dough
• Nigella seeds
• Seaweed powder
• Smoked paprika

More Sourdough Discard Recipes

Sourdough Biscuits
Sourdough Tortillas
Sourdough Starter Pancakes
Sourdough Blueberry Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel
Sourdough Pumpkin Bread

If you make this recipe, let us know by tagging @baked_theblog + #bakedtheblog on Instagram! We love to feel like we’re in the kitchen with you.