Sourdough crackers are one of our favourite sourdough discard recipes. Try them with our homemade Za’atar or any other flavours you like!
Photography by Sophie MacKenzie
These homemade sourdough crackers make excellent use of discard. Mix it with a few basic pantry staples, roll, cut, and bake! No rising time required.
If you don’t have discard (for example, if you use the levain method to bake your bread) you can also make this recipe with active starter. It will work the same and add delicious tangy flavour.
Speaking of flavour, we love our sourdough crackers topped with homemade Za’atar spice but don’t worry! If you don’t have, or want to make Za’atar, we have a list of alternative toppings below.
We recommend weighing your ingredients on a scale rather than using measuring cups. Scales are more precise, and generally yield more consistent results. If you don’t own a scale, you can still give sourdough discard crackers a go with measuring cups!
💖Why You’ll Love This Recipe
✔️ It’s all made in one bowl, no extra dishes.
✔️ By making your own, you have flexible toppings so you can make the crackers exactly to your taste!
✔️ It’s a good use of discard, especially because the crackers last a long time.
📋Ingredients
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Flour: we use a mix of all-purpose and whole wheat flour. If you want a lower gluten recipe, try Alex’s sourdough rye and spelt crackers.
- Unfed Sourdough Starter: if you don’t have unfed starter, also called discard, feel free to use active, bubbly starter.
- Za’atar Spice Blend: Za’atar is best known as a Middle Eastern spice blend. We have a homemade version here, however, you can easily substitute it. We have a list of alternative flavour ideas below.
Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the printable recipe card with full ingredient measurements and complete instructions.
👩🍳Method
STEP 1: add all ingredients (except toppings) to a large bowl and mix.
STEP 2: knead into a ball of dough and divide into two pieces.
STEP 3: roll the dough out and brush with olive oil.
STEP 4: top with salt and any other toppings, cut into squares, and bake.
💡Top Tips
1. Roll in the toppings. Add the toppings and then roll once more between parchment for the best sticking power.
2. Rest the dough. If the dough seems a bit shaggy and doesn’t want to be kneaded into a ball, let it rest (covered) for 10 minutes. The whole wheat flour will absorb some of the liquid the gluten will relax.
3. Make it even. If your dough is really thin around the edges and not evenly rolled out, the outer crackers will burn. Try to make it all one even thickness.
📝Recipe Notes
- If you don’t have unfed sourdough discard, you can use bubbly active starter. Weighed is best for this as discard and active starter have very different volumes.
- For ultra thin crackers, try rolling the dough through a pasta roller. Divide the dough into four rather than two, then roll it out as you would pasta dough, getting progressively thinner. Transfer to parchment paper and proceed with the recipe as written. Keep in mind thinner crackers will take less time to bake!
- A pizza cutter is fantastic for cutting crackers, but a sharp knife does the trick if you don’t have one.
- To store, place into an airtight container and keep at room temperature for up to a week. Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
❓Recipe FAQ
Depends how you define healthy! Whole wheat flour is a good source of whole grains, and some people might find these easier to digest because of the addition of sourdough.
Store it in the refrigerator for up to a few weeks. It might form hooch (liquid at the top), which can be poured off or stirred in, depending on what you’re using it for. We recommend a slightly fresher discard for these crackers to avoid an overwhelming sour flavour.
Whatever you like! We think that the stronger flavour of the crackers stands up really well to sharp cheeses and spicy toppings, so feel free to add to a fancy cheeseboard.
🌶️ Flavour Variations
- Everything bagel seasoning
- Sesame seeds
- Add a couple tablespoons of chopped herbs directly to 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 Cornbread
Chocolate Sourdough Cake (One Bowl)
Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
Blueberry Muffins With Cinnamon Streusel
Sourdough Morning Glory Muffins
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.
Recipe
Sourdough Crackers
Description
Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons or a digital kitchen scale
- 2 baking sheets
- Parchment paper
- Mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Wooden spoon or spatula
- Rolling Pin
- Pizza Cutter or sharp knife
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- 1 cup sourdough starter, unfed
- ¼ cup olive oil, plus more for brushing
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup whole wheat flour
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- Za'atar, optional, for topping
- Flaky salt, optional, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Have two baking sheets and two sheets of parchment paper ready.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the unfed starter, olive oil, both flours, and salt until all of the flour is just mixed in.
- Dump the dough out onto a work surface.
- Knead it by hand for about 30 seconds, or until smooth and pliable, then shape it into a ball.
- Sprinkle the top of the dough ball lightly with flour then slice it in half.
- Place each half of dough onto a sheet of parchment paper.
- Using a rolling pin, roll each piece of dough quite thin, about 1/16-inch (2-mm) thick. The dough will have misshapen edges. This is normal.
- Brush the rolled dough lightly with olive oil.
- Use a pizza cutter or a sharp knife to slice the crackers into 1 ½-inch (4-cm) squares.
- Top the crackers with flaky salt and Za’atar (or any other seasonings or small seeds you like).
- Transfer the crackers, on the parchment paper, to the two baking sheets.
- Place the crackers in the preheated oven and bake them for 22 to 25 minutes, or until the squares are beginning to brown around the edges, rotating the pans halfway through baking.
- Move the crackers to a wire rack and cool them on the baking sheets.
- Once cool, the crackers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
Video
Notes
- If you don’t have unfed sourdough discard, you can use bubbly active starter. Weighed is best for this as discard and active starter have very different volumes.
- For ultra thin crackers, try rolling the dough through a pasta roller. Divide the dough into four rather than two, then roll it out as you would pasta dough, getting progressively thinner. Transfer to parchment paper and proceed with the recipe as written. Keep in mind thinner crackers will take less time to bake!
- A pizza cutter is fantastic for cutting crackers, but a sharp knife does the trick if you don’t have one.
Nutrition
This recipe was first posted in September 2020. It has been updated without changes to the recipe most recently as of June 2022.
Natalia Zamora says
I made them and they are soooo good. Definitely next time will double or triple the recipe. Thank you!!
Erin B says
Thank you for this discard recipe. It is truly wonderful and also so forgiving. I’ve been making them since I started my starter a couple of weeks ago and now my family might love these even more than sourdough bread. They are addictive. I’ve made this variety you’ve posted here which is really great, but have also made them with different oils and additions. Yesterday’s was coconut oil, black pepper, curry, turmeric and cumin seed. Today’s is brown butter, rosemary, lemon zest and chopped pecans. The possibilities are endless!! I’ve been sharing the recipe with all the people to whom I’ve given starter so they can have fun with it too!
Kris Osborne says
Love this! And love these suggestions! Thanks so much for sharing. :)
Whitney B says
This was too easy. Thank you so much for sharing. I used recently fed starter which caused the crackers to puff a bit and required more time in the oven. A garlic-onion seasoning on top. I’m inspired by Erin B’s comment above and look forward to playing around with variations.
Katherine says
Excellent! And love that they’re vegan with simple ingredients! Instead of cumin & coriander, I used caraway seeds. I could eat the whole bowl of these!
Taylor says
Thanks for this amazing recipe! Super easy and turned out so good! Instead of Zaatar, I added thyme to the dough and then sprinkled with dried sage! Glad I have a go to recipe for my sourdough discard now! :)
Deb says
Made these for the first time today and they were outstanding and a great use of the starter discard.
I have been using my discard mostly for pretzels so nice to have an alternate recipe for discard.
I thought rolling the dough so thin would be hard to do but dough was very easy to work with… will try them again next week as I am sure like noted earlier they will be addictive…..
Next time will try a little more olive oil on them as I wasn’t sure how much to use for the first time and the za’atar falls off a bit but still tastes great with a side of hummus.
Thank you so much
Sujata says
These are SO delicious, halved the recipe and topped ‘everything Bagel’ seasoning and they’re such a delicious snack!
Beau says
Wow! Made these first time today as a lunchbox snack for the kids and I’m so impressed. So simple and enjoyable to make and bake and the flavour is delightful! We had a zatar mix in the pantry so added that on top of some olive oil, but I cannot wait to experiment with lots of other flavours. Thanks so much for sharing!
Ingrid says
Hello! I made these using my homemade sourdough. I’m not a newbie with baking but I am with sourdough. When I put this together the dough came out on the wet side. Is this normal? I assumed that this recipe is forgiving so I just added more flour taking care not to add too much.
It came out well and yummy nonetheless. Thank you.
Kris Osborne says
Hi Ingrid, Not sure if you used the weight or volume measurements or if our flours are different, but the dough definitely shouldn’t be wet. That said, you’re right that the dough is very forgiving. Just add until it’s malleable and rollable. :) Glad to hear that you liked them!
Erin B says
I commented earlier in the stream but I also wanted to mention another fun thing I’ve been doing with this dough to get it SUPER thin. I divide the dough ball into quarters and then crank each quarter through my pasta roller, making it consecutively thinner each time I pass it through. If I’m gentle with it it doesn’t tear. It comes out in paper thin, wide strips, with nicely rustic edges. I like to score them before baking so they break easily into long triangular shaped wedges after baking. I haven’t found a flavor combination I don’t like yet! These are excellent no matter what!
Kelly Neil says
This is SUCH a great idea and we are trying it immediately! Thank you SO MUCH for sharing!
Pat says
So I ordered the attachment for my kitchen aid, because your crackers sounded delicious!
Kris Osborne says
Pat, you can make them without the attachment. A reader was suggesting that you could get the dough super thin if you used the pasta attachment I’ve tried this with a different cracker dough recipe and it worked really well. I assume it would work beautifully here, as well, if you want that ultra-thin texture. Otherwise, just roll and bake! :)