The Best Sourdough Discard Crackers Recipe

Once you try your hand at these delicious and simple sourdough crackers recipe, you’ll never throw out your sourdough discard starter again. Perfect for throwing on to a cheese platter, with a distinct tangy flavor that can never go unappreciated.

Table of Contents

• What are Sourdough Discard Crackers?
• Using Sourdough Discard to Make Crackers
  • Ingredients
  • How to Make Sourdough Discard Crackers
• How to Store Homemade Sourdough Crackers
• What to do With Burnt Sourdough Crackers?
• The Key to Successful Sourdough Crackers
• Other Sourdough Discard Recipes
  • Sourdough Pizza Crust
  • Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
  • Sourdough Naan
  • Sourdough Pancakes
• Sourdough Crackers are a Must-Try!
• FAQ’s

What are Sourdough Discard Crackers?

Sourdough discard crackers are made using the excess of your sourdough starter, which is normally what you would discard when feeding your starter.

The sourdough discard makes a great cracker base, especially when you add ingredients like olive oil and herbs to the mix. They’re savory, crisp and emit a distinct sourdough flavor, perfect when paired with your favorite cheeses.

Using Sourdough Discard to Make Crackers

Creating a sourdough discard recipe is a great way to make use of sourdough discard that you may have planned to throw out, had you not created this wonderful recipe.

The sourdough starter enhances the crackers, providing them with fantastic unmissable flavours.

Ingredients

Let’s take a look at the relevant ingredients required to make these homemade crackers.

• Sourdough Starter Discard – This can be store in the fridge in a covered jar for up to one week. When feeding your sourdough starter, set aside some of the discard to make fun recipes with
• Olive oil or Butter – A flavorful inclusion, that provides the crackers with a lovely texture. You can even brush some olive oil over the sourdough cracker dough, before popping them into the oven. You can also make homemade butter.
• Flour – You can use whole wheat flour, rye flour, all-purpose flour or regular plain white flour.
• Sea Salt – Mix this into the cracker dough, and add some large salt flakes to top the crackers
• Spices and Dried Herbs – Play around with the flavors using a variety of herbs and spices such as: dried rosemary, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, chili flakes, cumin seeds, zaatar etc.

How to Make Sourdough Discard Crackers

This recipe is super easy with promises of discard crackers that taste delicious, so lets take a look at what you need to do to make them:

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F and tear a piece of baking parchment paper large enough to cover a baking sheet. Melt some butter into a mixing bowl.
2. Weigh the sourdough starter discard in the mixing bowl with melted butter, then add dried herbs and salt.
3. Stir until the ingredients are thoroughly combined
4. Use a spatula to evenly distribute a very thin layer of the mixture on to the parchment paper.
5. Place the piece of parchment paper onto a baking sheet and sprinkle the top of the batter with salt
6. Bake for 10 minutes, remove and score the crackers with a knife or pizza cutter into squares. Return this to the oven and bake for a further 50 minutes, ensuring that they don’t over bake.
7. Remove the crackers from the oven and allow them to cool completely before breaking them into pieces.
8. Top with parmesan cheese, bagel seasoning, and sesame seeds for a flavorful snack.
9. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

How to Store Homemade Sourdough Crackers

There are a few things you can do to store your crackers, or extend the baking timeline for your sourdough crackers.

You can place the rolled discard cracker dough into the fridge for 12 hours prior to baking, this is great if you’re looking to prepare this in advance.

You can store the sourdough discard crackers in an airtight container for a week. Anything after that will result in stale crackers. However, you can place them into the oven for a few minutes to refresh them.

What to do With Burnt Sourdough Crackers?

If you find that you have several burnt discard crackers, or slightly harder than others, instead of throwing them away pop them into a food processor. Then blend them into bread crumbs. The delicious herby cheesy flavors will create the most flavorful breadcrumbs, perfect to add to salads, soups and pasta dishes!

You can also use these bread crumbs for breading chicken or fish, and then happen to make a delicious topping on lasagna!

The Key to Successful Sourdough Crackers

• Butter certainly provides sourdough discard crackers with the best flavor. But they can certainly be made using other fats. Olive oil may mask the tangy flavors.
• Since this is a cracker recipe without additional flour, the batter is extremely thin and spreadable. Parchment paper can help hold the batter when baking, alternatively you could use a silicone baking mat.
• Sourdough discard can be combined with other ingredients, straight out of the fridge, or at room temperature
• The crackers can be scored after baking, once they have cooled completely
• Check on your crackers around 30 to 40 minutes into baking. Oven temperatures can vary so your crackers might be ready sooner than you think.
• These crackers are super versatile, meaning that they can be seasoned in so many ways. Any dried or fresh herbs will do the job nicely, like rosemary or thyme.

Other Sourdough Discard Recipes

If you’re looking for some summer recipes that involve sourdough discard, then we’ve got a treat for you!

Sourdough discard crackers may have been delicious, but have you tried:

• Sourdough Pizza Crust
• Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Sourdough Naan
• Sourdough Pancakes

Sourdough Pizza Crust

If you love pizza, then you’ll adore sourdough pizza. Complete with a wonderfully crisp, chewy crust loaded with delicious toppings, that’ll have you devouring every morsel with fervour.

There’s so much that you can bake using sourdough starter and sourdough discard. Here’s what you’ll need to bake:

Ingredients

• 100g Sourdough discard
• 10g fine sea salt
• 30g olive oil
• 50g whole wheat flour
• 450g all purpose flour
• 350g water
• 100g Pizza sauce
• 50g Homemade pesto
• 75g Toppings

Instructions

1. Mix the discard, olive oil, sea salt, flour, and water in a large mixing bowl until they form a shaggy mess. Cover the bowl and let it ferment on the counter at room temperature overnight.
2. Perform a set of stretch and folds, cover the bowl, and place it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake.
3. Remove the dough from the fridge and allow it to sit on the kitchen counter for 30 minutes. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts, form into a ball and place onto a lightly floured surface. Cover with a towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
4. Switch your oven broiler on high, and preheat your cast iron skillet over medium high heat on the stove.
5. Press each dough ball into an 8 inch wide circle. If the dough is sticky, generously flour the work surface and the tops of the dough to prevent sticking.
6. Carefully lay the crust into a hot skillet.
7. Place your pizza toppings onto the crust. Cook on the stove for 5 to 6 minutes. Use a spatula to lift the crust to check if the bottom is done.
8. Remove the pizza from the oven and cut into slices.

Speaking of pesto, I’ve got a pumpkin seed sourdough pesto bread recipe you may like!

Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

Want to make chocolate chip cookies using sourdough discard? Well this fantastic recipe will do just that! A delicious sourdough cookie loaded with scrumptious chocolate chips in every bite.

Ingredients

• 95g all-purpose flour
• 125g bread flour
• 5g sea salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• 125g sourdough starter discard
• 5g vanilla extract
• 100g unsalted butter
• 100g light brown sugar
• 100g white sugar
• 340g chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Use a whisk to mix the dry ingredients, i.e. flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a small bowl then set aside.
2. In a separate bowl use a whisk to beat the egg, vanilla extract and sourdough starter until smooth then set aside.
3. Place cubed butter, and both sugars into a stand mixer bowl. Beat on low speed until the mixture forms crumbles. Add the chocolate chips and mix on low speed for 40 seconds. Then scrape down the sides of the bowl.
4. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until the batter emerges crumbly. Pour the egg mixture and mix on low speed, until the dough merges together, and begins to pull away.
5. Use a cookie scoop to scoop each portion of dough into 12 balls, and place them on a parchment lined baking tray. Chill the dough in the fridge for 2 hours or overnight.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 2375 degrees for 20 minutes, or until they’re a lovely golden brown.

Sourdough Naan

This sourdough naan is a plush, delicious flatbread that’s incredibly simple to make, using your unfed sourdough starter. Serve with soups, stews, and curries!

Ingredients

• 300g flour
• 125g unfed sourdough starter
• 60g yoghurt
• 120g milk
• 15g olive oil
• 7g salt

Instructions

This sourdough naan dough doesn’t take long to form, combine the ingredients in the morning and by evening you’ll be enjoying a tasty dinner!

1. Mix the ingredients together, cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise at room temperature until it has doubled in size
2. Turn the dough onto the kitchen counter and use a spatula to divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball, and keep them covered with a tea towel, to avoid them drying out
3. Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat, work with one ball at a time, use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a round shape
4. Lay the rolled out dough onto a hot skillet and let it cook for 2 minutes. You’ll notice the dough bubbling when its time to flip
5. Flip the dough using a spatula and cook on the other side for 2 minutes
6. Continue flipping the naan till its thoroughly cooked through. Remove from the skillet and place on a plate
7. Repeat the process with the remaining dough

Sourdough Pancakes

You’ll adore this simple yet delicious sourdough Pancake recipe. These are perfect for the sourdough beginners to enjoy sourdough baking, in creating fun and scrumptious recipes for you to try!

Ingredients

• 200g sourdough discard
• 240g buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 50g sugar
• 5g vanilla extract
• 56g butter
• 240g flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 5g salt

Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl combine sourdough starter, eggs, buttermilk, sugar, vanilla extract, butter and flour. Cover the bowl and let this rest on the kitchen counter overnight
2. Once you’re ready to cook, add baking soda, baking powder, and salt to the mix, stir and cover the bowl. Let the batter rest while your heat a pan
3. Preheat the pan until its hot, lightly grease and pour a cup of batter into the pan. Cook until the bottom is a lovely golden brown, with bubbles covering the top of the pancake. Flip and cook for 3 minutes per side.

Sourdough Crackers are a Must-Try!

Using sourdough discard in a variety of recipes, is a great way to ensure minimum waste. Whether its sourdough crackers, or cookies, you’ll love them all. Perfect for family gatherings, or small parties, simply form your dough, bake and enjoy!

FAQ’s