A Crunchy and Delicious Way to Use Sourdough Starter Discard!
Learn how to make healthy, whole wheat sourdough crackers with your discarded sourdough starter. You won’t regret it! These are perfect for holidays, parties, or simply as a healthier cracker snack option for your family. We love to use lots of fresh local honey or fresh herbs from the garden.
The process involved with maintaining a healthy sourdough starter and baking hobby can get a little wasteful. All that feeding and dumping, feeding and dumping… But it doesn’t have to be a waste! There are a number of ways you can put that discarded sourdough starter to good use. A great way to use discarded starter is in other baking recipes –like these delectable, crispy, savory sourdough crackers!
This recipe is loosely based off the popular King Arthur version – but with our own personal twists! We love to use fresh local honey for a sweet snack, add fresh herbs and garlic from the garden for a savory treat, or mix in cheddar cheese to make the best “Cheezit” copycat cracker ever. The best thing about this recipe is that you can make it your own. I hope you love our take on this classic!
Need a starter? Buy your own dehydrated organic “Fiona” sourdough starter here. It comes with easy instructions and will last a lifetime of baking!
Fiona, our active and bubbly sourdough starter
How to Make Sourdough Honey Wheat Crackers
Equipment
Rolling pin
Pastry Wheel or Pizza Cutter
Mixing bowl
Parchment Paper
Basting Brush
Ingredients
1/2 Cup Whole wheat flour
1/2 Cup Unbleached bread flour or white all-purpose flour
1 Cup Sourdough starter
1/4 Cup honey
1/4 Cup olive oil or melted butter
1/2 Tsp Sea salt
Olive oil for brushing
1/4 Cup Optional: Fresh herbs of choice, e.g. rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano (Or 2 tbsp dried)
1/4 Tsp Optional: garlic powder
Instructions
1) Mix dough
In a large mixing bowl, combine whole wheat flour, white flour, sourdough starter, honey, salt, and melted butter or olive oil. If you are making herb or cheese crackers, add your fresh herbs/cheese. If you have only one type of flour available, you can just use whole wheat or white on their own. We like to add 1/8 tsp garlic powder to this step too.
Thoroughly mix the dough until it is uniform. I usually start mixing with a fork or spoon, but then finish mixing with my hands. It should not be sticky
2) Split, Squish & Cool
Divide the large dough ball into two roughly equal smaller balls. Using your hands, form each ball into a flattened rectangle, about the size of your hand and about half an inch thick. Repeat for the second ball.
Place each squished dough rectangle on a plate, and cover/wrap with parchment paper. The goal is to not allow the dough to dry out. I cut a piece just larger than the dough and tuck it in around the edges.
Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes, up to a couple hours. You could even let the dough sit overnight if needed, but be sure it is well-wrapped or even tucked inside an airtight container to prevent it from drying out. The longer it sits in the fridge, the more it will ferment (and become easier to digest!) yet it will also become increasingly cold and firm – and more challenging to roll out thin. So, if the dough is refrigerated for more than a couple of hours, I suggest allowing it to warm up at room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes before rolling out.
3) Roll Out
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Once they’ve had their time to chill, remove the cracker dough from the fridge. Cut a piece of parchment paper to about the size of a cookie sheet, or use a silicone baking sheet liner. Lightly dust the parchment paper/liner with flour. Carefully unwrap one chunk of flattened dough, place it in the center of the floured parchment paper, and lightly flour the top of the dough. I like to do this on a large cutting board, which makes it easy to transfer onto a cookie sheet.
Using a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough until it is nice and thin. The goal is about 1/16th of an inch thick – or as thin as you can make it. It’s OK if the edges will be a little ragged. Just work it back and forth and side to side to get it spread as evenly as possible while still maintaining a relatively rectangular shape.
4) Oil, Slice, & Poke
Once the dough is rolled out, lightly brush the surface with olive oil. Then sprinkle some coarse salt over it as well.
Next, cut the dough into rows of square crackers. Anything from 1 to 2 inches is good! The use of a rolling pizza cutter works well for this. We love to use a pastry/pasta cutter to get fun wavy edges.
Finally, poke the top of each cracker with a fork a couple of times.
Repeat Steps 3 and 4 for the second piece of dough.
5) Bake
Slide the parchment paper with cut and poked cracker dough onto a baking sheet. Each batch will need its own cookie sheet. We bake two trays at one time, but if you only have one cookie sheet to work with, have them take turns.
Bake on 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crackers turn light golden brown. Rotate the cookie sheets halfway through.
When they are done baking, immediately transfer the finished sourdough crackers on to a cooling rack.
6) Enjoy!
Finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for! I’m sure you’ve already snacked on a few while they were cooling and now can’t help yourself but keep snacking.
After fully cooling, store your sourdough crackers in an air-tight container to maintain maximum freshness and crunch. They will stay fresh for 2-3 days.
These sourdough honey wheat crackers are so good and a healthier alternative to most other types of crackers. You can enjoy them with cheese and olives, or dunked in hummus and other dips. Sourdough crackers are our a hit for holiday and party platters. People are always impressed to learn they’re homemade!
