sourdough discard crackers

This recipe is inspired by the sourdough crackers recipe made by King Author Baking Company. I substituted in olive oil for butter and tweaked a few other things to my liking.

Ingredients

• 227 gr (1c) sourdough discard
• 140 gr AP flour
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp freshly ground pepper¹
• 1 tsp finishing salt
• spray oil
• extra flour for the rolling pin

Hardware

• weight scale
• rolling pin
• parchment paper
• medium bowl
• cookie sheet

Instructions

1. Stir sourdough culture to ensure that it’s homogenous.
2. Measure out sourdough into medium bowl.
3. Add flour, salt, and black pepper or optional flavorings.
4. Stir to combine. The dough should come together as a soft ball that does not stick a lot to the sides of the bowl.
5. Knead the dough just enough to ensure equal distribution of oil and flavorings.
6. Place plastic wrap or other covering over the bowl and refrigerate for 1/2 hour. Optionally, you can let it sit in the fridge for up to a day before proceeding.
7. Preheat oven to 350F.
8. Pull the dough out of the fridge, divide into 2 then shape each into rectangles.
9. Cut a piece of parchment about the size of the cookie sheet.
10. Lightly flour the parchment paper then roll out the first piece, trying to maintain a long, rectangular shape. Flour the rolling pin and the work surface as needed to prevent sticking.
11. Continue rolling out until it’s as thin as possible. For reference, it should be about as thin as the blade of a paring knife. The edges will crack and become ragged as the dough thins out but this is okay.
12. Transfer the parchment and the rolled out dough to the cookie sheet so that the entirety of the sheet of dough is flat on the cookie sheet.
13. Spray top lightly with oil and sprinkle on finishing salt evenly.
14. Dock (poke holes through) the dough sheet at approx 1/2 inch intervals with a fork so crackers do not puff up into mini-pitas while baking.
15. Cut the dough into 1 1/2” squares or desired shape being careful not to cut through the parchment paper. There is no need to reposition any of the raw crackers as they will separate while cooking.
16. Repeat these steps with the second portion of dough and second cookie sheet. Conversely, the remaining dough can be covered and returned to the fridge.
17. Bake for 20-25 minutes and rotate around the 10 minute mark.
18. The crackers will be done when they start to brown.
19. Pull out of oven and separate any crackers that may have not fully done so on their own.
20. Take parchment and crackers off of the cookie sheet and allow them to come to room temperature.
21. These crackers are best stored in an air-tight container at room temperature. Don’t ask me how long they stay good because they’re all long gone before that becomes a concern.

Footnotes

1. The black pepper can be substituted for any number of flavors. Some things to experiment with include oregano, thyme, rosemary, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, onion flakes, ranch mix, dehydrated cheddar…and so on. Certain herbs or flavors are more pungent than others. Because of this, you may need to use more or less than the original tbsp called for. This is for you to experiment with to your heart’s crunchy desire. ↩