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Sourdough Crackers

This post is a bit late isn’t it.  The party season is over and we’re now into lazy and carefree.  Oh well.  Parties will come round again.

Someone asked me not long ago if I make sourdough crackers.  They are so easy they are scarcely a recipe at all. Just sourdough starter, wholemeal flour, oil, salt, and perhaps some sesame or poppy seeds.

Ok, I’ll try to be a bit more specific. Because it is really worth making your own, and avoiding all those nasty transfats, as well as the ridiculous amount of packaging.

The Recipe:

Like my Seedy Sourdough Crispbread, it starts just like regular sourdough, except I make a smaller batch of starter:

Step 1:

  • Take the sourdough starter out of the fridge.
  • Mix 1  cup of unbleached bakers flour, 1  cup of water, and 1 cup of starter.  (I use my tank water, which has no chlorine or additives in it).
  • Put half of it back in the fridge.  You should be left with 1 cup of fed starter, to put in a bowl covered with a clean cloth on the kitchen bench for about 8 hours (overnight or for the day). It should end up frothy, like the picture.

Stage 2:

  • Mix in 1 cup of wholemeal flour, a little dollop of olive oil (perhaps a tablespoonful), and half a teaspoon of salt.
  • You can add sesame seeds or poppy seeds too if you like.  With this batch, I mistook mustard seeds for poppy seeds, and surprisingly, the crackers are ok.  Though I think I’ll go back to poppy seeds next time.
  • Flour the benchtop well,  tip the mix out onto it, and knead in enough more flour to get a ball of soft, springy dough. Put a good dollop of  olive oil in a large bowl, swirl the dough ball around in it to coat, cover the bowl with a clean cloth, and leave out on the benchtop for another 8 hours or so to prove. It should double in size, but with crackers there is a lot of leniency.

Stage 3:

  • Lightly oil three biscuit trays.
  • Tip the dough out on the benchtop,  knead very briefly, and divide up into three balls – two large and one small.
  • Flour the bench well and, with a floured rolling pin, roll the first ball out to very thin – 5 mm or so – basically as thin as you can get it.  Carefully transfer to the oiled biscuit tray and trim to fit.  Prick all over with a fork and cut into triangles.
  • Do the same with the second ball. Add the trimmings to the third (smaller) ball, knead again and do the same with it.
  • Leave on the benchtop, covered with a clean tea towel, for a couple of hours.

Stage 4:

  • The crackers will have puffed up slightly.  Bake in a slow oven for about 40 minutes, till they are firm and just colouring. Don’t take them too far – they will crispen up more as they cool.  Cool on a cake rack and store in an airtight jar.
Posted in Bread, Recipes

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3 Comments

  1. Marijke

    I’ve found using the pasta maker to roll out cracker dough,
    the whole process becomes a lot easier and the crackers much thinner.

    I add nigella, sesame, poppy and chia seeds through mine.
    The nigella seeds take them to a whole new taste level…

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