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.
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…
What a good idea!
Divine! I’m pinning this for future reference. The pasta maker is a good tip too.