These easy sourdough discard crackers are perfectly crispy and have a slight tang from the starter. Made with only 4 ingredients, they are light and crunchy and use 1 cup of sourdough discard!
It’s time to say goodbye to store-bought crackers and hello to these crispy and easy homemade sourdough crackers! Made with just 4 ingredients, these perfectly light and crunchy crackers are so easy to customize that everyone in the family can pick their favorite topping.
These crackers are perfect snacking and for dipping into this slow-cooker Mexican grilled corn dip or this double cheese crab dip! They would be the perfect addition to a dip platter with hummus, baba Ganoush, and this tzatziki recipe!
Why You Will Love
- Crisp, crunchy, and slightly tangy crackers! These sourdough crackers are perfect for a charcuterie board or for snacking with guacamole! The discard not only adds that slight tang but also makes them crisp and light.
- An easy way to use up sourdough discard. It’s a new fun way to use that sourdough discard that’s been taking up space in your fridge. Or you can use your extra active starter if you decide to make this sourdough focaccia.
- Fun to make and easy to customize. These crackers only use 4 ingredients and are super easy to make. You can have your kids help you add their favorite seasonings, cheeses or herbs!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- All-purpose flour: Like with homemade goldfish crackers, all-purpose flour has the perfect amount of gluten for crispy, crunchy crackers. I would not substitute bread flour, as it can cause the crackers to become tough. Save the bread flour for the no-knead sourdough.
- Kosher Salt
- Unfed Starter: Use an unfed starter from the fridge or a recently fed room-temperature starter. If you don’t have a sourdough starter, you can try these three-cheese crackers. I also suggest heading over to my sourdough starter recipe to start your sourdough journey. I even show you how to feed a sourdough starter!
- Unsalted Butter
- Olive Oil: Olive oil offers the best flavor while keeping the crackers from sticking to the parchment and allowing the seasonings to stick to the top of the crackers while baking. You can use other oil alternatives just be sure you enjoy the flavor; you will be able to taste it!
- Flaky Sea Salt: Maldon salt is optional, but it is recommended. You can top these crackers with anything your heart desires. Check out the variations for some inspiration.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
- Add some spices or seasonings! Top these crackers with my everything bagel seasoning, cayenne pepper, onion and garlic powder or this taco seasoning recipe.
- Make them sweet. Add a little bit of honey or light brown sugar to the dough. Take inspiration from chocolate graham crackers and dust them with cinnamon, apple pie spice, or this pumpkin spice recipe and sugar!
- Add some cheese. Mix in or top the crackers with asiago, pecorino, Manchego, parmesan cheese or cheddar cheese.
- Mix in some fresh or dried herbs. Chop up some fresh rosemary, thyme, oregano or basil and mix it into the dough. You can even fry some sage in brown butter, chop it, and add it to the dough. Brush the crackers with the brown butter before baking. Be careful with added ingredients to the dough. It can be harder to roll them out thinner, so be sure to chop the mix-ins into small pieces.
Professional Tips
- Use room temperature butter. For ease of mixing the dough, use room temperature butter. This will speed up the mixing process and help keep your mixer from overworking.
- Roll with a French rolling pin or pasta machine for even crackers. When rolling this dough, I only had a straight rolling pin, and it made it very hard to roll the dough out evenly. A tapered French rolling pin will make it much easier and your crackers will be a more even thickness. And if you have a pasta machine or KitchenAid attachment, now is the time to use it!
- Let the dough rest! The gluten needs to rest. If you try to roll out the crackers too soon, they will shrink up (recoil in on itself). This means the gluten strands are too tight and the crackers will become tough and won’t be thin and crispy.
- Scale your ingredients. This is especially important when working with a sourdough starter. One cup of active starter discard weighs less than one cup of older sourdough discard, so it is best to use a kitchen scale to get the proper measurements.
How to Use a Pasta Machine or KitchenAid Attachment
If, like me, you have carpal tunnel or prefer to use your KitchenAid attachment to roll out crackers, here’s how!
Step 1: Take your dough and quarter it using a knife or bench scraper. Using a rolling pin or your hands, flatten it thin enough to fit through the machine. Lightly flour the dough to keep it from sticking.
Don’t flour the machine; it can cause breakage or lumps on the dough.
Step 2: Run the cracker dough through the widest setting on your pasta machine (or level one on the KitchenAid attachment).
Step 3: Optional fold: Lay the cracker dough down and fold both ends to meet in the middle. Then fold it in half again. This will allow the cracker dough to roll out into a rectangle and give you straighter crackers.
Step 4: Continue rolling the dough through the machine, slowly decreasing in thickness.
Don’t skip a number or thickness. Rushing the dough can cause it to stick to the rollers or the dough to tear, and you will have to rest the dough and start over.
Step 5: Once you reach the desired thickness of 2mm, which is generally setting #2, continue to step 8 in the instructions.
How to Make Sourdough Discard Crackers
Follow these instructions to make these perfectly crisp discard crackers! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
Make the dough:
Step 1: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine flour, salt, sourdough discard, and butter. Mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium until a smooth dough forms.
If your butter was cold, the dough will not come together on low for a very long time, basically until the butter warms up. Do yourself a favor and turn it up to medium speed, let friction warm up the butter, develop the dough, and call it a day!
Step 2: Stretch out a piece of plastic wrap, place the dough on top, and press out into a square about ½ inches thick. This will make rolling easier. Refrigerate for 2-8 hours or overnight.
Roll and Bake Crackers:
Step 3: When you are ready to roll, take the dough from the fridge and set it aside.
Step 4: Preheat the oven to 350°F convection (with the fan) or 375°F conventional (no fan). Convection will make better crackers if you have that option.
Step 5: Line three sheet pans with a piece of parchment paper and brush with olive oil. I spread the mixture evenly with my hand.
If you don’t have that many baking pans, don’t worry, you can simply set up the parchment paper, and then you can bake them after the others finish baking.
Step 6: Lightly flour a work surface and a rolling pin. I only had a straight rolling pin, but a tapered French rolling pin would have been greatly appreciated at this moment. Quarter the dough using a knife or bench scraper and roll out one piece at a time as thin as you can.
Step 7: You are aiming for 2mm. I try to keep it as close to a rectangle as possible, but this is very difficult with a straight rolling pin. Lift up the dough and pass it over a little bench flour to keep it from sticking.
Step 8: Use a sharp knife, pizza cutter or pie dough wheel to cut the dough. Cut them to your desired size. I did 1 ½ inches x 2 inches, but some were bigger and some smaller.
I usually choose to have some irregularly shaped pieces rather than making perfect rectangles and re-rolling the scraps! Keeping them close to the same size will ensure even baking rather than a tray of over- and undercooked crackers!
Step 9: Place the cut dough on prepared baking sheets. Once you have a whole sheet, brush the tops of the crackers with more oil and sprinkle with Maldon, everything bagel seasoning, or other toppings. I find that a sprinkle of flaked sea salt, either alone or with other toppings, is an essential addition.
Step 10: Bake the crackers in the preheated oven until light golden brown. You can also bake them at 375 without the fan, but the fan helps them get crispy without drying out.
Step 11: The bake time will depend on the size of your crackers, but mine baked between 9 and 12 minutes. I checked them every 3 minutes and rotated them. Allow to cool before serving or storing.
Recipe FAQs
Store baked crackers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 months. They will slowly go stale, but they won’t spoil. You can also prepare the crackers up until the point of baking and sprinkling with toppings. After you brush a tray with olive oil, place a second piece of parchment on top of the crackers. You can then stack as many layers of cracker dough like this as you’d like. Store them in the refrigerator well wrapped and bake within 3 days.
Discard is an unfed starter. It is the portion of the sourdough starter that is left over after feeding your starter. Some just toss it out, but we know better, and it can be kept in glass ball jars in your fridge for recipes such as this!
Yes, you can use an unfed starter straight from the fridge unlike many sourdough discard recipes, like sourdough cinnamon rolls or sourdough pancakes!
There are many ways to use your sourdough discard! I personally love sourdough discard recipes because it adds intrigue and the discard adds to the texture and flavor. So be sure to try these sourdough waffles or sourdough blueberry muffins. They are perfect Sunday brunch or just as a pick me up!
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If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below! I love hearing from you and your comments make my day!
Sourdough Discard Crackers
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup unfed starter discard, use a liquid measuring cup
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- olive oil
- fleur de sel, such as Maldon sea salt
- everything bagel seasoning, or whatever you prefer!
Instructions
Make the dough:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine flour, salt, sourdough discard, and butter. Mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium until a smooth dough forms.
- Stretch out a piece of plastic wrap, place the dough on top, and press out into a square about ½ inches thick. This will make rolling easier. Refrigerate for 2-8 hours or overnight.
Roll and Bake Crackers:
- When you are ready to roll, take the dough from the fridge and set it aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F convection (with the fan) or 375°F conventional (no fan). Convection will make better crackers if you have that option.
- Line three sheet pans with a piece of parchment paper and brush with olive oil. I spread the mixture evenly with my hand.
- Lightly flour a work surface and a rolling pin. I only had a straight rolling pin, but a tapered French rolling pin would have been greatly appreciated at this moment. Quarter the dough using a knife or bench scraper and roll out one piece at a time as thin as you can.
- You are aiming for 2mm. I try to keep it as close to a rectangle as possible, but this is very difficult with a straight rolling pin. Lift up the dough and pass it over a little bench flour to keep it from sticking.
- Use a sharp knife, pizza cutter or pie dough wheel to cut the dough. Cut them to your desired size. I did 1 ½ inches x 2 inches, but some were bigger and some smaller.
- Place the cut dough on prepared baking sheets. Once you have a whole sheet, brush the tops of the crackers with more oil and sprinkle with Maldon, everything bagel seasoning, or other toppings. I find that a sprinkle of flaked sea salt, either alone or with other toppings, is an essential addition.
- Bake the crackers in the preheated oven until light golden brown. You can also bake them at 375 without the fan, but the fan helps them get crispy without drying out.
- The bake time will depend on the size of your crackers, but mine baked between 9 and 12 minutes. I checked them every 3 minutes and rotated them. Allow to cool before serving or storing.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!Before You Go
I hope you enjoyed this sourdough cracker recipe! Make sure to check out our other sourdough recipes like this same day sourdough, or this whole wheat sourdough bread!
I finally got to use my tapered rolling pin for something other than pie dough, and it made rolling these crackers out so much easier. My friend was in the kitchen so I didn’t get to rotate the pan as often, but they were still really crisp! I did a mix of Maldon and everything bagel seasoning, and they were almost gone before I could get the hummus ready. I’ll make a double batch next time!