King Arthur has many recipes on their site that use sourdough discard. Here’s my take on their sourdough discard crackers.
Makes about 100 sized at 1 1/4 inches. I like bigger crackers and make 1 1/2 or 2 inch crackers. Sometimes, I just make cracker strips or free form crackers!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (56g) King Arthur Premium 100% Whole Wheat Flour or King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour or King Arthur All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (248g) sourdough starter, unfed/discard
- 1 tablespoon ground Chipotle
- 1 tablespoon smoked Spanish paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 cup oil (4 tablespoons)
- extra flour for rolling out dough
- water, for brushing
- coarse salt (such as Maldon sea salt flakes or kosher salt) for sprinkling on top
Tools:
- Ideally, 2 half size sheet pans, but you can use one. It just takes more time.
- Parchment paper, cut to fit the sheet pans.
- Rolling pin
- Pastry brush
Directions
- Mix together the flour, cornmeal, sourdough starter, salt, spices, and oil to make a smooth(not sticky), cohesive dough. (You may need a little extra flour depending on how wet the sourdough starter is.)
- Divide the dough in half, and shape each half into a small rectangular slab. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes, or up to a couple of hours, until the dough is firm. (If you don’t stack them on top of each other, they chill faster.)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Very lightly flour the cut piece of parchment, your rolling pin, and the top of the dough.
- Working with one piece at a time, roll the dough to about 1/16″ thick. Try to roll it to the edge of the parchment. The dough will have ragged, uneven edges; that’s OK. Just try to make it as even as possible. Trim the edges to square them up, if you don’t want rustic looking crackers.
- Cut the dough into 1 1/4″ or 1 1/2″ or 2″ squares; I use a metal ruler and knife to mark out the spacing at the top and bottom and left and right sides. If I am making 1 1/2″ crackers, the bottom crackers are smaller and the ones on the right side are smaller. I lay the ruler on the dough so it aligns with the markings, and I cut the dough by following along the edge that aligns with the markings.
- Carefully, transfer the dough and parchment together onto a baking sheet. I put the sheet pan at the edge of the counter and pull the parchment paper into the pan.
- Prick each square with the tines of a fork. I like prick the dough by following the cut lines, half the fork on each side of the line, and then I put 2 pricks in the middle of each square.
- Lightly brush the dough with water and then sprinkle the coarse salt over the top of the crackers. Sprinkle the salt from at least 10″ above the dough.
- Bake the crackers for 20 to 25 minutes, until the squares are starting to brown around the edges. Midway through, reverse the baking sheets: both top to bottom, and front to back; this will help the crackers brown evenly.
- When fully browned, remove the crackers from the oven, and transfer them to a cooling rack.
- Store airtight at room temperature for up to a week; freeze for longer storage.
Some tips from the King Arthur web site:
- The thinner you roll the crackers the crisper they will be.
- If you’re baking in a humid kitchen environment, allow your crackers to cool in a turned-off oven with the door propped open slightly. This will help the crackers crisp up better.
- A great trick: If you have a pasta machine (or the pasta attachment with a KitchenAid), use it to roll your cracker dough into thin sheets.
