A surprisingly easy recipe for sourdough whole wheat crackers - mix, roll out, and bake in less than an hour. And these crackers are so good you won't believe it!
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Making crackers is something I never thought I'd do. If I could get them for a dollar a box, why would I take the time and effort?
Besides, rolling out dough is not one of my favorite things (pie crust and cut out cookies, I'm looking at you).
But when you start reading labels and caring about what's in the food you're eating, those cheap crackers don't look so good anymore.
I still buy regular Triscuits (three ingredients!), but natural and organic crackers are over $2 a box, even with a coupon, so I decided to take the plunge and try making a whole wheat cracker recipe.
Making Crackers with Sourdough Starter
If I was going to make crackers, I thought I should take the opportunity to use up the extra sourdough starter I often have on hand before and after feeding. And I found that using starter brings a wonderful tang and flavor the crackers!
What's more, this recipe for sourdough whole wheat crackers is one of very few sourdough recipes that doesn't require an active starter.
Meaning, you can take your starter out of the fridge and make these right away. (Are the angels singing?)
It's a great way to use some starter before feeding it again or when you're creating a new starter and have some to pour off - or any other time you have extra starter, which if you grow and use sourdough you know is quite a bit.
Wondering about sourdough? Here's my easy guide to all things sourdough with how to grow a starter, tips, recipes, and my lazy method of storage.
Three things surprised me about these sourdough whole wheat crackers:
- The dough was really easy to work with and rolled out beautifully without tearing.
- They take only about an hour to make- start to finish.
- They are delicious and my family LOVES them. In fact, they'd probably eat them all in one day if I didn't ration them a bit!
Plus, one sure way to impress people is to make something that most people have only ever bought at stores their whole lives is a classic pantry basic recipe.
Bonus Gift Idea
Giving a container of these crackers along with cream cheese and a home-canned topping like Tomato Chutney or Honey-Sweetened Jalapeño Jelly would make a unique and yummy handmade gift.
If you keep them from being devoured by your family, that is.
Sourdough Whole Wheat Crackers
Ingredients
- sourdough starter
- butter or coconut oil
- honey
- whole wheat pastry flour (also works with whole wheat white flour and all-purpose in a pinch - I've found regular whole wheat flour is a bit course, but of course you can try it to see what you like)
- sea salt
- baking soda
- olive oil
Directions
1. Add sourdough. Pour 1 cup of sourdough starter into a large bowl. I always use my Kitchenaid stand mixer, but of course the dough can be made by hand.
Sourdough Starter Tips
After using the amount I need, I feed my sourdough starter and leave it in a warm place for 12-24 hours before putting it back in the fridge.
If you'd like the starter to be active to make a loaf of sourdough artisan bread, feed it again during that time, make sure it's doubled in volume, and bake with it before storing in the fridge again. Learn more about keeping sourdough easily here.
2. Mix in butter. Add the softened butter (or oil) and honey and mix well.
If you like the flavor of coconut oil, feel free to use it in place of butter. Our family felt the flavor was too strong and we really like them with butter, but that's one of the joys of cooking your own things - adapt to what you like!
3. Add dry Ingredients. In a small bowl mix the whole wheat pastry flour (made from soft white wheat, so finer with less protein than hard red wheat flour) with sea salt and baking soda.
Add it to the starter-butter and mix well.
4. Knead. Add the remaining flour to the mixture, 1/4 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. This "kneads" the flour into a smooth dough.
TIP: I have found that when my starter is wetter I need to add a bit more flour- 1 tablespoon at a time- until I have a smooth and stiff dough. Other times, 1 cup flour is enough. Adjust yours as needed.
5. Rest. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes and start the oven heating to 350 degrees.
6. Divide. Place the dough on a well-floured surface and divide into thirds. Roll out one portion at a time, while keeping the remaining dough covered with a towel.
UPDATE: Following some advice from readers, I now roll this out right on parchment paper, then use the pizza wheel to score the crackers and lift the whole thing right onto a baking sheet - so easy!! (Don't try to use silicone liners, though, thinking you'll cut lightly - it doesn't work, lol. Stick with parchment.)
The crackers separate some while cooking and it's easy to remove the outer browning crackers as needed and continue to cook the remaining crackers.
7. Roll. Shape the dough into a circle with your hands and then start rolling it out on the floured board, turning and flouring as needed to keep from sticking.
As you can see above, the dough can be rolled thin evenly and without tearing- it really is easy to work with.
TIP: It's OK to use as much flour as you need to keep it from sticking- it doesn't seem to affect the end product.
A good cracker is a thin cracker, so keep rolling until the dough is about 1/8- inch thick.
This is how thin you want to aim for- I'm guessing this is about 1/8-inch thick, but I didn't actually measure it (how?)- what do you think?
And it doesn't tear even doing this, though you can see everything's pretty well floured.
8. Cut. Use a pizza wheel (makes it so easy!) or a knife to cut the dough into cracker-sized squares (the size is totally up to you- I was aiming for the Wheat-Thin size), trimming off the really ragged edges.
You can see above that I leave some of the larger edges and we have half-crackers as well as whole ones. The smaller, thinner edges do brown faster when baking, so you'll need to keep an eye on them.
9. Top & Bake. Transfer the crackers to a silicone (black silicone liners are my favorite for better browning) or parchment lined cooking sheet with a little space between them (they don't spread) - IF you're not rolling and cutting on parchment like the updated technique.
Spray with a little olive oil, using a Mr. Misto or other oil sprayer.
TIP: I found that trying to brush each cracker took way too long and moved them all over the tray as I was brushing, so I just spray them. Make sure that each cracker gets some oil, but don't worry about each cracker being covered evenly (as you can see above!) - it doesn't seem to make a difference when they're cooked, so it's not worth the extra time it takes.
After spraying, lightly sprinkle them with fine sea salt. When I tried a coarser salt, they were just too salty, so I'm very careful with salting the tops.
As soon as one baking sheet is filled (this recipe makes three large baking pans of crackers), place them in the oven to cook while repeating the rolling and cutting with another portion of dough.
Bake the crackers about 8-9 minutes (rotated halfway through) until they are medium-browned.
Check the sheet and remove any dark crackers around the edges and place the sheet back in the oven for a few more minutes so the lighter colored crackers can get done.
I discovered that the crackers that are lighter never crisp up and are chewy rather than crisp, so do take the time to cook them longer.
TIP: Leaning towards the side of too dark is better than too light, since crisper is better than chewy for crackers- just keep them from actually burning.
Let cool on a rack before storing in an airtight container, like these retro-style glass jars at a great price (which are actually called 'cracker jars!').
They stay nice and crisp up to a week when stored like this - the few times they've lasted that long!
What readers say about this easy recipe:
"I just made mine and it was so successful! I sprinkle with salt and herbs, they are lovely! Your recipe is brilliant!!" -Zhi
"These are so good and so easy! I may never buy store bought crackers again!" -Courtney
"YES YES YES!!! I was wondering what I should do with my discard so I stumbled across your site. I tried this recipe yesterday and we were all eating them for dinner. I never even knew you could make your own crackers before." -Brandi
Sourdough Whole Wheat Crackers
Ingredients
- 1 cup sourdough starter
- 1/4 cup butter or coconut oil, softened
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour + extra for rolling
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- olive oil + salt for topping
Instructions
- Mix the starter, butter, and honey in a large bowl.
- In a small bowl, mix 1/4 cup of the flour with the salt and baking soda. Add to the large bowl and mix until smooth.
- Add the remaining 3/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until a smooth, stiff dough forms. You may need to add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, if the sourdough starter was "wet."
- Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Turn the dough out to a well-floured surface and divide into three portions. Roll out one portion, keeping the remaining dough covered, until quite thin (1/8" or thinner). Use plenty of flour and turn as necessary to keep from sticking.
- Use a pizza wheel or knife to cut into squares and place on a silicone or parchment lined baking sheet. Fill the pan- the crackers don't expand, so place them quite close together without touching. -OR-
- Updated rolling & cutting technique: I now roll the dough out right on a piece of parchment paper, then use the pizza wheel to score the crackers and simply lift the whole thing right onto a baking sheet - so easy!!(The crackers separate some while cooking and it's easy to remove the outer browning crackers as needed and continue to cook the remaining crackers.)
- Spray (or brush) the crackers with olive oil- it doesn't need to be even, just make sure all the crackers get a bit of oil- and sprinkle very lightly with a fine salt. Don't use too much- it really makes them too salty.
- Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, rotating the pan as needed, until medium brown. Remove crackers to a cooling rack as they brown and return pan to oven as needed to brown all the crackers.
- Repeat with remaining dough while the first batch is baking.
Notes
Nutrition
More Sourdough Recipes To Try:
- Sourdough Whole Wheat English Muffins
- Sourdough Waffles (they may spoil you for anything else…)
- Sourdough Artisan Bread
- Sourdough Bagel Tutorial
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