A surprisingly easy recipe for sourdough whole wheat crackers – mix, roll out, and bake in less than an hour. And these are so good you won’t believe it!
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I never thought I’d make crackers. If I could get them for less than 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 by regular Triscuits (three ingredients!) if I have a coupon, but natural and organic crackers are around $2 a box- even with a coupon – so I decided to take the plunge and try making a whole wheat cracker recipe.
And if I was going to make crackers, I might as well take the opportunity to use up the extra sourdough starter I usually have on hand before or after feeding. 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 the starter out of the fridge and make these right away. It’s a great way to use some starter before feeding it again, 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.
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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 – a classic pantry basic. 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 Tutorial
Pour 1 cup of sourdough starter into a large bowl. I always use my Kitchenaid stand mixer, but of course it can be made by hand.
TIP: I then feed my sourdough starter and leave it in a warm place for 24 hours before putting it back in the fridge. If I want it to be active to make a loaf of sourdough artisan bread, I’ll feed it again during that time to make sure it’s doubled and bake with it before storing in the fridge.
Add the softened butter 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!
In a small bowl mix the whole wheat flour (I use whole wheat pastry flour which is made from soft white wheat) with sea salt and baking soda. Add it to the starter-butter and mix well.
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.
Let the dough rest for 10 minutes and start the oven heating to 350 degrees.
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.
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, 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.
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).
Trim off the really ragged edges. You can see I leave some of the larger edges and we have half-crackers as well as whole ones, though the smaller, thinner edges do brown faster when baking, so you’ll need to keep an eye on them.
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) and 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. Pictured above is a sheet pulled out at 8.5 minutes- you can see some are more brown than others. I remove the darker ones 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 I 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 similar to mine 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!
Click the arrow for the full printable recipe!
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Just made these today and they were great! You left a couple of things out, though; you didn’t say whether the butter should be softened or melted, and you forgot to add that the pan should be covered with parchment or silicone. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so glad you liked these, Caitlin! Thank you for your suggestions – I do have in step 7 to transfer them to a silicone or parchment lined pan. I’ll go ahead and update the ingredients to say softened butter if you’re using that. 🙂
★★★★★
These are so good that I have made them twice this week! I don’t have pastry flour so I just used whole wheat and they turned out great! The second batch I used 1 cup of almond pulp leftover from my almond milk making. I just roll mine right onto the stone as another commentor suggested and bake and then cut into cracker size pieces. Thanks for sharing this recipe for a healthy, delicious and unprocessed cracker. Love ours with some hummus and kohlrabi.
★★★★★
I’m so glad you like this, Audra! It was a revelation to me, too, just how amazing they taste.
Thanks for those tips to make it easier!
★★★★★
I made these crackers and they are SO good! But mine puffed up like pillows??? Any idea why that would have happened?
I’ve had some do that, but not all, Kellie. I like the ones that have more air pockets, but I know full on pillows aren’t the best. I wonder if it may be overworked dough? Did the later ones puff more? I’m just guessing here, though!
Do you have a recipe for sourdough starter. I had one for many years, but it ‘died’ during a siege of tonsillectomies for my four children!
Yikes! 🙂 Yes, you’ll find one in this article: https://anoregoncottage.com/grow-keep-use-sourdough-starter/
This is amazing! I always have starter around. My family loves crackers and I refuse to purchase boxes with scary sounding words in the label. Really excited to try this! Thx! ???
Yay – I think you will be a convert, too, Tyna, especially because it uses all.the.starter. 😉
I tried starting a whole wheat starter a couple of times but… no luck. I hate all the waste of pouring some of it out. I do like sourdough bread though.
Bummer, Charlotte, sorry to hear that. I don’t like pouring it out, either, so I tried to find recipes I could use with the less active starter like this one.
I made these today with my starter that is just barely working. I love how my two sons described them–Son 1: “Mom, to be honest, the dough tasted disgusting, but the crackers are really good.” Son 2: “These taste just like wheat thins!” Success! We nearly devoured the entire batch! I had made a different recipe before using regular whole wheat flour and these, with the whole wheat pastry flour, are way better and easy to make!
I’m so glad to hear this, Sarah! Our family is the same way – these are gone in a day or two. 🙂
These are amazing! They taste JUST like Wheat Thins! I used a pizza cutter and cut them right on the stone without diving the crackers up individually. They broke apart easily when removing from oven after baking. I found my baking time to be about 15 minutes to achieve the desired crispiness. These are super easy to make. Thank you!
Holly
I was surprised at how good they are too, Holly, when I tried them for the first time! I love your tip to cut them right on the stone – smart. 🙂
Hi Jami – when I make crackers, I roll out the dough on a Silpat & then cut them with a butter knife which doesn’t harm the pad. Then I just bake them on the Silpat on the cookie sheet which saves a step.
Great tip, Brenda! Butter knife, duh *head slap* 🙂
Happy I could make a useful suggestion! These crackers are fabulous, btw! I made them today with ripe starter & no baking soda. I let them rise for 7 hours & the rolled them out & baked them. They are a little more sour but still very tasty.
I do this, too! So simple. And I try to refrigerate the dough so I can bake some anytime!This is our favorite way to use up the starter.
A little late to the party here, but can I sub spelt flour for the whole wheat pastry flour? I’m just venturing into the world of home baked goods so I don’t have much variety of flours on hand until I know this is something I can stick with. Once I master the basics I plan to broaden my horizons 🙂
For me, spelt flour has always worked like regular whole wheat flour, so wouldn’t be a good substitute for the pastry flour, which is lighter and has less protein. If you can find white spelt flour, that may work. You can always try it, though, and you may like the outcome!
We (I say ‘we’ when I mean my husband) make several different types of crackers. I much prefer homemade over store bought. I’ve purchased various crackers over the years, but with wanting to get away from questionable ingredients I switched to organic brands. However, with prices now hitting upwards of $3-4 a box (even at Trader Joe’s) that is no longer something I do on a regular basis, especially when making organic crackers is so simple at home. All it takes are a few ingredients and about an hour of time.
Thanks for sharing your recipe. I’m a fellow Oregonian (also in the Willamette Valley). 🙂
Hope you enjoy them, Carole!
love it all your recipes are great can i join you with my baby& your kids next time you bake please 😀
need to ask a silly question what is the sourdough starter? thanks alot
p.s. didnt hear about it before and i live in Middle-East
Hey Maya, no questions are silly around here – we’re all learning at one time or another! Sourdough starter is a flour-water mixture that you sit on your counter and feed in order to grow your own wild yeast to raise bread with no added commercial yeast.
Go to this page to find out more about sourdough, including the link I used to make my own starter:
https://anoregoncottage.com/sourdough-tips-for-occasional-user/
Sure hope this helps you!
Great way to use extra starter. My husband was wary, but ended up loving them. My first tray puffed up like little pillows LOL. On the next tray, I poked them with a fork and problem solved. When they were almost done, I flipped them to dry the otherside. Thanks for the idea.
AmyBeth
I am so excited to try this recipe since I was reading the back of the Club House cracker box yesterday and found high fructose corn syrup listed as an ingredient. Eww. Every day I am more convinced that homemade IS the only way to go. Thank you for sharing! 🙂
Diana- What a FABULOUS idea to use a baking stone! I hadn’t thought of that and I’m going to try it the next time I make them.
These look great!
I would love for you to share some of your recipes on my WEEKLY RECIPE LINK PARTY on my blog:
http://larkscountryheart.blogspot.com/
“Made it on Monday”
You can link up every Wed.-Sat.
I hope you will come join in on the fun 🙂
This is a lot like my cracker recipe too! Only mine doesn’t call for baking soda (I don’t think) and you can let it sit overnight. I have been using my pizza stone to bake them–they get beautifully crisp! (And you can roll and cut them out right on the stone instead of transferring them.) Yours look great!
Wow impressive. I may have to try this soon. My wheels are spinning with the things I could add to suit our tastes.
We love sourdough crackers too! My recipe is a little different than yours but similar. It is one thing that I think I can make that tastes BETTER than store bought! And of course, healthier!
Gina