Sourdough Crackers are a great addition for a cheese plate, have that perfect crack and are the best way to use discarded sourdough starter.
Why make this recipe
- These sourdough crackers will be the star at Thanksgiving parties and Christmas dinner! They are amazing with dips or by themselves and are a great improvement to your holiday cheese table.
- It's way cheaper than store-bought gourmet crackers!
- If you’re looking for a homemade gift, these crackers make an excellent present for your foodie friends.
- You can easily customize this recipe by adding your favorite flavors to it!
What is sourdough discard and what to do with it
Sourdough discard is the amount of sourdough starter you get rid of before you feed it.
When you feed your starter, you need to give it enough food, which is its weigh in flour and water. If you don’t discard half of it, soon it won’t fit in a jar (if you, like me, don’t bake bread every day).
I don’t keep a small sourdough starter, and that gives me A LOT OF discard to work with. I’m not interested in keeping a smaller one because truthfully, I love adding sourdough to everything, and I’m always creating a new recipe with it!
If you’re looking for more sourdough discard recipes, vegan sourdough pancakes and sourdough discard tortillas are my most popular sourdough discard recipes!
How to store sourdough discard
Sometimes you don’t have enough, sometimes you just don’t have the time to use it right now. But don’t throw out your sourdough discard! It’s super simple to store it for a later use.
When separating half of your sourdough starter RIGHT BEFORE feeding, place the discard in a clean glass jar with a lid. I keep mine inside the fridge until I have enough or am ready to use it.
Ingredient and substitutions
Flour. You can make this recipe using whole wheat only, or all-purpose flour only.
Milk. You can use dairy or any plant-based milk.
Sourdough starter. I use sourdough discard, but both discard and active sourdough work for this recipe.
Rolled oats. I prefer to use rolled oats for the appearance, but quick oats are just as good.
Baking soda. Don’t forget the baking soda: the ingredient is responsible for the dough to rise on the first bake.
Pumpkin puree. Can be substituted for unsweetened apple sauce, or Greek yogurt.
All spices can be substituted for your favorite combination, or even omitted completely (you'll lose flavor if leaving them out, though). Same for pecans (chopped almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts can be used), dried cranberries (you can try dried apricots or even coconut flakes), and sunflower seeds (try using pumpkin seeds).
How to make them
Those crackers only look hard! I bet you’ll get an amazing gourmet cracker following all the steps and tips here - I even made a video for you to really get it right on your first try.
1. Make the dough.
- In a large bowl, mix milk, sourdough starter and pumpkin puree. Add brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt and thyme and mix to combine. Add the sunflower seeds, chopped pecans and dried cranberries and mix until incorporated into the batter.
- In a medium bowl, mix both the all-purpose and whole wheat flours, rolled oats and baking soda.
- Add the flour mixture on the batter and stir until everything is well combined.
2. First bake. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Distribute all the batter evenly into the lined loaf pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until you insert a toothpick into the middle and it comes out clean.
3. Cooling and freezing. Let the loaf cool completely before wrapping it with plastic wrap. Freeze for 40 minutes to 1 hour. If you freeze it for longer than 2 hours, let it thaw for 40 minutes to 1 hour before cutting. If the middle is totally frozen, it’s harder to slice the cracker.
4. Slice it. Unwrap your loaf. With a bread knife or any serrated knife, slice the loaf as thinly as you can. Aim for 2mm slices.
5. Second bake. Preheat you oven to 250°F. Place the slices on a baking sheet. Line with parchment paper just to prevent any browning at the bottom. Bake your sourdough crackers for 50 minutes, flipping each cracker after 25 minutes.
Let them cool completely before serving. They will get harder as they cool, so don’t worry if they’re still a bit soft when out of the oven!
Tips for success
- Don't try to finish it in one day if you are in a rush! This sourdough cracker recipe is easy, BUT it can be a little time-consuming to make. You can start in one day and finish the morning after and that’s totally ok - I did it and that did not mess up the recipe, so don’t worry about that.
- Use sourdough starter or discard. These crackers are made with sourdough discard, but you can make it with a fed starter. It won’t really make a difference, as you mix everything together and bake it straight away.
- Use a sharp bread knife for cutting these crackers. A sharp knife will make your life much easier! You can see in the video how I struggle to cut the slices - that was not a sharp bread knife. I prefer using a bread knife for this. I tried with a super sharp chef’s knife and almost cut my hand badly - please don’t try it, especially if you’re a bit clumsy like me.
- The slices must be thin! Aim for about 2mm thick - you can see the thickness in the video and photos below. If you cut them too thick, they won’t get as crispy as store-bought ones.
- Don’t try cutting a completely frozen loaf. If you freeze your loaf for over 2 hours (if you do it for an entire day like I did), let it thaw for at least 1 hour before cutting or it will be super hard. Don’t skip the freezing process, or it will be harder to get thin slices.
- Yes, you need to bake them for 50 minutes the second time you do it. After 25 minutes, it’s really good to flip every single one so they bake and crisp evenly and don’t burn on the bottom. I bake one batch without doing it and noticed a significant difference.
How to get crispy crackers
Having problems to get crispy sourdough crackers? let’s recheck if you’re doing all the steps for them to have that so wanted crack:
- Cut thin slices - to thick, and they won’t get crispy!
- Flip them over after 25 minutes when baking for the second time.
- Do not add more liquid than the recipe calls for.
- Use a 100% hydration sourdough starter.
How to serve
These crackers are a great way to improve a cheese table. They are packed with Thanksgiving and Christmas flavors, so adding them to these holidays is a must.
Serve them with cheese, butter, or your favorite jam for a delicious breakfast or even as a middle day snack!
Storing and freezing
As soon as they cool, store them into an airtight container away from sunlight and any heat source. They will keep crispy for about 1 to 2 weeks. But they won’t last that long, especially if you have guests.
You can freeze the loaf for up to 1 month. I don’t recommend freezing it for longer because the ingredients will start to lose flavor, and you’ll get a less flavorful cracker.
More recipes using discarded sourdough starter
Easy Sourdough Pie Crust
Pumpkin Pancakes
📖 Recipe
Sourdough Gourmet Crackers
Ingredients
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup sourdough starter
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 3 tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅓ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon thyme
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ⅓ cup sunflower seeds
- ½ cup whole wheat flour
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Grease and line with parchment paper a small loaf pan. I usually use a 8X4 inches, but it can be done in a 9X5 inches, it will only affect the final size/shape of the cracker.
- In a large bowl, mix the milk, sourdough starter and pumpkin puree.
- Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt and thyme and mix to combine.
- Add the sunflower seeds, chopped pecans and dried cranberries and mix until incorporated into the batter.
- In a medium bowl, mix both the all-purpose and whole wheat flours, rolled oats and baking soda.
- Add the flour mixture on the batter and stir until everything is well combined.
- Distribute all the batter evenly into the lined loaf pan.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until you insert a toothpick into the middle and it comes out clean.
- Let the loaf cool completely on a rack before wrapping it with plastic wrap. Freeze for 40 minutes. If you freeze it for longer than 2 hours, let it thaw for 40 minutes to 1 hour before cutting. If the middle is totally frozen, it’s harder to slice the crackers.
- Preheat you oven to 250°F.
- Unwrap your loaf. With a bread knife or any serrated knife, slice the loaf as thinly as you can. Aim for 2mm slices.
- Place the slices on a baking sheet (you can line them with parchment paper just to prevent any browning on the bottoms) and bake your sourdough crackers for 50 minutes, flipping each cracker after 25 minutes.
- Let them cool completely before serving. They will get harder as they cool, so don’t worry if they’re still a bit soft when out of the oven. If you have a cooling rack, use it.
- Store your sourdough crackers in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
Sadie
These crackers are delicious, and addictive! They're effortless to make. The recipe is adaptable to substitutions without changing the basic structure of the dough. I used a rye starter, subbed yogurt for the pumpkin, added 1 tbsp molasses, subbed raw almonds for the pecans, subbed raisins and currants for the cranberries, and added minced candied ginger. Instead of a standard loaf pan I used 3 mini pans which yielded 24 crackers per loaf. The crackers freeze well.
Milk and Pop
Hi Sadie,
So glad you liked it! They're my favorite sourdough recipe 🙂
Cheers
Rose
I made these and they are so delicious as you suggested I did not have pumpkin purée and used Greek yogurt ! Perfect use of sourdough disc.!! I will defynske these again! Thank you!!!
Milk and Pop
Hi Rose, thank you for trying them!
cheers 😉
Pam
Hubby says these are the best things I've made with sourdough in a while! most excellent!
Milk and Pop
So glad to hear that, Pam! Hubby here loves these crackers too 😉
Lenore Sparkes
I cooked these today with great success and they are delicious. Recipe easy to follow and not too hard, I used your exact ingredients except the thyme because I didn’t have it. Thankyou for your recipe, I will definitely make them again.
Marisa
Absolutely wonderful recipe with great flavors! The first few times I made it as written with pumpkin puree and with almond milk. I saw someone's comment about substituting greek yogurt or applesauce for the pumpkin and I knew I was back in business since Trader Joe's doesn't always have pumpkin on hand during the summer months. I use 2 mini loaf pans and the size of the crackers are perfect for a slice of brie or manchego. I'm now a bit more confident about experimenting with other add-ins and flavors such as using raisins and rosemary for the cranberry and thyme. Last note, I finally purchased a good bread knife, and that makes a huge difference in able to slice the crackers thinly. Thanks for the recipe!
Milk and Pop
Hi Marisa!
So glad you like it! These crackers are a favorite of mine 😉
Yes, a sharp bread knive makes all the difference!! And I also love trying new combinations for this recipe <3
Thanks so much for sharing this! Cheers!
Elinor L.
I haven’t made these yet, but I WILL today! I’ve used my food slicer and used the same concept but with banana nut bread, as a sweet snack/cracker yet not eating a thick slice of banana bread!
Joyce
How long did you bake it for in your mini loaf?
Kirsten
I made these delicious crackers last week and they are SO delicious! I can't wait to make more! Thank you so much for posting this!
Milk and Pop
Hi Kirsten! So glad you liked them, these are a favorite of mine! 💗
Laurie J Norman
I originally made these with walnuts (because that is what I had) and they were fantastic! The second batch was with walnuts and I also substituted dried figs for the cranberries and that was equally incredible. For one batch, I just used rosemary and salt with the figs and we couldn't decide which one we liked better--that one or the original.
I also froze a large batch (I used up all the pumpkin) and did the second baking step whenever we ran out. These are INCREDIBLE! My only warning is that they are hard to resist.
Vanessa
Thanks for sharing! Do they keep long in the freezer?
Milk and Pop
Hi Vanessa,
Loaves keep in the freezer for about 1 month. After that time, nuts can start losing their flavor.
Cheers!
Suzanne
This looks so good! What a great way to use up the discard and make some extra treats!
Milk and Pop
So glad you liked them, Suzanne! This is one of my favorite recipes 🙂
Ellie
Hi,
Can you replace the milk with unsweetened almond milk?
Thank you!
Milk and Pop
Hi Ellie,
Yes, you can replace replace milk with any plant-based milk and still get a delicious cracker.
Cheers!
Matt
Thanks for a great recipe, these turned out great! One funny thing that happened when I sliced into the loaf, i had all these green spots, and couldn't figure out what the green was from... well, i guess it's a "thing" with sunflower seeds, they contain chlorophyll, also known as chlorogenic acid and it reacts with the baking powder when baked and cooled. So my crackers have a little Christmas look between these green spots and the red cranberries;)! They still taste excellent and are totally safe, but just thought i'd throw that out there if others get caught off guard with some funny green spots. They aren't as noticeable after the 2nd bake also.
Milk and Pop
Hi Matt, I'm so glad you like the crackers!
I got these green spots in one of the bakes too, thank you for pointing that out and explaining everything 🙂
Ashlie
These are my new favorite use of sourdough discard! I made a few modifications to use what I had on hand - spelt flour instead of whole wheat, pumpkin seeds instead of sunflower - so good! I also used mini loaf pans to get smaller crackers, but baked for the same amount of time.
Milk and Pop
Hi Ashlie! I'm so glad you like them!
I love this recipe, it's super easy to create your own with a few modifications 🙂
Have a good one!
Marlene
Wonderful to know that mini loaf pans worked and that baking time is the same. I was going to ask about that and now I don't have to! Can’t wait to make these, as I have tons of discard to use up.
Milk and Pop
Hope you like them, Marlene!
Debbie
Made them today and they are wonderfully delicious! Only change I made to the recipe was oat milk. Will be making these again for sure. Thanks for the recipe. Debbie
Milk and Pop
Glad you like them, Debbie! There are my fav crackers!
Julia
Hi! The recipe sounds lovely! I'll try it this week. Just one question, do you think I could substitute the pumpkin pure for something else?
Milk and Pop
Hi Julia, sorry I never tried with any other ingredient!
Deb
I was wondering the same thing. Did you come up with any ideas?
Milk and Pop
Hi Julia and Deb, maybe Greek yogurt would work as a good sub for pumpkin puree! Apple sauce might work as well. Just make sure to use unsweetened, ok?
Eli
Or maybe sweet porta to puré?
Milk and Pop
That's a good idea! It might me a bit less watery than pumpkin puree, so I would add a tablespoon of water to it when making.
Have to try it! Thanks for the idea! Cheers 😉
Laurie
I love, love, love this recipe. I make adjustments to it all the time and I'm still happy with the outcome. I almost always use almond milk instead of regular milk. I also substitute vanilla protein powder for the white flour (but I still use the whole wheat flour) and I use walnuts instead of pecans (I just like the way they cook better, plus they are usually cheaper). I have also made this using chopped figs and thyme, just because I love that combination.
I have a habit of making large batches and freezing them after the initial baking. I learned the hard way to make thinner loaves so I could easily cut them. I often use a 9" x 13" cake pan and then cut the slices into thirds on a diagonal which makes the final crackers look a bit fancier.
I have a convection oven so I don't flip the crackers on the second baking. If I'm making a lot, I place a metal cooling rack over the first batch so I can cook two layers of crackers at once. And I find that I cook them as long as 2 hours at 250. This gives me a crunchy cracker with a little bit of chewiness in the fruit.
Did I say that I love this recipe? Any time I share these crackers, everyone wants the recipe. Thanks so much for posting!
Milk and Pop
Hi Laurie! Thanks so much for this feedback!
I also love these crackers, they're so good and so easy to adapt for the flavors you want! I'm always trying new combinations here 😉
Cheers!
Rosemary
I substituted hummus for puree