Sourdough Gourmet Crackers are the best way to use sourdough discard: they're a great addition for a cheese plate, have that delicious crack and make the perfect gift during holidays.
Looking for more edible holiday gifts? This onion chutney is perfect to have in a cheese board! And these sourdough gingerbread cookies will make good use of your sourdough discard.
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🍘Why make this recipe
- These fruit and nut crackers will be the star at your Thanksgiving party and Christmas dinner. They're just delicious with dips or by themselves, and are the best crackers for cheese!
- Baking these is way cheaper than buying at the store!
- If you’re looking for a homemade gift, these crackers make an excellent present for family and foodie friends;
- You can easily customize this recipe by adding your favorite ingredients and flavors to it.
If you’re looking for more sourdough discard recipes, these vegan sourdough pancakes and my easy sourdough discard tortillas are my two most popular discard recipes!
📃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. 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 - but you'll lose flavor if leaving them out. 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 for a change).
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and substitutions.
🥣How to make them
These gourmet crackers are not hard, but can be time consuming. Just let me tell you one thing: every second is worth it! Follow my step-by-step, and I promise you’ll get an amazing gourmet cracker.
Start the recipe by preheating the oven to 350°F.
Step 01. In a large bowl, mix milk, discar, pumpkin puree, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, thyme, sunflower seeds, chopped pecans and dried cranberries.
Step 02. Add all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, rolled oats and baking soda to the wet mixture, stirring until well combined.
Step 03. Distribute the batter evenly into a loaf pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until you insert a toothpick into the middle and it comes out clean.
Step 04. Let the loaf cool completely before wrapping it with plastic wrap. Freeze for 40 minutes to 1 hour.
For the second bake, preheat the oven to 250°F.
Step 05. Unwrap the loaf. With a sharp knife or sharp bread knife, slice the loaf as thinly as you can. Aim for 2mm slices.
Step 06. Place slices on a lined baking sheet. Bake sourdough crackers for 50 minutes, flipping each cracker after 25 minutes.
Place crackers on a cooling rack, and 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.
✔️Expert tips
- Don't try to finish it in one day if you are in a rush! This sourdough cracker recipe is time consuming. You can start in one day and finish the morning after, and that’s 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 cutting these crackers much easier! You can see in the video how I struggle to cut the slices - that bread knife was far from sharp!
- 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.
- Don’t try cutting a completely frozen loaf. If you freeze the loaf for over 2 hours, let it thaw for at least 1 hour before cutting, or it will be very hard to do so. 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, flip the crackers so they bake and crisp evenly on both sides and don’t burn on the bottom. I've baked a batch without doing so, and the difference was significant.
🍪How to get crispy crackers
Are you having a hard time getting crispy sourdough crackers? Let's make sure you did everything listed in the checklist below:
- Cut loaf into thin slices. If they're to thick, crackers won’t get crispy!
- Flip crackers over after 25 minutes when baking for the second time.
- Do not add more liquid than the recipe calls for. To avoid it, make sure you're using a 100% hydration sourdough starter.
🧀What to serve with it
These are the best gourmet crackers for cheese! Serve them along a cheese board to impress guests and family! They're packed with Thanksgiving and Christmas flavors, so having them during the holidays is a must.
🫙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 discard recipes
If you tried this Gourmet Fruit and Nut Sourdough Crackers Recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below!
📖 Recipe
Sourdough Fruit and Nut Gourmet Crackers
Equipment
- Loaf Pan
- Baking sheet
Ingredients
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup sourdough discard
- 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 pecans chopped
- 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 the oven to 350°F.
- Line with parchment paper a 8X4 inches loaf pan. I usually use a 8X4, but it can be done in a 9X5 inches, it will only affect the final size of the cracker.
- In a large bowl, mix the milk, sourdough discard 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 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 the oven to 250°F.
- Unwrap loaf. With a bread knife or any serrated knife, slice the loaf as thinly as you can. Aim for 2mm slices.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, before placing the slices. Bake sourdough crackers for 50 minutes, flipping each after 25 minutes.
- Let them cool on a cooling rack before serving. They'll get harder as they cool, so don’t worry if they’re still a bit soft when out of the oven.
- Store sourdough crackers in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
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