Last January I started making cheese again, one a day, all natural (kefir based culture) without adding rennet. It’s been an adventure and although I like the taste, the texture could still use some tweaks. This one, with peppercorns and accompanied by my sourdough flatbread, we used to celebrate the deconfinement.
Kefir contains various strains of yeast. These yeasts are similar in properties to those commonly found in a classic sourdough starter, so we use kefir to make a starter like dough with no additional yeast, that we feed daily with flour and kefir. That starter (when it’s nice and actively bubbly) is used to make a bigger bowl of dough, that we keep in the fridge throughout the week (to regulate fermentation speed).
We take out parts of it when we need it, for example to make flatbreads like this and delicious crackers. But also pizza crusts or just a loaf of bread. This way it has become a very useful staple item in our kitchen, without taking up too much of our timemanagement- and planning skills, which is usually involved in working with sourdough.
Sourdough discard crackers
Ingredients
- A Substantial amount of sourdough starter discard
- Fine sea salt
- Grated parmesan (optional)
- Flavouring to preference (think garlic powder, dried herbs, seeds, chopped nuts)
- A good splash of extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven at 160C/320F
- Take out as much sourdough starter as you will feed it with. If you maintain a modest amount of starter, you can collect discard from several feedings, keeping it in the fridge until you have enough to bake your crackers with. There’s no distinct number of days your discard will keep fresh in the fridge, use your good senses and remember: if it does not smell appetizing (freshly sour) don’t use it.
- Mix in the olive oil and salt and if desired the parmesan and stirr it through.
- Dump the batter on a baking sheet (or sheets) covered with either parchment paperor a silicon baking mat (we use the latter). Since we’ve put olive oil in the batter itself there’s no need to grease as the crackers will dry and come out real easy anyway.
- Spread out the batter over the baking sheet as thin as you possibly can, covering as much area as you can, by using an angled palette knife. Make sure there are no see-through spots though.
- Sprinkle the batter with your preferred flavourings, creating the taste you’re after depending on what you will be serving these crackers with. You can make them stand out on their own by using strong flavours and go overboard with seeds or even chopped nuts, but if you will be using the crackers simply to add texture to a topping that needs to shine more or less by itself, take it easy with what you add here. One of our favorite toppings is herbs de provence (dried from Les Pierres’ garden), red pepper flakes, garlic powder, and black sesame seeds, generously sprinkled with fleur the sel.
- Slide the baking trays into the preheated oven and bake for 5 minutes, just enough to let the batter firm up a bit. Take the sheet(s) out to cut your crackers in the preferred shape using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter. If you’re going for a more rustic look youn can leave this step out and continue to bake the sheet(s) as a whole. Once the batter has been baked crispy, you can break it into disparately shaped crackers.
- Slide the tray(s) back in the oven and continue to bake until crisp and firm, about 30 inutes. Near the end of this timeframe you should continuously check if your crackers are ready by pressing your finger on them to see if they are indeed firm and crisp. If not, add some additional baking time to the process, but be careful not to let your crackers burn. As they will be very thin, baking them too brown will certainly translate to their taste and not in a good way.
- Once your crackers have a desirable crispness (they will become even more crisp when they cool down, so that’s another aspect to consider while determining if they are done) you can either take them out and let them cool on your countertop, or leave them in the switched off oven.
- Stored in a dry, airtight container, they keep well for quite some time. If If you can hold back eating them all at once, that is.
Notes
If your crackers repeatedly come out too dark, you can definitely experiment a bit with a lower oven temperature combined with a prolonged baking time. Key in making them crispy is to let the crackers dry out slowly, preserving the distinct sourdough flavour.
