Rosemary and Sea Salt Sourdough Crackers
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After many, many months of working on writing cookbooks, I feel like I have finally been able to return to my normal cooking routine around the house. You don’t really realize how much time it takes to develop recipes until you are in the thick of writing a book! During those months, I put aside a lot of my extra little fill-in recipes around the kitchen, like making from scratch snacks for my family.
When I first started this blog in 2015, my journey was learning about replacing a lot of the foods that we bought premade from the store with homemade versions. I learned to make homemade crackers in 2019 and it was so fun! Last month, I got back into the swing of making all of our snacking materials and it has been so nice. This will most likely not last forever, but for now, I am having a fun time doing it. I thought I would share the recipe for one of my favorite snacks: sourdough crackers!
on making homemade crackers:
I had always assumed that crackers were as old as the invention of milled flour, but apparently they did not come into the culinary scene until the late 18th century. Crackers were invented by John Pearson in 1792. Looking for a biscuit that could travel long distances without spoiling, mainly for sailors, the cracker was a combination of just two ingredients: flour and water.
However, hardtack had been around since the 1500s, possibly even earlier. Hardtack was a thin biscuit that had to be dunked in liquid to soften and eat it. The cracker, rather, was a bit easier to take down.
Today, crackers have more ingredients mixed into the dough like butter or oil to make them easier to break and chew. It was actually Josiah Bent in 1801 that gave them their name “crackers” because they crackled in the oven.
the method:
Making crackers is incredibly easy. I am surprised that more people don’t make them! You need a simple mixture of ingredients for these crackers, though I did decide to incorporate my sourdough starter discard to give them some flavor. Because of this, no extra liquid is needed in the dough.
Once the dough is mixed, it is rolled out as thin as you can. I prefer about 1/8th-inch thick to mimic a store bought cracker. Then, the dough is docked or poked all over with a fork and cut into squares.
For these crackers, I added fresh rosemary to the dough. The flavor mixed with freshly cracked pepper and flaky sea salt is just delicious!
final thoughts:
These crackers are crisp and crunchy, just like any commercial cracker I have had! They bake up quickly and store well. I have been able to keep these crackers for several weeks under the right conditions. I hope that you enjoy making them!
xoxo Kayla
Rosemary and Sea Salt Sourdough Crackers
Ingredients
- 1 cup (266 g) sourdough starter discard/unfed
- 1 cup (130 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp (3 g) fresh rosemary, chopped finely
- 4 tbsp (58 g) salted butter, room temperature
- 2 tsp flaky sea salt
- 2 tsp freshly cracked pepper
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the sourdough starter, flour, salt, rosemary, and butter with a fork or dough whisk. When the dough comes together, knead it with your hands until it is smooth, about 4 minutes. Wrap the dough with plastic wrap. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 350° F (177° C). Set aside 2 large baking sheets, ungreased.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Roll out each half into a 12 x 24-inch (30 x 60-cm) rectangle, or until it is thinner than 1/8-inch thick. Prick the dough all over with the tines of a fork.
- Cut into squares or circles, about 1-inch (2-cm) diameter. Transfer the crackers to the baking sheets, separating them by about 1/2-inch (1-cm). Brush the crackers all over lightly with water. Then, sprinkle the flaky salt and cracked pepper over the tops of the crackers.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and no longer moist. Allow to cool on the baking sheet and move to a wire cooling rack when cool enough to handle.
- Store the crackers in a container with an airtight seal for about 1 to 2 weeks.
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