These Sourdough Cheese Herb Crackers are made from Josephine’s discard. Who is Josephine? Why she’s the sourdough starter that lives in my fridge. Every time I feed her, I have to discard some of her. This recipe uses that sourdough discard.
I’ll let you know right now. These Sourdough Cheese Herb Crackers are addictive. But, that’s okay because they are a breeze to make. They go very nicely with Pimento Cheese, hummus or just out of hand.
Let’s talk a moment about Josephine. It’s okay, she lives in the refrigerator and won’t hear us. Josephine is my sourdough starter. When you have a starter, you have to discard some of it every time you feed it. I got my starter from a neighbor who called her’s Charlie. It was also some discard, and I decided to call mine Josephine. When you have a sourdough starter, it’s almost like having a pet. You have to feed it regularly, play with it (bake with it), put it to bed, etc. We have two cats, a dog, and Josephine. To find out more about feeding sourdough and sourdough in general, King Arthur Flour is a great resource.
Making Sourdough Cheese Herb Crackers
When I made these, I happened to have fresh thyme and oregano on hand. My neighbor down the street has fresh rosemary bushes and is happy when neighbors take snippings. These herbs gave the crackers a bit of an Italian influence.
You don’t have to follow my recipe exactly. Lactose intolerant, eliminate the cheese. Use different herbs, or use a different cheese. You can even change the flours around. Have fun! If you would like your crackers to have different flavors here are a few choices:
- Mexican – oregano, cumin, and cilantro with Cotija cheese
- French – thyme, lavender, roquefort
- Indian – curry powder, finely minced raisins, tomato powder
- Asian – sesame seeds, sesame oil, ginger, finely minced green onion
- American – finely minced bacon, finely minced green onion, cheddar cheese
The best way to do these sourdough crackers is in a stand mixer, but you could mix this by hand if you wanted to. If you don’t let the dough rise, you will have a crisper cracker. I prefer mine a little chewy, so these crackers were perfect for me.
Serving the Crackers
Of course, you can eat these crackers right after they have cooled from the oven, but when I made them I happened to have some Pimento Cheese on hand. It’s actually one of my favorite spreads!
These crackers would also be fine with thinly sliced smoked salmon with a sprig of fresh dill. You could use them instead of potato chips with your favorite dip. How about a mini ham and cheese sandwiches? Put a bit of mayonnaise, mustard, and small pieces of ham and cheese. Do you have some leftover chicken salad in the refrigerator? Use these crackers to scoop that up.
Do you like croutons on your salad? Melt some butter in a pan and put some crackers in the pan. Stir them frequently until they’ve absorbed all the butter, let them cool a bit, then serve them with your salad.
If you didn’t eat them up fast enough, you can put them in your food processor and turn them into breadcrumbs, or even freeze them and save them for your Thanksgiving Turkey dressing. The possibilities are endless!
So, grab yourself your favorite drink, sit down, and enjoy these flavorful sourdough cheese herb crackers – and say thank you to your sourdough starter – no matter what its name might be.
Sourdough Cheese Herb Crackers Recipe
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Sourdough Cheese Herb Crackers
Tips from the Chef
Equipment
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Ingredients
- ½ cup dark rye flour
- ½ cup *all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup Sourdough discard, unfed/discard
- ¼ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ¼ cup cheddar grated
- 1 teaspoon rosemary leaves, fresh minced
- 1 teaspoon thyme leaves, fresh minced
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon *dry mustard
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- Cayenne
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Get all your ingredients prepped and put in place.
- Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.
- Put the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer and cream it. Add the cheese and herbs and mix those together. Add the dry ingredients, then finally, add the sourdough discard and mix it together until a nice ball forms.
- Let the ball sit on the counter for about 30 minutes or until it has poofed up a little bit. Don’t let it rise too much!
- Now, put the dough in the refrigerator and let it harden up about 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F/177 C.
- Take the dough out of the refrigerator and cut it into two balls. Roll one ball out into a rectangle about 1/16 in/ 1.5 mm thick.
- Get your cutting tool, a ravioli wheel works very well, and a ruler. Lay the ruler on top of the dough and use it as a guide to cut into the dough with your wheel. Cut first downward, then cut across to make nice squares. Don’t worry about the end pieces being perfect, those are the cook’s treat!
- Transfer the cut crackers to a parchment-lined half sheet or cookie pan. When they are been transferred, prick them with a fork. You don’t have to use parchment, it just makes clean up easier.
- Do the same with the other ball of dough. You should have enough dough for two sheets.
- Bake the crackers for 20 to 25 minutes or until the crackers are beginning to brown around the edges. Midway through, reverse the baking sheets: both top to bottom, and front to back; this will help the crackers brown evenly.
- Remove the crackers from the oven and let them sit for a minute or two, then put them on a cooling rack.
- They are delicious warm, but just as good cold. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for about a week, or freeze for longer storage.
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