Get your hands on some sourdough starter and get crack(er)ing on this recipe.
There is something magic about a sourdough starter – the life it contains, the life it gives and the potential held within it. I have been making sourdough bread for myself and my family for almost two years now and we are total converts. My sourdough journey, like most, has been hugely rewarding and frustrating all at once and an incredible learning curve.
As well as the bread, I make sourdough pasta, crumpets, cakes, biscuits, muffins and these crackers. The crackers are wonderfully versatile and can be made with different types of flour (I have used oat, ground seeds, leftover nut milk pulp), herbs or spices. Experiment to find what works best for you. They are also deliciously tasty with the addition of 50g tasty cheese or parmesan. Beware, however, as this makes them particularly moreish! If you don’t yet have a starter, either seek out an obliging friend who may happen to have one or make one for scratch: here’s a recipe from Nelson food writer Nicola Galloway. There’s plenty of information online about how to maintain your starter.
SOURDOUGH CRACKERS
Makes 2 trays of crackers
- 120g white flour
- 1 teaspoon salt, plus extra for sprinkling
- 4 tablespoons sesame seeds or linseed
- 1 tablespoon rosemary, finely chopped
- 200g active sourdough starter
- 60g butter, melted
- olive oil
Put the flour, salt, seeds and rosemary in a small bowl and whisk together with a fork. Add the starter and the butter and mix again until the dough comes together. Cover and set aside on the bench overnight.
In the morning, preheat the oven to 160°C fan bake and line two baking trays with baking paper. Divide the dough in two and roll each piece out until very thin (dusting with flour if needed) to cover each tray.
Drizzle both pieces of dough with olive oil and with clean hands, rub it over the dough to evenly cover.
Using a large knife, cut the dough into squares or diamonds and sprinkle with sea salt before putting in the oven and baking until golden brown and crisp.
The time this takes to happen really depends on your oven and how evenly it cooks. In mine, I check the crackers after about 15 minutes and find they’re generally ready after about 35 minutes or so (total cooking time). If your oven is hotter or doesn’t cook evenly, the crackers on the edges of the trays might need to be removed earlier as they might cook faster, or you might need to turn the trays as they cook.