A delicious way to use your discard sourdough starter, this recipe for sourdough cheddar crackers is ready in under thirty minutes. The perfect salty snack to serve with cocktails!
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Are you unfamiliar with the world of sourdough? Visit the beginners guide to sourdough baking, or get started with a sourdough starter of your own from scratch!
The age old problem of all sourdough bakers… what to do with the discard? There are many excellent ways to use sourdough discard, but this one might be my favorite. It uses a good amount of your unfed starter, it’s ready fast, and this recipe is very easy.
I know making crackers might seem a bit nuts, but I promise they come together very fast. The dough is easy to handle because you are rolling it out in-between sheets of parchment, and since you mix it by hand there aren’t too many dishes to deal with.
Give them a try! Not only will you happy you aren’t wasting any sourdough starter, but you’re actually making your own crackers. You should be proud.
These make a great snack to leave out when you are having friends over for drinks, or as a snack for you and your family that’s free of any unwanted ingredients.
Tools and ingredients you’ll need:
- 3/4 cup sourdough starter
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3/4 cup shredded cheddar (sharp cheddar is best)
- Kosher salt for sprinkling
- Parchment paper. (A package of sheets that lay flat will the easiest to work with for this recipe, and in general.)
- A pastry wheel for cutting out the squares. (But a pizza cutter will work in a pinch.)
Let’s make some crackers!
Mixing up the dough
Okay! This is quick and easy, promise. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Begin by combining the butter and flour until the butter is broken up into bits. The best way to do this is the simply rub the butter and flour together. Then add the discard sourdough starter, and gently mix. Finally stir in the cheese. If you need too use your hands to get everything to come together into a ball, then go ahead.
Turn the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper.
Rolling out the crackers and baking
Place a second piece of parchment paper on top of the sourdough cracker dough and begin to roll it out. The thinner you can roll, the crispier they will be. I try to roll them until the cover the full piece of parchment paper.
Cut them into squares (or really any shape you’d like). You can poke a hole in the center which sometimes keeps them flatter.
Place them on two parchment-lined baking sheets, just using the same pieces of parchment that you used to roll the crackers out. They will not spread, so they can be placed pretty close together.
Make sure you sprinkle them with kosher salt before baking. Kosher salt sticks better and will add a lot of flavor.
Bake for 10-13 minutes until lightly browned around the edges.
They can cool right on the baking sheet, which won’t take long. They are tastiest when served right away, but they can be stored in an airtight container for a day or so once they are fully cooled.
Need more sourdough discard recipes?
- Sourdough Lemon Cake is a deliciously sweet alternative.
- Classic coffee cake with sourdough starter is one of our family’s favorites.
- If your discard is still a little bit active, try it in these sourdough rolls, which use a little bit of yeast to help the rising process along.
Print the recipe here
If you love this recipe, please give it five stars!
Sourdough Cheddar Crackers with Discard
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup discard sourdough starter
- 3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- Kosher salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 with two racks in, spaced relatively equally apart.
- Combine the butter and flour in a medium mixing bowl. Using your hands, rub the butter into the flour until it looks like sand. Pour in the sourdough starter and gently mix. Add the cheddar cheese and combine. If necessary, use your hand to make sure the dough forms a ball.
- Turn the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper and top with a second piece of parchment. Roll out as thin as you can using a rolling pin. Cut into squares using a pastry wheel and place the squares on two parchment-lined baking sheets. Sprinkle generously with kosher salt.
- Bake for 10-13 minutes, switching the baking sheets halfway. The crackers should be crisp with slightly browned edges. Allow to cool directly on the baking sheet. Serve immediately, or let fully cool and transfer to airtight container and store for up to 2 days.
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YUM YUM YUM. Just made these and they are fabulous!!!! I too added a sprinkle of red peper flakes. These are dangerous. I can’t stop eating them!!!!
Carrie I’m so happy you like them! I can’t wait to try the crackers with red pepper too.
Wow – these look delicicous! I’m new at sourdough – just on Day 5 with my starter! I’m doing gluten-free and would like to try this recipe with brown rice flour. Have you, or do you know anyone who has tried that?
🙂
Kathryn I have not tried it, I’m sorry! but if it works with pie crusts it should work with this, it’s a similar process. 🙂
Just made these and unfortunately didn’t work for me. I modified it by putting the cooked crackers in a big ziplock bag, added melted butter and a tablespoon of dry ranch dressing for flavor, then baked again for 12 minutes. Thanks for sharing your recipe. I am grateful.
oh no thelma I’m sorry to hear that! thanks for letting me know 🙂
Hello! I make some discard crackers but with olive oil. Have you tried these with olive oil? How much would you use for 1 cup of flour? I can’t imagine how good these will be with cheese! Thanks!!!
Stephanie I have never tried them with oil, I’m sorry! 🙁 the butter gives them sort of a flaky texture and I don’t know if it would work with olive oil. if you do try it, let me know! or try adding cheese to the recipe you’ve been using, I bet it will be great 🙂
Hello Katie, Made the cheese crackers they are yummy I wish I had found your recipe sooner instead of giving the discard to the hens, couldn’t find kosher salt here so used the salt that goes in a salt grinder worked perfectly, cheers, Claudine
Could you use a food processor to make the dough?
Yes! First pulse the flour and butter. When you add the starter it will just take a few pulses. the only reason I don’t is because I don’t want to deal with washing it!
I made this recipe after an oily fail with another discard cracker recipe. This dough is a pleasure to work with. I found that after much rolling, the middle was still too thick and the edges too thin. Since the dough is the exact consistency of a one egg pasta dough, I ran it through the pasta attachment on the Kitchen Aid to get the consistency and thinness I wanted! Success!
I used a whole cup of cheddar and also threw in about a quarter cup of grated Parmesan. (Not the pizza kind) I used about a teaspoon of garlic salt and added red pepper flakes when it was almost done kneading. I also turned the oven off and left them in while it cools, to further crisp them. This was to imitate a commercial cracker my family loves. So far, my son keeps stealing them from the oven, so I guess it’s a hit! Thanks!
Jennifer what a great idea with the pasta attachment! I’ve found that I have trouble rolling them as thin as I want a drop or two of water sometimes does the trick too. I’m so glad you liked them! 🙂
I made these, and they turned out super yummy and addictive! Definitely a recipe to keep! Thanks!
wonderful! glad you liked them!
Perfect crackers, naughty but nice! At the whole lot over the day ! I like the way some are crispy while others are crunchy and some soft. I thought this would make a great pastry base for any savoury pie/ tart.
I loved making these and they are so easy, will definitely make again !
I love naughty but nice! Yes! we nibble on them and they just vanish! glad you enjoyed them too 🙂
I made this recipe without the cheese and it was incredibly delicious. I stretched mine out in a pizza pan, ver thin. I baked it for 15 mins and turned the pan and added 15 more minutes. 30 mins total.
I love this recipe!!!! Just tried it for the first time and it is straight forward and easy. Crackers turned out absolutely fantastic.
I am so glad to hear that heather! They remind us so much of cheez it’s!
When you say place the crackers on two pieces of parchment paper, is this so you can flip them over have way through the baking process?
No, just so they won’t stick to the rolling pin 🙂
These look delicious and so amazing! My boys would gobble these up!!