Herbed Sourdough Crackers

Ingredients

½ cup sourdough discard

1 cup All-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

4 Tablespoons butter (softened or melted)

1 teaspoon dried herbs or spices (see note above)

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon dried herbs or spices

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, combine the discard, flour, salt, butter, herbs and spices, and pepper. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, mix the ingredients until they have come together to form a ball of soft dough.

Lightly oil a large baking sheet or cookie sheet (I like to use my half sheet rimmed baking sheet) with a bit of olive oil or your favorite cooking oil. Transfer the ball of dough to the oiled baking sheet. Drizzle a bit of oil on top of the ball of dough and rub a bit of the oil on your rolling pin to prevent it from sticking to the dough.

Roll the dough into a rectangle to a thickness of about 1/8”. Using a pastry cutter, pizza cutter, or sharp knife, cut the dough into crackers. You can be very precise about this or cut them freehand. I try to cut squares freehand measuring between 1.0 and 1.25” because I like them to be bite-sized. The thickness is the more important measurement as it will determine if the crackers bake fully and evenly. So, if you want larger crackers to serve with cheese, they can be cut to whatever size you like as long as the thickness is even and around 1/8”.

There’s no need to separate or move the crackers once you have cut them. If you have cut through the dough, they will shrink as they bake and separate themselves. Brush the top of the crackers with a light coating of oil. Sprinkle the salt and herb topping on top of the crackers, distributing evenly.

Bake the crackers for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through the baking time. The crackers may begin to brown lightly on the edges.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow them to cool to room temperature. Because they have a butter base, they will firm up as the butter cools completely. When fully cooled, they can be stored in an airtight container for a week or so, but they never last that long here.