DIY Herbal Sourdough Crackers

Crunchy. Flavorful. Savory. Delicious.

Today I’d like to share with you all a recipe for herbal crackers that I tried yesterday. I’ll spare you the paragraphs of stories about what we did last Friday that is only slightly related to crackers that every other blogger seems compelled to write.

We just wanted a snack. And we are trying to rework our diet to be as organic and homemade and healthy as possible so that means if we want something I have to try to make it.

Homemade herbal crackers are by no means my original idea. I looked at multiple recipes to get the gist of how other people make them. I then put together my own recipe based off what my family likes and how I can make them as simple & healthy as possible.

The biggest difference in my recipe is that I used my sourdough starter instead of baking powder or baking soda because I want the extra nutritional benefits as well as the extra tang. If you don’t have a sourdough starter you can substitute with an extra half cup of flour and add a smidge more water if needed to get a nice smooth dough.

So here we go:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sourdough starter
• 2.5 cups flour. I used organic white flour because I wanted these to be a yummy treat, but you can use any combination of white and wheat flour
• almost 1 TBSP salt
• 1/8 tsp of turmeric. Anything looks better with a little pop of color!
• 1 cup of warm water
• 1/3 cup of olive oil
• 2 tbsp of herbs in any combination. I divided my dough in half and tried 2 different flavor combinations. In half I used 1 tbsp of dried crumbled rosemary. In the other half I used 2 tsp of onion powder with an extra 1 tsp of garlic salt.

Process:

Combine all dry ingredients (2 cups flour, almost 1 tbsp salt, 1/8 tsp turmeric) including 2 tbsp herbs if you are only doing 1 variety or excluding herbs if you are going to divide the dough to try a few different types.

Mix in 1/2 cup sourdough starter.

Add 1/3 cup Olive oil.

Slowly add 1 cup water as you mix it until you have a smooth dough. Use more or slightly less water as needed. I ended up with 1/8 of a cup left over. Knead for 5-10 minutes by hand or a few minutes in a stand mixer.

If you are dividing your dough pay attention here. If not, skip this step. Divide dough into 2 equal balls. measure out your herbs, and knead them into your dough until they are evenly dispersed.

Let your dough rest for 20-40 minutes. This really does help the pieces to hold their shape.

Preheat your oven to 425 F

Roll out your dough as flat as possible, but not quite paper thin. You still need to be able to transfer it from the counter to the tray.

Cut your dough into cracker-sized shapes using a knife, pizza cutter, or cookie cutter. I tried making squares, triangles, and leaf shapes. The leaves were by far my favorite because I love autumn! Try to keep them a similar size so they cook evenly and remember that the smaller they are the quicker they will cook.

Transfer your crackers to your baking tray. I oiled my pizza stones and used those, but you can also use parchment paper, regular baking sheets, etc. To transfer them I used a pie server to scrape them up without distorting them & it worked great.

Poke each cracker with a fork a few times to prevent them from puffing up in the oven.

Bake for 12-15 minutes. Watch them closely and pull them out when they are starting to turn a golden brown. Cooking time will vary based on what type of trays you use, how large you cut the crackers, and how evenly your oven heats.

Let cool and serve plain or with a hummus, peanut butter, cheese platter, etc. The possibilities are endless!

These are most definitely best fresh, but as an experiment I am going to try to freeze a few then reheat them in my toaster over to check the quality. One thing that is difficult about making all of your own food is the lack of cheap, healthy convenience food when you feel like having a quick snack. I’m hoping to find some more recipes that I can make ahead of time and store until I need them.

If you enjoyed this recipe, please click on the image here to share it to Pinterest!

Good luck making your own healthy herbal crackers; leave a note & let me know what flavors you used & how your cracker baking experiment turned out!