Buttery Sourdough Crackers

Perhaps it’s just my kids, but I can’t keep snacks in the house.

It is seriously crazy, but I bring little snacks in here and by the time I go to dole them out, they’re gone already. If I bought them from the store, I’d go broke in a month. If I made my own, that’s all I’d ever get done doing.

But every now and then, I’ll indulge them and make crackers for a treat. The experience only reinforces why I’m anti-snacks.

Let’s take this batch for example.
I somehow managed to distract 80% of my kids long enough to sneak some crackers out of the oven, throw together a quick stack for a photo, fire off a shot or two before the fingers began to descend.

She just wanted to help me stack them. Honest.

One cracker spent a few too many second in direct contact with her finger flesh and was doomed to gradually slip up into her mouth.

I knew I was done for. I double checked my aperture, adjusted my exposure, gave the filter a quick polish, held my breath to get a good focus, and let the shutter fly. My time was up. The word was soon out and the vultures descended.

“Chloe had a cracker, why can’t I?”

The batch was gone before I had a chance to clean up.

And that, my friends, is why you don’t see me messing with crackers.But, boy, are they sure tasty when I do!

Buttery, flaky, and crispy sourdough crackers. As much as I’d like to throw in that they were made with whole grain, I didn’t care for them baked that way. I think they tasted like burnt cheese. Now if you like burnt cheese in a cracker, by all means, boost the fiber. I backed the whole wheat off until I thought they were lighter and the buttery flavor was able to come through. Normally, I feed my sourdough starter whole wheat (I think it’s happier that way), but the day before I bake crackers, I’ll go half and half with the white & wheat flours. I heartily recommend experimenting with your ratios (or even flour types) to make this recipe your own to meet your preferences and needs!

I do use a smidgen of lard in my recipe. I have plenty on hand and I think it contributes to the flakiness, but if you don’t have any lard you can use butter instead. No big deal.

I know it seems like a lot of steps, but really, it’s not too bad, they roll out easily, don’t stick to the counter like some do. I put about 5 minutes into the active time before the resting period and 20 into the rolling, cutting, and buttering. With no preservatives or artificial flavors, it’s totally worth it!

Buttery Sourdough Crackers

Buttery Sourdough Crackers Author: Reformation AcresIngredients

• 1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sourdough starter (preferably fed at least once with ½ white flour & ½ wheat flour)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 1 Tablespoon lard (or butter)
• ¼ cup of butter, melted
• sea salt

Instructions

1. Day Before: Feed your sourdough starter with half white flour & half wheat flour.
2. In a bowl measure out the unbleached flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and give them a whisk to combine them together.
3. Cut the butter into small pats and add the butter and the lard into the flour and using your fingertips, work the flour and butter together until it’s crumbly.
4. Measure out the sourdough starter and stir it into the flour mixture. It should be on the dry side and you’ll probably need to turn it out and knead it for a minute or two to incorporate it all together.
5. Place the dough ball back in the bowl and cover it with a cloth for a few hours. (Longer=more sour.)
6. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
7. Melt the butter.
8. Divide the dough into 2 balls and work them separately as follows.
9. On a lightly floured counter, roll one out to about the thickness of a dime.
10. Brush the dough with the melted butter.
11. Fold one edge of the dough to the center and then fold the opposite edge all the way over. (In thirds, like you would a letter.) Fold the “letter” in half.
12. Roll it out again to the same thickness, brush with more butter, fold again the same way, and roll it out again a final time.
13. Either use a pizza cutter or knife to cut squares or use a small, 1½” biscuit cutter to cut rounds (don’t twist to cut.)
14. Transfer the crackers to a baking sheet, poke them a time or two with the tines of a fork, brush them with butter, and sprinkle with a bit of salt to taste.
15. Bake in the oven for 9-11 minutes until the bottom and very edges are lightly golden brown.
16. Transfer them to a cooling rack and wait at least 3 minutes to sample so you don’t burn your taste buds, but I don’t think you’ll make it much longer than that.

Enjoy!