Sourdough discard lemon herb cracker bites

This is a recipe for Sourdough discard lemon herb cracker bites made from left over sourdough starter mixed with olive oil and Lemon Herbert garlic and herb mix.

These herb bites are a great addition to a cheese board. They work well being served with dips and sides such as my nduja tomato recipe along with these sourdough starter crackers.

They are a great way to use up leftover sourdough starter mix and makes use of the discard rather than throwing it in the bin.

Ingredients to make discard herb cracker bites

There are only a small set of ingredients for a sourdough starter discard recipe. The main being sourdough discard which is the leftovers from feeding the starter. For more information on sourdough starter feeding schedules, check out my sourdough starter recipe bread guide.

• Sourdough starter discard - Any type of discard works whether it be wholemeal, rye or white bread flour. The photos in this post were made with discard from my 150 year old San Francisco sourdough starter.
• Olive oil - You can use either extra virgin olive oil or regular olive oil for this recipe. As the mix will be in the oven only a short time, there is no risk of the oil getting too smoky.
• Lemon Herbert herb and spice mix - I use the Dust Bros Lemon Herbert mix which is a balance of lemon, thyme, garlic and onion (plus plenty of other flavours). I reviewed the other herbs and spice mixes in the Dust Bros range in an earlier post.
• Salt - Table salt will work well enough for this recipe but you can also use rock salt or salt flakes. For an effective "snap" when it comes to the cracker element, salt will help being the moisture out. You can cook the crackers with rock salt on the top and scrape off before serving if you wish to reduce the salt being used.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make sourdough discard lemon herb bites

These steps show you how to make the crackers. Don't worry too much if yours don't look like the images below as this is a discard recipe, consistency is not always going to be easy!

1. Step 1: Use your starter for another bread recipe as the discard left over is what is being used for this recipe.

2. Step 2: Mix in the olive oil and the herbs seasoning together. Stir until fully combined.

3. Step 3: Place on a sheet of baking paper and then cover with another sheet.

4. Step 4: Roll the dough out between the two sheets of baking paper. Aim for an equal 2mm to 3mm thickness of dough.

5. Step 5: Carefully remove the top sheet of the baking paper. If it really sticks, retry the above steps but with pre-greased baking paper or add more oil to the mix.
   Prick the dough with a fork across the entirety of the dough.

6. Step 6: Place the bottom sheet of baking paper with the dough on to a preheated baking try.
   Pro Tip: Where possible aim to use a cookie sheet or large square metal baking tray. This will give equal heat distribution and therefore an even cook.

7. Step 7: After around 5 minutes of baking, remove the tray and run a pizza cutter or knife across the dough to score patterns for the shape of crackers. Opt for diagonal or square crackers. If they can separate then try and do so. This will allow more air to circulate and steam to escape. This will help improve the snap on the cracker. If you need to do some more holes with a fork, now is a good time to do so too. If you can, remove the bottom layer of baking paper too (if the crackers slide off easily enough). If not, don't worry - keep cooking them on the paper.
   Place the tray back in the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes.

8. Step 8: After the cooking time, remove and check the crackers move freely around the tray (they should not stick now). They should be firm but not chewy.

9. Step 9: Place on a cooking tray once out of the oven and allow them to cool fully.

10. Step 10: Serve with crackers and a dip. Plenty of options and a great way to use up sourdough discard.

The key to a good cracker snap is to make sure the steam is able to escape during the cooking process. High bake crackers that we know from the shops have holes in them (as do a lot of biscuits too). The holes are the key to getting a crispy cracker so make sure to use the fork to make holes as detailed in step 5.

Power Tip: If the baking paper starts to burn then try to move the crackers off the paper and directly on to the baking tray or cookie sheet. If the crackers are still too sticky to move, cut as close to the dough as possible with scissors to remove the excess paper before putting the tray back in the oven.

Substitutions for lemon herb cracker ingredients

This recipe can be made with various types of sourdough starters. The end result will determine the starter discard used.

• Rye flour starter - a brown rye flour will give a healthier option but can be difficult to work with so might require some more oil. If the starter is too dry and will not stretch, add a splash of water to the mix (but not too much as we want to avoid as much steam as possible.
• Mix of both - why not try mixing starters to see if a mix of the two makes for a tasty cracker?

The ingredients are so simple in this recipe that the balance of salt will make the cracker taste differently. If you are trying to find a recipe for sourdough to reduce cholesterol then lower the salt levels to help with this. You can try a no salt or lo salt variation which can also help reduce blood pressure too.

Variations for sourdough starter crackers

The basic mix is quite simple but you can add a variety of ingredients to offer a different flavour of cracker.

• Spicy - adding half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper will give the cracker some heat. You could also sprinkle some chilli flakes on the top to add to the spice.
• Garlic - Make these crackers into a garlic and herb variety by adding half a teaspoon of diced fresh garlic to the dough. These would work really well served alongside dough balls.
• Sweet crackers - ditch the lemon herb and sprinkle some sugar or chocolate spread on the plain cracker once served. Not very healthy, but very tasty!

Useful equipment to make sourdough discard crackers

As simple as this sourdough cracker recipe is, there is additional equipment which will help you to make it easier to put together. Using a stand mixer with a dough hook will make the mixing of the oil and starter less effort. The two eventually do come together but can take a long time if doing so by hand.

A cooling rack is really useful to help get the crackers cooling and drying out quickly. Excess steam can turn to water if left on a tray so the wire mesh of a cooking rack helps the air to circulate around the cracker. You can buy space saving cookie sheet racks which combine a try to cook them on and then a rack to cool them on once out of the oven.

Storing lemon and herb crackers

You might want to eat all the crackers at once, but if there are some left over then store them in an air tight food storage container. These will keep for a few days. Make sure to allow them to cool fully before closing the lid.

These crackers will not freeze so keep in a cool dry place, ideally within your kitchen pantry or cupboard.

FAQ for sourdough discard crackers

Related posts

Looking for other recipes like these crackers? Try these sides:

Pairing crackers - some ideas

These are my favourite dishes to serve with my sourdough discard Lemon Herbert crackers: