Due to a series of unfortunate events (that have since resolved themselves), today I am not writing about brownies. They’ll come soon — I just tasted them, they’re good, but not quite perfect. (Also, surprise! They’re vegan.)
This week, at the request of friend and newsletter subscriber Katie, I bring you:
Dips for dinner.
But first:
In order to have DIPS for dinner, you need a good DIPPER.
And so today I will point you to the best cracker recipe I’ve encountered to date, made with sourdough starter discard.
This recipe came to me via the bread baking group chat I’m in with my mom and a few of her friends, Rebecca and Gariann (who are now, I suppose, also my friends! :)). The genius in the recipe comes from making a batter rather than a dough that must be rolled super-thin to achieve crispy crackers.
The batter is a quick mix of sourdough discard, fat, spices, and salt. You spread it in a thin, even layer, bake it for 10 minutes, score the crackers, then bake for another 25 to 35 minutes until your crackers are brown and crisp. (The recipe says up to 50 minutes, but I’ve not needed that long.)
But the real genius move here is not following the recipe; it’s adapting it to use up all manners of random spices and flours.
Gariann had the brilliant idea of adding puffed amaranth — something easy to find in grocery stores in Germany, where my parents live — to make the crackers even crispier. My mom gave me a few bags that I’ve been adding to crackers ever since.
I’m fairly certain any sort of small puffed cereal/grain would work, though amaranth’s tiny size means the addition doesn’t interfere with spreading the batter. (Something like puffed rice might be too thick, in other words.) It seems you can get puffed amaranth even if you don’t have someone in Germany to send it to you; alternatively, you can puff your own.
You can also play with the fat; instead of melted butter, I usually use sunflower oil. Whatever fat you like would work, though. Maybe I’ll even try it with schmaltz!
And as far as flours go, I generally spoon a little sourdough starter out and feed it with whatever flour I want to use (right now that meant spelt and teff), then let it sit long enough to rise and deflate. So, I’m not using “discard” per se, but rather starter that was recently fed but doesn’t have enough strength to make a loaf of bread. (You can use unfed starter straight from the fridge, but the bread-baking group chat has discovered that the recipe doesn’t work as well with old, unfed starter.)
Spices, seeds, and herbs are where you can really have fun. Cumin seeds and cracked coriander work particularly well, as do sesame and sunflower seeds. Blends like za’atar or herbs de Provence are great. Seaweed flakes are fun! Add nutritional yeast for crackers à la Cheez-It. The sky is the limit, really. Adapt the spices to compliment your dips, or keep it neutral so your crackers go with everything.
And if you don’t have a sourdough starter? I honestly think these crackers are reason enough to make or otherwise acquire one. They’re that good. (If you’re in need of sourdough/bread education/inspiration, highly recommend a Wordloaf subscription.)
Seedy sourdough crackers (adapted from littlespoonfarm.com)
As I said above, I usually start with a small amount of sourdough starter — say, 50 grams — and then feed it with whatever flour(s) I want to use, then let it deflate before adding the rest of the ingredients. So for example: stir together 50 grams inactive starter, 125 grams flour, and 125 grams water in a small mixing bowl. Cover and let it sit at room temp for at least 12 hours, or however long it takes for it to rise and deflate. Treat this as your inactive starter in the recipe below.
300 grams inactive (but still relatively fresh) sourdough starter
40 grams oil or melted fat
up to 2 tablespoons seeds
up to 1 tablespoon spices or dried herbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
up to 1/2 cup puffed amaranth (optional)
water as needed
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line a sheet pan with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
Stir together the starter, fat, seeds, spices, and salt. Add the puffed amaranth if you’re using it, then stir in a few tablespoons of water if you need to, so that you have a spreadable batter.
Scrape all the batter onto your prepared baking sheet and spread in a thin, even layer (easiest to do this with a large offset spatula).
Bake for 10 minutes, then score into whatever cracker shapes you like. I use a metal bench scraper to do this, but a paring knife works too. You can also use cookie cutters to make cute crackers!
Return to the oven and bake for about 25 to 35 more minutes, until the crackers are crisp (and, depending on the flour you used, varying shades of brown). If you find the crackers on the edges crisping faster, take them off and return any still pliable crackers to the oven until they’re done.
Store in a sealed container at room temperature for…2 weeks? 3 weeks? They don’t really go bad, but also, they don’t typically last that long.
Next week:
Dips!