Sourdough crackers

I am glad to report that my passion for sourdough bread making has continued. So much so that I would say 90% of the time I am eating my own sourdough bread for breakfast (rye with lashings of butter and damson jam) and sometimes for lunch as well. If I'm not eating the bread, then I can almost certainly be found eating sourdough crackers with strong cheese and a flick of chutney. The sourdough crackers have gone down tremendously well with everyone I have shared them with. In fact I have to limit how many I put out as they will all be gone if I turn away. The recipe below makes a large quantity of crackers, say around 30. They do take a while to roll out and bake, I think I have got it down to just over an hour to get through the whole batch of dough. However, they store very well, so it's worth making a batch which should last you at least a month... Well, saying that, if you like them as much as everyone seems to, they may disappear a lot quicker!

Image © Charlotte Tolhurst

Sourdough Crackers as taught to me by Jane Mason, original recipe Helene Johannson from the Brunkebergs Bageri.

500g full fat milk
40g honey
30g rye sourdough starter
500g light rye flour
250g white wheat flour
20g salt
5g bicarb of soda
10g ground fennel (or ginger, cinnamon, cumin, caraway. I use whole fennel seeds)

*Combine ingredients and knead for 10-15 minutes. It will be very sticky so a scraper is recommended.
*Pop the dough in a bowl and cover and let it rest overnight.
*The next day divide the dough into little balls of 50g or so, the size of a ping pong ball.
*Flour the board well with rye flour and roll very thinly into flat rounds or oblongs. Prick liberally with a fork, a pokey swedish rolling pin or, in my case, a meat tenderiser as pictured below.
*Transfer to a baking tray lined with baking paper.
*Spray with water and sprinkle with any of salt, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, caraway seeds or dried herbs.
*Bake at 210˚ for 10-12 minutes. Let them cool completely on wire rack.

Connect with Charlotte 

Instagram | Facebook | Visit her website