Of Grain and Grain | Tactile Explorations of Flour and Wood

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July 2020: Fire Crackers

Ashley Look

You only need a few ingredients and your sourdough starter discards and you’re good to go for making tasty crackers

So, I’m not sure where the sourdough movement stands these days. Stores seem to be doing well at restocking the shelves and yeast is perhaps no longer in limited supply. But for the few holdout still nursing a starter, I thought I’d share this cracker recipe which unlike my attempts at making sourdough breads, has been a predictably simple process. This recipe is a riff off King Arthur’s recipe. They coached me through the first several batches but now I’m off and running. The house favorite seems to be these “fire” crackers, made with crushed red pepper flakes, Parmesan cheese, and a little coarse salt. They are pretty easy to make and just the thing to scoop up all those 4th of July dips.

Sourdough discard crackers with coarse salt, crushed red pepper and Parmesan cheese.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup starter
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 2 tbsp butter , softened
  • 1/4 tsp table salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 tsp grated Parmesan cheese
  • oil for brushing the tops
  • Coarse salt for sprinking on tops

Directions

  1. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients except the oil and coarse salt.
  2. Mix throughly so the dough forms and knead it slightly until all the ingredients are well combined.
  3. Seperate into two piece, flatten them into patties, and then wrap in plastic and place in the fridge for 30 minutes or over night to stiffen up.
  4. After the dough has chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  5. Remove the dough from plastic and place between two layers of parchment paper.
  6. Roll the dough out between the paper to about 1/16 inch thick.
  7. Transfer the rolled slab onto a baking sheet and brush with oil.
  8. Sprinkle the coarse salt on top and lightly pat the granuals into the dough using the spare paper.
  9. Using a knife or pizza cutter slice the dough into 1 1/4 inch squares.
  10. Then place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
  11. Taste test the crackers in the middle of the pan to ensure they are crisp. If not continue baking for a few minutes till you achive your desired crunch.
  12. You can remove the crisped ones to a rack to cool while the other continue baking if worried about them becoming over done.

Stay safe everyone!