[1]

I have a personal relationship with my sourdough starter. “Hermann” and I have been a couple for many months now, and having witnessed his fickleness first-hand, I have a thorough understanding of his needs. I almost wrote “feelings”, that is how close Hermann and I have become.

I feed Hermann regularly and lucky for me he is still a happy camper. Unbeknownst to him, a couple of his predecessors have simply died on me, mostly because I neglected the basics of sourdough starter care 101. Divide, feed, love.

I bake sourdough bread a lot, but not all the time. One of the consequences to this is that every once in a while I have a cup or so of Hermann Junior left over after a feeding that I have no use for. I do not share this with Hermann Senior – he would be heartbroken – but most of the time this has gotten discarded. Until I decided to turn it into snacks. Sourdough whole wheat crackers, to be exact. (The original recipe I'm using can be found here. [2])

[3]

If you, too, are hesitant to simply dump your “discarded” sourdough, here is something else you can do with it:

Sourdough Whole Wheat Crackers

1 cup “discarded” sourdough starter

1/4 cup room temperature butter

1 cup whole wheat or as much as you need to make a stiff dough

1/2 tsp sea salt

Olive oil for brushing

Coarse salt (such as kosher salt) for sprinkling on top

You can vary what goes on top as I have (I used herbs and coarse salt). Make a stiff dough, leave on the counter for at least three hours (I found seven, as the recipe I had originally found called for, too long). It is easiest to take a piece of baking parchment (1/2 sheet size) and roll the dough out on that (1/4" is the thickest I would go; use a rolling pin with spacer rings if you can), then transfer to a baking sheet and cut it into small squares/rectancles directly on there. Brush with oil and sprinkle with coarse sea salt, herbs etc. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes or until the crackers are golden brown and crisp. If using a gas-fired oven, simply switch if off and leave the crackers in there for a little while longer.

I had to literally fight my family to be able to take photographs of the finished product, so ENJOY WHILE THEY LAST. :)