If you love those crunchy, salty, tangy, addictive crackers in the big red box then this Sourdough Cheese Cracker recipe is for you! This recipe comes together in no time with a few pantry staples and is a quick way to use up your sourdough discard. Or you can use active starter and long-ferment the dough. I'll give all the details in the blog post and recipe card below!
Recipe Background and Details
These irresistible crackers make a great snack any time of year (even my picky toddler loves them!). They are also a great gift for the holidays. Fill a jar with them for a tasty homemade gift, or better yet, add them to my Garlic Parmesan Cracker Snack Mix along with my regular Sourdough Discard Crackers. That snack mix has become a highly coveted gift among my family and friends and I'm looking forward to upgrading it this year with these homemade sourdough cheez-its!
My oldest son loves cheez-it crackers, especially the extra toasty ones. So I thought it would be fun to make a homemade version and of course I had to make it sourdough! The sourdough really makes these taste super tangy and extra cheesy somehow - you've gotta try them!
If you are new to sourdough, be sure to check out my other popular sourdough discard recipes including Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread and Sourdough Discard Cinnamon Rolls. I think discard recipes are a great gateway to sourdough baking and they are also a great way to use up that starter you are working so hard to build! And if you need some help with your starter, check out my How to Make a Sourdough Starter post for all of my tips, tricks, lessons-learned, and encouragement!
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Ingredients
You'll just need a few pantry staples to pull this easy recipe together.
- all purpose flour: I like regular all purpose or einkorn for these. I imagine other flours would work just fine.
- seasonings: I like to use a bit of salt, garlic powder, cayenne, and paprika. The paprika is really more for color than flavor. You can add in any seasonings or dried herbs you love.
- melted butter or oil: I love the flavor of butter but I often use olive oil for ease. Use any fat you prefer.
- sourdough starter: You can use active starter or unfed/discard for this recipe. Be sure to stir it down before measuring.
- grated cheddar cheese: I recommend shredding it yourself for the best texture. Use orange cheese if you want orange crackers. I like to use a really aged, sharp cheese but you can use any cheddar variety you like.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
This dough comes together really easily in a bowl with a little bit of elbow grease, so I don't bother with a food processor here but feel free to use yours if you prefer.
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Stir together to form a rough, shaggy dough.
Knead by hand until a smooth dough forms. At this point you can long ferment if you used active starter - see below.
Divide dough in half.
If you use active starter, once the dough comes together you can cover it and let it long-ferment at room temperature for a few hours or up to 8 hours.
Whether you use active or discard, this dough can be wrapped tightly and stored in the refrigerator for 24 hours before rolling and baking.
Roll each half between two pieces of parchment.
Cut, dock, sprinkle with salt, and bake.
The crackers do not need to be separated for baking. If you are baking 2 sheets at once, be sure to rotate the pans halfway so they bake evenly.
Storage
Once cooled, crackers can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for 5 days. Visit my Amazon store to see some of my favorite jars.
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please feel free to check out my full disclosure policy.
Top Tip
Be sure to get the cracker dough very thin to ensure nice crispy crackers - 1/16th of an inch is ideal. I divide the dough between two baking sheets to make sure it's extra thin. If they aren't thin enough, they will be a little soft in the middle after baking but they're still delicious. You can also remove any that have browned and toss the thicker and/or lighter colored crackers back in the oven for a few more minutes. I actually love when some of the edges get a little extra toasty.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
- Sourdough Peach Cobbler
- Triple Lemon Sourdough Scones
- Sourdough Discard Waffles
- Sourdough Discard Blondies
Sourdough Cheese Crackers
If you love those crunchy, salty, tangy, addictive crackers in the big red box then this Sourdough Cheese Cracker recipe is for you! This recipe comes together in no time with a few pantry staples and no mystery ingredients. Use either unfed/discard or use active starter and long-ferment.
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: about 4 cups
Ingredients
230 grams (1 cup) sourdough starter, active or discard - stirred down before measuring
3 tablespoons melted butter or oil
120 grams (1 cup) all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Combine all dough ingredients in a bowl and mix well to combine into a shaggy dough before transferring to work surface and kneading for a few minutes until you have a very cohesive dough ball.
- Divide into two equal pieces. If desired the dough can be wrapped and refrigerated for 24 hours.
- Roll dough between two sheets of parchment to a thickness of 1/16 of an inch. Remove top piece of parchment and cut dough into small squares or whatever shape you prefer - I like to use a pizza cutter for this.
- Either prick the dough all over with a fork or use a toothpick to make one hole in the center of each cracker. Sprinkle with salt.
- Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes until crispy and lightly golden around the edges. If baking two sheets at a time be sure to rotate the pans halfway. The length of baking time will depend on how thick or thin you roll the crackers so keep an eye on them.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool on tray. The crackers will become more crisp as they cool.
Notes
- If you are using active starter and want to long-ferment the dough, you can leave it covered at room temperature for up to 8 hours before proceeding with refrigerating, rolling, and baking.
- Be sure to get the cracker dough very thin to ensure nice crispy crackers - 1/16th of an inch is ideal. I divide the dough between two baking sheets to make sure it's extra thin. If they aren't thin enough, they will be a little soft in the middle after baking but they're still delicious.
- You can also remove any that have browned and toss the thicker and/or lighter colored crackers back in the oven for a few more minutes. I actually love when some of the edges get a little extra toasty.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: sourdough, appetizers
- Method: sourdough, baking
- Cuisine: American
Laurel says
Completely addictive and super easy. Cheez-Its are a go to snack on our house and I can’t wait to make these again and again vs buying.
Linda says
These are addictive, so good! Made these to add to a charcuterie board tomorrow. I hope there are still enough left tomorrow afternoon to fill the spot I planned.
Jane says
Hi. I just made this dough. Does it have to be left to ferment or can I cook it straight away?
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Hi Jane. No, it does not have to be fermented and, yes, you can bake it straight away. Let me know how it goes. 🙂 - Anita
Bridget says
OMG...when I make a batch of these my husband and I can't stop eating them..
I always disliked throwing away half of my discard or starter...What nice use of it..
Janice says
I made these for Bible study group tonight and they were quite the hit! Everyone was amazed that they were homemade and asked if they could take some home. I didn't have any left over, but I know how to make more! I was happy to share them.
I also found that it's easier to roll them out between plastic wrap because the parchment quickly absorbed water from the dough and wrinkled. Using the plastic wrap I was able to peel it off and reposition, flip it over, rolling to get them thin enough, then transferred to parchment for baking.
Rose Adcock says
I will never buy Cheezit's from the store again. These were amazing ! Great taste, texture, all around so good !!
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Yippee!! The best comment! Thank you so much Rose! I'm so happy you love these crackers. xo - Anita
Rose Adcock says
My whole family does. And if they like them, they are a keeper. I had to force myself to stop eating them . lol.
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
haha - I know exactly what you mean! They are hard to resist!! I'm so glad everyone loves them!
Tamra says
I can’t wait to the this recipe! Can I sub whole wheat white flour for the all purpose flour??
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Hey Tamra! Yes, you can do that! Maybe start with a little less flour and see how the dough feels before adding the full amount. I'm not super familiar with using white whole wheat, but I think it is a bit more dense than all purpose so starting with less makes sense! Let me know how it goes! - Anita
Lisa says
One of my favorites, easy to make, tastes great
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Thanks Lisa! I'm so happy you're enjoying this recipe! Thanks for coming back to leave this kind feedback! - Anita
Mary K says
Tasty and Super easy to make - although took a lot of muscle to roll the dough real thin.
M sheehan says
I never comment on recipes ……. But these came out great in Detroit Michigan for humidity reference …… but the reason I am commenting is that I used by pasta roller to get beautiful thin crackers! Game changer. Will be repeating this as gifts for Christmas—- thank you!
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
I am so happy to read this! And thank you for that amazing pasta roller tip!! Genius! I will add that to the recipe notes in case anyone else wants to try it. Such a GREAT idea!! I am so happy these turned out well for you. I just love the idea of gifting them for Christmas! Thank you for your kind feedback and rating! Merry Christmas to you! Big hugs! - Anita