Sourdough Einkorn and Barley Crackers

I seem to have developed a ritual of making crackers whenever I feed my sourdough starters. It’s a good way to use up discarded starter and enjoy an easy homemade snack at the same time. Such was the case with these Einkorn and Barley Crackers.

I’ve been making sourdough crackers so much recently you would think I would run out of options; however, it’s just the opposite.   The more crackers I make, the more the ideas keep flowing.

When I fed my Einkorn starter, I knew I wanted to make crackers, but I was in the mood for something different. Instead of making crackers with just Einkorn, I decided to pair the Einkorn sourdough with a non-wheat flour.

I went to my store of flours in the freezer to look for a match.  I came out with some barley flour that had been in the freezer from, well let’s just say it had been in there awhile and it needed to be used.

Like every geeky, I mean good baker, I have way too many different types of flours in my freezer. Each one, just waiting for it’s turn to be used in bread or another baking delight. So with this experiment, I was able to feed my starter, clean out the freezer, and make crackers. Not bad for a day’s work.

 

Einkorn and Barley Crackers

I like the flavor and the texture of these crackers. The black sesame seeds give them a unique taste and appearance.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Einkorn sourdough starter
• 1 – 1 1/2 cups barley flour
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon water, if needed
• Black sesame seeds for sprinkling (or the seeds of your choice)

 

Method:

Step 1: Mix the sourdough and olive oil and stir well.  Add in 1 cup of barley flour and salt.  Add additional flour, or a little water, as needed to make a soft but not sticky dough.

Step 2: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator overnight. The dough will become clay-like during the overnight fermentation. 

 

Step 3:  The next day, take the dough out of the refrigerator and let it warm up to room temperature for a couple of hours before you plan to bake the crackers.  This will create a more workable dough.

Step 4: Once the dough is room temperature and workable, divide it into 3 equal balls.  Place one ball on parchment paper sprayed with olive oil.  Instead of using oil, you can sprinkle the parchment paper with flour or cornmeal if you prefer, but I find it’s easier to roll out the dough if I spray the parchment paper and the rolling pin with olive oil.

 

Step 5:  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Roll the dough out thinly onto the parchment paper, brush it with olive oil (or spray with water), sprinkle with sesame seeds or the seeds of your choice, and a little kosher salt (optional), and cut the crackers using a pizza wheel. The crackers will separate during baking so there is no need to space them apart on the parchment paper.

 

Step 6: Repeat the rolling/cutting/sprinkling process with the other dough balls or put one or both of the remaining dough balls back in the refrigerator and bake them the next day.  This way, you can have some now and save some for later.

Step 7: Bake the crackers at 350 degrees F. for 10-15 minutes. If you are baking more than one pan of crackers, rotate the pans top-to-bottom, and front-to-back and bake 10-15 minutes more, or until browned. Watch the crackers, particularly during the last few minutes, and remove any browned crackers from the outside.  The ones that are rolled thinner will burn easily if you’re not careful. I usually just remove them and eat them while I’m waiting for the rest of the crackers to finish baking. 

Step 8: Remove the pans from the oven and let the crackers cool slightly on a wire rack. Enjoy them warm or wrap them tightly to enjoy for a couple of days.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy