Sourdough Ritz Crackers

There’s nothing better than a little stack of Ritz crackers, a stash of your fave cheese and some tomato relish to keep the hunger pains at bay. But let me tell you, this delightful afternoon snack is even better when you’ve got a stack of sourdough Ritz crackers! The best thing? You’ll just need some basic pantry staples to make this easy recipe!

If you love making sourdough crackers, make sure you check out these sourdough ranch crackers and these sourdough goldfish crackers.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe!

Buttery and Flaky Texture – These crackers are tender, crisp, and have that signature melt-in-your-mouth flakiness, elevated by the richness of sourdough.

Deliciously Tangy Flavor – Sourdough discard adds a subtle tang that balances the buttery sweetness and makes each bite more complex, leaving you wanting more.

A Homemade Twist on a Classic – You get all the nostalgic charm of store-bought Ritz with the wholesome, homemade satisfaction of using your sourdough starter, so you know exactly what’s in them.

Ingredients

• All Purpose Flour
• Baking Powder
• Salt – I love salt so I’ve added salt to the dough, as well as on top. If you don’t like things too salty, skip the salt in the dough and just add the flaky sea salt.
• Sugar – I’ve used plain old white sugar, nothing fancy.
• Butter – you’ll need cold butter cut into cubes for this recipe. I’ve used salted butter, but you can use unsalted if you prefer.
• Vegetable Oil – I’ve used a light flavored vegetable oil.
• Sourdough Starter – you can use active starter or sourdough discard for this recipe, it won’t matter to the final outcome.

How To Make Sourdough Ritz Crackers

Add all ingredients to the bowl of your food processor and blitz for around 30 seconds or until the mixture resembles wet sand. It should look crumbly, but hold together when you press it.

When you’re happy with the mixture, tip it out onto a piece of parchment paper and press the crumbs together into a rough rectangle. Press it out so that it’s a cohesive dough.

Wrap the dough in the parchment paper, place into a ziploc bag and into the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours, but up to 24 hours.

When you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat your oven to 180C (350F). Grab 2 large cookie sheets and line with parchment paper.

Take the dough out of the fridge and cut the rectangle in half. Roll each half of the dough out into a large rectangle. I recommend doing this between two layers of parchment paper as the dough can stick to the rolling pin. You want to dough to be around ¼” thick.

Cut out small rounds using a small cookie cutter (I’ve just used a round cookie cutter in these photos, but you can use a fluted edge cookie cutter which gives them the crinkled edges like a store bought Ritz cracker). Place the rounds onto the parchment lined baking trays and use a skewer or lollipop stick to punch 4 holes in each round of dough. They kind of look like little buttons!

Brush the rounds with the melted butter and sprinkle with flaky sea salt before baking at 180ºC (350ºF) for around 15 minutes (just keep an eye on them as they can burn easily).

Once golden brown, remove the crackers from the oven and allow them cool on the tray before enjoying with your favorite cheese!

How To Store + Freeze

​In the Pantry – store these delicious flaky crackers in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. I find these store best in a glass jar rather than plastic (this makes them go soft).

Freezer – you can store the crackers once they’ve been baked, however, another way to do it is to make a double batch of cracker dough. Bake the first batch as per normal. For the second batch, cut them out and then snap freeze them on a couple of baking trays. Once frozen, transfer the frozen crackers to a ziplock bag. You can then bake a handful whenever you want them.

Share the sourdough love!