Vegan Sourdough Crackers [cheesy flavor]
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These Vegan Sourdough Crackers are completely dairy free yet have a delicious cheesy flavor. They are the perfect way to use up sourdough discard and are quick and easy to make.
With just 5 ingredients, you can pull them together in under an hour - perfect for those last minute charcuterie boards - hello Friday drinks!
The great thing about these vegan sourdough crackers is that you can add any flavor that takes your fancy - from herbs and garlic to fresh rosemary or even your favorite seeds. Anything goes. They taste amazing served with this roasted vegetable hummus.
Sourdough Starter or Sourdough Discard?
You can make these sourdough vegan crackers with either active sourdough starter or sourdough discard.
If you're building a new sourdough starter, this recipe is a great way to use up a lot of sourdough discard.
If you have a mature starter, you could build the starter to make enough to prepare these delicious cheesy sourdough vegan crackers.
What Makes These Vegan Crackers Cheesy?
I created this recipe because many people asked for a dairy free version of my Rosemary & Parmesan Sourdough Crackers (they are pretty good).
Searching for a way to make these vegan crackers taste cheesy, I tested a few things and found that nutritional yeast gave me the flavor that was needed.
Nutritional yeast is a plant based super food that's full of good stuff! From vitamin b to protein and fibre, it's a great addition to many foods. It is so clever too - it adds a great cheesy, savory flavor to your food - and totally dairy free and vegan friendly.
How To Make Vegan Sourdough Crackers
These simple vegan sourdough crackers really are simple to make. The dough is absolutely lovely to work with and rolling them means you'll get a consistently good cracker!
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
- Add sourdough discard, flour, soft vegan butter, salt and nutritional yeast to a mixing bowl and bring the ingredients together to form a pliable dough.
- Divide the dough into two portions (this makes it easier to roll).
- Place each ball onto a piece of parchment paper and flatten out with your hands into a rough rectangle.
- Now roll out to a thin sheet of dough using a rolling pin. You want it around 1/16" or 1.5mm thick. The thinner you can get it the better because thick crackers won't cook properly and won't crisp up in the oven.
- Use a cracker roller to perforate dough. If you don't have a cracker roller you can use a cookie cutter or knife to cut into crackers and then pierce each one with the tines of a fork.
- Place each parchment paper with dough on top onto a baking sheet. This recipe will generally need two baking trays.
- Brush dough with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
- Bake at 350F/180C for around 25 minutes or until crackers are golden and crisp.
- Let the crackers cool on a rack before breaking into individual pieces.
How To Get Thin + Crispy Sourdough Crackers
For the thinnest, crispiest and most delicious sourdough vegan crackers, you'll need to make sure your dough is rolled correctly.
You can use a pasta maker if you have one. This will ensure the dough is super thin and even.
However, a rolling pin works just as well (and this is the method I use most of the time).
The other tool that is a game changer is a cracker roller (also called a nacho roller). That is how I make the gorgeous little triangles.
You can find even more tips for making the best sourdough crackers here.
Flavor Variations for Vegan Sourdough Crackers
You can really turn these into any flavor crackers you like!
Because they have a savory, cheesy taste from the nutritional yeast, you can add any type of herb or seasoning. Here are the toppings that I think work best:
- Crushed sunflower seeds (this is what I've topped the crackers in the photo with).
- Black sesame seeds.
- Homemade Everything Bagel Seasoning
- Fresh rosemary, thyme or dill.
- Garlic.
Want More Sourdough Vegan Recipes?
If you are loving these vegan sourdough crackers, you might also enjoy these vegan sourdough recipes:
You'll also find a full guide to vegan sourdough here (including easy ingredient swaps).
Vegan Sourdough Crackers Recipe [cheesy flavor]
Equipment
- Digital Scales
- Mixing Bowl
- Rolling Pin
- Cracker Roller
- Baking Trays
Ingredients
- 220 g Sourdough Starter can be active or sourdough discard
- 150 g All Purpose Flour can sub whole wheat
- 5 g Salt
- 30 g Vegan Butter soft or can sub olive oil
- 10 g Nutritional Yeast Flakes
- 20 g Olive Oil for brushing
Optional Toppings
- 5 g Salt for sprinkling
- 50 g Sunflower Seeds crushed or chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
- Add sourdough discard, flour, soft vegan butter, salt and nutrional yeast to a mixing bowl and bring the ingredients together to form a pliable dough (see notes).I usually add the ingredients and use a Danish whisk to bring it together and then use my hands to knead into a pliable dough.
- Divide the dough into two portions (this makes it easier to roll).
- Place each ball onto a piece of parchment paper and flatten out with your hands into a rough rectangle.
- Now roll out to a thin sheet of dough using a rolling pin. You want it around 1/16" or 1.5mm thick. The thinner you can get it the better because thick crackers won't cook properly and won't crisp up in the oven.The dough should not be sticky at all and easy to roll - however see notes below for some troubleshooting if your dough is sticky.
- Use a cracker roller to perforate dough. If you don't have a cracker roller you can use a cookie cutter or knife to cut into crackers and then pierce each one with the tines of a fork.
- Place each parchment paper with dough on top onto a baking sheet. This recipe will generally need two baking trays.
- Brush dough with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.For this batch of dough I also sprinkled some crushed sunflower seeds - you can really top them with whatever flavors you like, or just leave them plain with a little salt.
- Bake at 350F/180C for around 25 minutes or until crackers are golden and crisp. They will crisp as they cool so don't over cook them.
- Let the crackers cool on a rack before breaking into individual pieces.