Sourdough Rye Crackers With Coriander and Fennel Recipe

Leftover sourdough starter is transformed into these elegant crackers, flavored with coriander and fennel seeds, rye flour, and sparkling wine.

By
Tim Chin
Tim Chin
Tim Chin is a professional cook and writer who started contributing to Serious Eats in early 2020. He holds a degree in Classic Pastry Arts at The International Culinary Center.
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Updated November 10, 2023
Shingled pieces of sourdough rye crackers sprinkled with flaky salt, coriander, and fennel seeds.

Serious Eats /Tim Chin

Why It Works

  • A blend of all-purpose and rye flours lends both structure and earthiness to the cracker dough. The rye flour also produces a darker, richer color when baked.
  • Sparkling wine provides sweetness, acidity, and slight carbonation to the cracker dough, resulting in a crisp cracker that isn’t dense.
  • Chilling the dough allows the dough to relax slightly, making rolling easier.
  • Rolling the dough between parchment ensures minimal mess and a uniform thickness.

Crackers are the go-to option for many bakers looking to use up excess sourdough starter. At its simplest, the process is a breeze: Mix some starter, flour, and salt until you get a rough dough; roll it out, bake it, and you’ve got yourself some serviceable crackers. You don’t need to worry about kneading, proofing, or any of the countless pitfalls of baking sourdough bread. Sourdough crackers should be forgiving, and shouldn’t demand much thought.

These crackers are inspired by ones I used to make at BISq restaurant under Alex Saenz. Back in those days, I saved all the tiny, unusable broken cracker scraps from each batch and stored them in a deli container; later in the night, if I got a little peckish, I’d go to town on them with a spoon. While that recipe doesn’t include any sourdough starter (it’s still amazing without it), the bones of my recipe are similar. Rye flour serves as a foundation for nutty, earthy flavors. Sparkling white wine like Champagne or cava adds both sweetness and a fruity kick to the crackers that plays nicely with the funky sourness of the starter (if you don't have the wine, a sparkling cider could work too). Cracked coriander reinforces citrus and sweet notes, while the subtle licorice flavor of fennel seed sneaks up on you with each bite.

The resulting crackers are thin, shatteringly crisp, and feature a dark, caramel color. They’re salty, sweet, and lightly tart—perfect for a cheeseboard. And because you bake them in large sheets, they can be broken into various sizes to suit your entertaining or snacking needs.

July 2020

Recipe Details

Sourdough Rye Crackers With Coriander and Fennel Recipe

Prep 20 mins
Cook 50 mins
Active 25 mins
Chilling Time 30 mins
Total 100 mins
Serves 48 servings
Makes 3 half-sheet pans of crackers
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup (3 3/4 ounces; 105g) all-purpose flour

  • 3/4 cup (3 ounces; 85g) rye flour

  • 1/3 cup (65g) sugar

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons (6g) kosher salt

  • 1/2 cup sourdough starter (4 1/4 ounces; 120g)

  • 1/4 cup (60ml) sparkling white wine, such as Champagne or Cava (see note)

  • 1/4 cup (60ml) extra-virgin olive oil

  • 1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds, cracked

  • 1 tablespoon whole fennel seeds, cracked

  • Flaky sea salt, such as Maldon

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, whisk all-purpose flour, rye flour, sugar, and salt until combined, about 60 seconds. Using a silicone spatula, stir in starter, champagne, and olive oil until mixture is smooth and combined, 1 to 2 minutes. Using clean hand, gently knead dough and form into round ball. Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 2 days.

  2. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325°F (160°C). Remove dough from refrigerator. Divide dough into 3 equal portions. Working with one portion of dough at a time (keep other portions in the refrigerator), place dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper sized to fit rimmed half-sheet pan. Using rolling pin, roll dough until it fills dimensions of parchment and measures roughly less than 1/16th inch (1.5mm) in thickness.

    A sheet of thinly rolled out cracker dough on a parchment-lined rimmed baking pan.

    Serious Eats / Tim Chin

  3. Slide parchment with rolled dough onto rimmed half-sheet pan. Gently peel off top layer of parchment and reserve as bottom parchment layer of next batch. Sprinkle dough with coriander, fennel seeds, and flaky salt. Bake until deep golden brown and uniform in color, 16 to 20 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Let cool until crisp and no longer hot to touch. Gently peel off cracker sheet from parchment and break into large pieces. Discard used parchment.

  4. Repeat rolling and baking with remaining two portions of dough and additional parchment paper as needed. Crackers can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Special Equipment

Rimmed half-sheet pan, rolling pin, parchment paper

Notes

The sparkling wine adds flavor and needed carbonation to the cracker dough; small single-serving cans of sparkling wine can be a good option here if you don't want to open a whole bottle. Sparkling cider can work as well.

Make-Ahead and Storage

Crackers can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

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Nutrition Facts (per serving)
36Calories
1gFat
5gCarbs
1gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 48
Amount per serving
Calories36
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 1g2%
Saturated Fat 0g1%
Cholesterol 0mg0%
Sodium 146mg6%
Total Carbohydrate 5g2%
Dietary Fiber 0g2%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 0mg0%
Calcium 4mg0%
Iron 0mg1%
Potassium 16mg0%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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