Gingerbread Crackers made with Sourdough Discard

Something we enjoy making as a family is my gingerbread crackers made with sourdough discard recipe.

​They are similar to my popular recipe post, sourdough discard graham crackers. But have that gingerbread flavor and work great as cut out crackers and gingerbread houses!

These are essentially gingerbread graham crackers.

Learn more about sourdough discard and how to make these fun treats in this post.

What is Sourdough Starter Discard?

Sourdough starter discard is the stage of sourdough starter after the starter has been refreshed (process of discarding and feeding) and was an active starter for several hours. Once the wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria have digested all the “food” in the starter: the simple carbohydrates from the flour, the gluten connections that hold in those lovely bubbles of carbon dioxide grow weak so the starter collapses lower and lower with every hour. And some microorganisms grow weaker and some die in this process as the food runs out.

This leaves a flat sourdough starter with little to no bubbles, a stronger sour smell, and microorganisms in desperate need of care.

At this stage, the yeast is not in a stage where it can do a good job rising bread unless a specialized bread recipe is used like my No Knead Sourdough recipe. So a small portion, about a tablespoon, is put into a fresh jar and fed to revitalize the starter to make it become active again. The rest of the sourdough starter is known as discard because it’s what can be tossed or set aside since the small portion we carried over will continue the life of our sourdough starter.

Note: Another way to get rid of the bulk of sourdough discard is to pour out about 90% of the old sourdough into a collection jar (I usually have one or two in my fridge) then feed the small portion left in the jar. There’s room in sourdough baking for a wide variety of methods as long as you have down the basic principles of refreshing your sourdough starter: discarding and feeding. To learn more about this, check out my post What is a Sourdough Starter?

Check out this other post and video on What is sourdough discard?

Why use Sourdough Starter Discard?

You can absolutely just discard the old sourdough starter, but you can also use it in a variety of sourdough recipes to create more flavor and texture. Another benefit of using sourdough starter discard in sourdough recipes is that when used properly, it can make the recipe more digestible.

Since sourdough starter discard doesn’t have the rising power of active sourdough starter, it is commonly used in crackers, cookies, scones, pancakes, and other versions of quick breads when other leavening agents like baking soda, baking powder, eggs, or a combination are used.

Check out these other posts with videos: 

• Why use Sourdough Discard?
• How to Store Sourdough Discard for Starter Discard Recipes
• How to use Sourdough Discard

​How to make sourdough discard gingerbread graham crackers

These can be mixed and made right away, but I prefer to let them ferment for better digestibility.

Ingredients to make gingerbread crackers with sourdough discard:

• 100 g Sourdough Discard
• 15 g Brown Sugar
• 30 g Molasses (not blackstrap molasses)
• 35 g Unsalted Butter, melted
• 120 g Flour (All-Purpose flour, Whole Wheat flour, or a blend)
• 1/2 tsp ground Ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground Cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground Cloves
• 1/8 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/8 tsp salt

Ingredient notes:

• All-purpose flour will give you a fluffier and crisper cracker. Adding more whole wheat flour will add more flavor, more substance, and may be slightly softer, less crisp. I personally like to use some fresh milled flour for flavor, texture, and more fiber. The type of flour is up to you. Both taste great.
• Blackstrap molasses has an inferior flavor and quality. It is more salty and more meant for animal feed, according to some bakers. Yikes. So look for regular molasses for the best flavor. This brand is my favorite.

Making the dough for sourdough discard gingerbread graham crackers

Place a large bowl on a kitchen scale and tare. Add your sourdough discard to a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. See the Increasing the batch section below to see how to make a bigger batch of these delicious homemade sourdough crackers.

Melt the butter and set aside to cool.

Add the molasses and brown sugar to the discard.

While the butter is cooling, mix the dry ingredients, the flour, spices, baking soda, and salt, together in a separate mixing bowl.

Add the cooled butter to the wet ingredients and stir together. (If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment.) Then, add the dry mixture.

Mix all the ingredients together until a thick smooth dough forms.

Fermenting sourdough discard gingerbread graham crackers

You can proceed with shaping and baking the crackers, but I recommend a time of fermentation for maximum flavor, texture, and digestibility.

There are two ways you can ferment the dough.

First, you can cover the bowl of dough with plastic wrap for 1 to 2 hours at room temperature or overnight in the fridge.

Or, shape all the dough into your crackers and cover the baking sheets of shaped crackers with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours or the fridge overnight.

I recommend shaping the dough then fermenting. As the dough ferments, it develops more gluten which makes it more tricky to shape, particularly with cookie cutters.

Shaping sourdough discard gingerbread crackers

Place a large piece of parchment paper on your work surface. Put about a softball size portioned dough ball on the parchment paper.

Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out evenly until it is about 1/8-inch thick.

This dough is very smooth and easy to work with. I usually don’t encounter much sticking, but if your dough is sticking, sprinkle a little flour onto the dough and on the rolling pin.

Try to roll the dough into a large square or rectangle if you are cutting it into regular square or rectangular shaped crackers.

For typical cracker shapes, use a rolling pizza cutter to cut the rough edges of the dough off. Put the scraps aside with the rest of your unshaped dough.

Cut the dough into 1-inch wide strips. Then, go the opposite direction to cut the long strips into 2-3 inch rectangle size crackers.

Use a fork to poke each individual rectangle twice. This helps keep them from puffing up while baking to retain the right texture.

Slide the parchment paper of crackers onto a flat baking sheet. Cover them with plastic wrap if you are fermenting them.

Repeat the process until you run out of dough.

Making unique shapes of sourdough discard gingerbread crackers

After you roll out your dough as described above, use cookie cutters to cut unique shapes all over the rolled out dough. This is perfect for making a gingerbread house or gingerbread men crackers!

Once the rolled out dough is filled with shapes and there’s no more room, carefully peel away the dough around the edges to leave the shapes on the parchment. Put excess dough back with the rest of your unshaped dough.

Poke the crackers with a  fork at least twice or get fancy with a skewer to create designs on the crackers. A dot border would look really cute.

Slide the parchment paper of crackers onto a flat baking sheet. Cover them with plastic wrap if you are fermenting them.

Repeat this process until you run out of dough.

Baking sourdough discard gingerbread crackers

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake crackers for 18-24 minutes until they are beginning to harden around edges and tops are matte and not glossy.

Important note: adjust the baking time if you have scattered cracker shapes on your sheet pan to 16 to 18 minutes.

Don’t overbake the crackers, these can go from perfectly baked in just a few minutes. And since they are already dark in color, you can’t gauge doneness by a golden brown color.

Texture and the look are good indicators. I also lightly touch the crackers to double check to see if they are baked and set or still soft and not fully baked.

Allow to cool on cookie sheet. Then transfer to a wire rack.

Increasing the batch of sourdough discard gingerbread crackers

This is a great recipe for the holidays and fun to make big batches if you have enough extra discard on hand!

You can increase recipe based on how much sourdough discard you have. I weigh out the sourdough discard I’ve saved in the fridge then adjust the amounts based on that.

Place a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer on a kitchen scale and tare it so it reads 0. Pour your sourdough discard into the mixing bowl.

Divide your total amount of sourdough discard added to the bowl by 100. For example, if using 200g sourdough discard, 200 divided by 100 equals 2. Multiply the other ingredients by the number to increase the recipe in proportion to the amount of sourdough discard used.

For volume measurements, increase them by estimating the number of teaspoons. For example if you are doubling, you can add the fractions or just use 2 1/8 tsp of salt for example. If the multiplier is 1.5 or something that isn’t a whole number, try to estimate as well as you can.

 5 Tips for Gingerbread Crackers with Sourdough Discard

1. While these taste delicious shaped and baked right away, fermentation will enhance the texture and sourdough flavor. For best texture and shaping results, shape the dough first then cover and ferment. See the fermenting section above.
2. Make sure to use fresh spices for the best flavor. Ground spices degrade and lose potency within 1-2 years, depending on how they are stored and your climate. More humid environments ruin spices faster. See my source for the freshest spices: Starwest Bulk Herbs and Spices
3. If you love making sourdough crackers, I highly recommend investing in and using a French rolling pin. This one is my favorite for its smooth feel, perfect shape, and weight. The tapered design makes it easier to roll the edges to the same thickness as the center of the dough.
4. You can decorate these with royal icing for an extra flair and design. Let the icing dry and harden completely before storing them in an airtight container.
5. This dough makes a great material for a sturdy and delicious gingerbread house.
6. Try creating a dessert charcuterie board with these gingerbread sourdough crackers, fruit, marshmallows, frosting dip, and candy canes!

Baking with Kids

Involving my kids in my sourdough baking is one of my favorite things and is one of our traditions in the holiday season, especially.

This is a great way to include kids in baking! There’s a lot of room for error and they love cutting out the crackers themselves.

My son had the idea to try using cookie cutter shapes and they worked really well. To use cookie cutters, firmly cut dough with as many shapes that you can fit on the dough. Then, carefully peel away the extra dough between the shapes and bake 16-18 minutes.

Another fun holiday recipe to try with kids is Soft, Fluffy Sourdough Discard Sugar Cookies.

More Easy Sourdough Discard Recipes

• Sourdough Graham Crackers Sourdough Discard Recipe
• Gingersnap Cracker (Sourdough Discard)
• The Best Sourdough Discard Graham Crackers Recipe
• Overnight Sourdough Sheetpan Pancakes
• The Best Sourdough Pancakes Recipe (Discard Sponge Method)
• Sourdough Discard Crackers
• Plain Sweet Scones with sourdough discard

Savor and Share

Have so much fun making these crackers! Make sure to save it or share it with a friend.

And if you make it, I’d love to hear about it–you can comment on this post or tag me on instagram @livingbreadbaker!

Need more sourdough help?

A competent guide is the big difference from floundering in sourdough with information overwhelm to having confidence and ease in your sourdough baking.

If you are just starting on your sourdough journey, you can get my free Quick Start Sourdough Guide to begin learning some of the key terms and concepts in sourdough. Learn the difference between the sourdough stages of active sourdough starter and sourdough discard as well as how to care for a starter.

You can learn and improve your sourdough baking skills with my books or online courses.

My Intro. to Sourdough online course is comprehensive with video tutorials for each stage of the process to help new or aspiring sourdough home bakers gain a solid foundation for sourdough, the traditional way, to learn all the basics, language, techniques, and the process from start to finish to make sourdough bread. My teaching is straight forward and makes the whole process seem simple. I have helped launch hundreds of eager sourdough bakers onto their own inspiring sourdough journeys.

I also have a Once-a-Week No Knead Sourdough online course, which is my strategy for busy weeks to have sourdough on hand ready to make into country bread, sandwich loaves, English muffins, pizza, bagels, and more! This course is great for absolute sourdough beginners to just get familiarity with sourdough or for veteran sourdough bakers who need to simplify their baking schedule.

Living Bread Baker posts mentioned

What is a Starter?

What is sourdough discard?

Why use Sourdough Discard?

How to Store Sourdough Discard for Starter Discard Recipes

How to use Sourdough Discard

Sourdough Graham Crackers Sourdough Discard Recipe

Gingersnap Cracker (Sourdough Discard)

The Best Sourdough Discard Graham Crackers Recipe

Overnight Sourdough Sheetpan Pancakes

The Best Sourdough Pancakes Recipe (Discard Sponge Method)

Sourdough Discard Crackers

Plain Sweet Scones with sourdough discard

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