For anyone that loves crunchy foods, these Sourdough Parchment Crackers are for you. Sturdy yet paper thin, they deliver the kind of snap I cannot resist.  I call them parchment because you can see right through them. Delicate yet crisp, I defy you to eat just one.

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With everyone exploring sourdough bread making, there is a good deal of starter to discard. (For the uninitiated, when you make starter to leaven your bread, you must remove and throw out a portion before feeding the starter. There is a good amount of waste unless you bake huge quantities of bread. The discard is what you use to make these crackers.) The starter doesn’t need to have any leavening ability left.  In fact, I prefer to make these sourdough parchment crackers with tangy old sourdough.

The batter is made from the starter and olive oil, which tenderizes the dough after baking. Without it, the crackers would be hard and chewy not crisp.

Anyone who gives life to sourdough starter knows that it is a hungry pet. You feed the flour and water mixture with more flour and water twice a day, just like the family dog. You end up with a bubbling vat of starter capable of making a billowy loaf of bread.  And a lifetime commitment to keep the thing alive. Sourdough Crackers help use up some of the excess starter.  And they are addictingly good.  You might find yourself feeding your starter just so you have some extra around.

(For the uninitiated, when you make starter to leaven your bread, you have to remove and discard a portion before feeding the starter. There is a good amount of waste unless you bake huge quantities of bread. The discard is what you use to make these crackers.)

As its name implies, sourdough starter tastes tangy. It makes crackers with a rich cheese like flavor. You must add fat to the starter, or you end up with hard tack. Or cracked teeth. Melted butter would be delicious but I used olive oil.

Bagels became my specialty when we were working on Charlie’s book, The Best Bread Ever. When I lived in New York city for a few years, a warm “everything” bagel was a breakfast staple alternating with an Eli’s Raisin Pecan Roll. Naturally I was the one to adopt making this iconic roll. For the book, we received tips from true bagel mavens and the result is this recipe, New York Chewy Bagels Food Processor Mixing Method. It produces a dense, chewy bagel made from dough mixed briefly in a food processor using the steel cutting blade.

When friends visit for the weekend, I make bagels. When I teach at Boston University, I teach bagel making. (Read one recent student’s comments about bread class here.) I’ve even introduced chewy New York-style bagels to students in Kyoto and Tokyo.

My Bagel-Making Tips

To ensure a New York-style chewy bagel, use high protein bread flour. King Arthur is our preferred brand. Commercial bakeries feed the yeast with a little honey or malt syrup,