Sourdough Gingerbread Graham Crackers
These Sourdough Gingerbread Graham Crackers are crisp, warmly spiced, lightly sweet, and deeply flavorful. Easy to roll, cut, and bake with sourdough discard and perfect for snacking, gifting, decorating, or adding to holiday cookie boxes.
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl or stand mixer bowl - for mixing your dough.
- Electric mixer (stand or hand-held) - for combining dough.
- Spatula - for scraping down bowl.
- Parchment paper or silicone mats - to line cookie sheet to avoid burning.
- Baking sheets - to bake graham crackers.
- Fork - to dock the graham crackers.
- Rolling Pin - to roll the dough out.
- Knife or pizza wheel - to cut the graham crackers into traditional squares.
- Cookie cutters (optional) - if you'd like to cut these crackers into festive shapes, you'll need your favorite Christmas cookie cutters. I used these gingerbread men cookie cutters linked here.
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients:
- ½ (115g) cup 115g unsalted butter softened
- ¼ (60g) cup sourdough discard (cold or unfed)
- 1/3 (73g) cup brown sugar
- ¼ (60g) cup unsulphered molasses
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 (240g) cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ (30g) cup cornstarch
- 2 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 1/2 tap ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp cardamom
- ⅛ tsp ground cloves
- ¾ tsp fine sea salt
- 1 (6g) tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
Instructions
Step 1: Mix the Dough
- In a large mixing bowl, add the butter and brown sugar. Using an electric or stand mixer on medium speed, cream together for approximately 2 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy.½ (115g) cup 115g unsalted butter, 1/3 (73g) cup brown sugar
- Add the sourdough discard, molasses, and vanilla to the bowl. Combine the rest of the wet ingredients on medium/high speed until everything is smooth and light.¼ (60g) cup sourdough discard (cold or unfed), ¼ (60g) cup unsulphered molasses, 1 tsp vanilla extract
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, salt, cocoa powder, and baking soda.2 (240g) cups all-purpose flour, ¼ (30g) cup cornstarch, 2 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1 1/2 tap ground cinnamon, 1/8 tsp cardamom, ⅛ tsp ground cloves, ¾ tsp fine sea salt, 1 (6g) tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and mix on low until the dough is combined and forms a ball. Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix everything at the bottom. This insures all your crackers come out evenly. This is a stiff dough, so get it mixed best you can until no flour streaks remain. Don't overmix the dough or the crackers will be tough.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and pat down to form a cube of dough. Transfer to the refrigerator to chill a minimum of 2 hours, or for a longer fermentation you can chill the dough overnight.
Step 2: Shape and Bake the Crackers
- Preheat your oven to 325°F (165°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper (or my preference) silicone mats. I use these silicone mats all the time linked here.
- Lightly flour a clean work surface, and gently roll out your dough to about 1/4 inch thickness. You can either cut the dough into the traditional squares familiar to graham crackers, or cut the dough into fun and cut festive shapes using cookie cutters. I used gingerbread men cookie cutters!
- Line your crackers onto the prepared baking sheets, and using a fork or a toothpick poke holes into the crackers to dock them. This helps the crackers bake flat.
- Transfer the cracker to the oven, and bake for 20 minutes until the edges look dry and lightly golden.
- Allow the crackers to cool fully on a wire rack, they'll crisp up fully as they cool. Once crackers are cooled they're ready for snacking or for packaging and gifting!
- Yields 24 crackers
Notes
How to Store:
Room temperature- Keep in an airtight container for 6-7 days. Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!