Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Sourdough Surprises August: Sweet Potato Sourdough Crackers

I'd been on a crackers kick when Sourdough Surprises announced that we'd be making crackers this month. Perfect! I already knew what I wanted to make - rye crackers! You see, I had been having a problem tasting rye. I had used it in two loaves of bread and just could not taste the difference. I thought crackers with not much else going on would be perfect.

And then I promptly talked myself out of that.

Because that's just how my brain works. I did make the rye crackers but I opted to leave out the sourdough starter to ensure that I just tasted rye even though my starter is far from sour. Just in case you're curious, I tasted something but I don't know if that was really "rye". Mission Taste Rye continues.

You would think I would have then immediately dove into my sourdough cracker challenge since I had crackers on the brain but nope! Life got in the way and suddenly it was the 14th of August and I still had not made my crackers. Honestly, nothing seemed perfect. I could have done wheat thin like crackers. I made them without sourdough before and loved them. I could have done the Ritz-style ones. I could have, I could have, I could have.

So there I was, cutting up sweet potatoes for a corn and sweet potato chowder when it hit me - SWEET POTATO crackers! Let's do this!


These crackers need to be rolled EXTREMELY thin or you just won't get "crackers". Trust me,.I speak from experience. When I bit into one that was rolled perfectly thin, it tasted almost like a Cheez-It cracker. Odd. I need to read the ingredients on Cheez-Its one of these days.

I wasn't very happy with these crackers. I didn't roll them thin enough. I may have also over-kneaded in an attempt to add more flour. Ugh. I always underestimate just how much liquid sweet potato will add to a dough. If I were to do this again, I'd use a firm starter, roll very very very thinly and ensure not to overwork my dough.




Sweet Sourdough Potato Crackers

250 g Whole Wheat Flour (I used a mix of red and white whole wheat)
125 g All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
3 tablespoon butter
150 g  Sourdough Starter, unfed (166%)
250 g Sweet Potato, cooked, mashed


Pulse flours and butter in a food processor then add sweet potato and starter. Pulse until it forms a dough. Let rest for 4 hours (this may be optional?).
Preheat oven to 350 F. Divide dough into two pieces and roll each as thinly as possible. Cut into desired shape. Bake for 10 minutes. Check. You will probably need an additional 3-4 minutes.













19 comments:

  1. The colour is really pretty! What a good idea to use sweet potato. Gosh, I could never cut anything so perfectly square. Great job!

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    1. Thanks! I used a very long knife. And got lucky.

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  2. Even though these may not have been PERFECT they still look and sound delicious!!

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  3. Great job! What a great idea to add sweet potatoes~ I noticed that the thinner crackers had a better "crunch" Lynn @ Turnips 2 Tangerines

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    1. Yup. I think poking some holes would help too.

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  4. Thanks for all the tips - never too thin, don't overwork. Love the colour and the squareness too!

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  5. Oh, love the idea of adding sweet potato to the crackers! Kind of odd that they tasted like cheese-its, though, LOL!

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    1. Very odd! When I remake them, I'll see if I taste that again.

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  6. I'm sorry these crackers didn't live up to your hopes, but I LOVE the inspiration for them - sweet potato crackers sound amazing, and I am sure you will perfect the recipe and they'll be outstanding!

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    1. I wanted to remake them add soon add next week but now I have too many other cracker recipes to try. Haha.

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  7. Sorry these were disappointing for you. I really like the idea of using sweet potato though, so keep trying!

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    1. Oh, I definitely will. I ate them all so they weren't that bad.

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  8. Love the sweet potato idea! I'm sure they weren't that bad - I'm pretty sure I could squeeze down a few :)

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  9. I like this idea! Maybe a couple more tries and you'll get it down. I agree that the secret to these types of crackers is to roll them very thin. And, I think it's the sourdough that gives them the cheesy flavor. I had the same reaction the first time I made sourdough crackers.

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    1. I never thought of the sourdough making it taste cheesy. Interesting. I'll definitely have to make more soon to test this.

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