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.

I'm a yo-yo exerciser

(Side track - Does anyone else compose blog posts in their heads? Then forget to actually type them up? Just me? OK. Moving on)

Right, I am a yo-yo exerciser. Is there such a term? I exercise consistently for a month or two then something happens to make me miss a day and then suddenly it's three weeks since my last workout and I am looking at my large tummy on my 5' 3" 117 lb frame (yes, I am small; no, my tummy did not get the memo) and wondering why the hell I look six months pregnant.

I don't even remember what I last said that I was doing. Brazil Butt Lift? Oh, that's right, I posted about Beginner's 5K training. I completed that 8 week program. It challenged every inch of me. I hated it. But I never achieved my goal. I wanted to be able to do the 5K in 30-33 minutes. I would have to look at Runkeeper but I don't think I managed it and if I did, I barely did it.

I really didn't like running that much but I did it almost every other day so that was a huge plus for me. It was quick and then I could go back to watching TV. The problem with running (for me) was that it really did nothing for that tummy problem. In fact, I got a bit flabbier during those eight weeks. I clearly need to pair all that cardio with strength training and core exercises. And well, if I am going to have to do other exercises, why bother to run at all? Do you see how I just talked myself out of running?

I decided to do the Beginner's 5K plan again. Get better times, I told myself. Do you know what happened? My times were progressively worse than before and here we are and I haven't done anything in over a week. I had even started to pair running with Shaun T's latest videos - Focus T25. But it may be about two weeks since I've done that.

So where am I now? Sitting on my butt, thinking about cake and wondering if I can ever get to the point where I am exercising consistently again and seeing results? Or perhaps there is a way to get that toned tummy without leaving my bed? Scientists? Are you working on that? Please say that you are.