Pepperberry and Wattle Seed Crackers

 

Pepperberry and Wattle Seed Crackers

This recipe was designed specifically to be made with Bakers' Magic gluten free flour. The finished baked product will not be the same if you use another gluten free flour and you will need to adjust the recipe, particularly if the flour you're using contains rice flour.

This sourdough recipe can use a 'wild' sourdough culture. 

 Sourdough Starter

50 g of previous days leaven

50 g Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour

100 g Lukewarm water

~1.5 tsp Sugar (of some type)

or

50 - 70 g Roasted sweet potato

or 

sugar + sweet potato I usually add both

The remaining 150 g of the previous days leaven I either use to make bread (below) or put it on the humus heap.

I'm not gentle when it comes to mixing the starter - I find the easiest way to mix is with a stab blender. It's quick & gets the lumps out.

Sugar - your starter will need a sugar source (the simplest one is glucose powder). Sugar comes in various forms for example grated apple, roasted pumpkin, roasted sweet potato, honey or simpler versions table sugar, raw sugar, molasses. We want to add the Goldilocks amount of sugar to our culture. Too little you will starve your starter, too much & you will kill it, just the right amount & your starter will grow happily. 

Adding the Goldilocks amount of sugar - Unfortunately I can't say what that amount is for your culture. For Arthur, my starter/leaven/culture, I know I haven't added enough food when I let the starter grow for ~6 hours (it has doubled in size) I swirl it back down & it doesn't grow again. 

Roasted sweet potato - I usually bake it whole for 1 - 1.5 hours (depending on the size). I blend it with a food processor & freeze it in ice cube trays. Two of my roasted sweet potato ice cubes weigh ~70 g. I've fed my culture on one ice cube of sweet potato however the culture is not as active. The water content of the roasted sweet potato will vary & may affect the final shape of your loaf.   

Ingredients

400 g Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour

1.5 - 2 tsp Salt

25 g Brown sugar

2 tsp Wattle seed powder

10 g Freshly ground pepperberries

150 g Sourdough starter (leaven)

10 g Psyllium husk powder or psyllium husk

50 g Oil (I use Rice bran)

400 g - 425 g Warm water

Psyllium husk - 10 - 15 g can be used.  

Water - the amount of water added will affect the shape of the loaf.  

Method

Lightly oil 2 double baguette/french bread pan(s). My baguette pan is not perforated however if you have added the psyllium husk powder a perforated pan would be fine to use. 

I use a stand mixer to combine the dough. Place all ingredients into the mixing bowl. Combine ingredients using the flat beater until a uniform consistency is achieved. You may need to stop the mixer and scrap down the sides. 

Divide the dough into thirds. Put a little bit of the extra oil on your hands & roll the dough out into a sausage shape. Make the length of the dough sausage just a little smaller than the length of the pan. Carefully transfer the dough sausage to the baguette pan. Repeat with the remaining dough. 

Let the dough proof for 3 - 5 hours in a warm moist environment. From time to time lightly spray the tops of the dough with water. The length of proofing time will depend on how active your sourdough starter is.  

Baking the baguette

The temperature of the oven will in part determine how crispy the outside of the baguettes are. The higher the temperature the thicker the crust. I have baked them at 180 C, 200 C & 210 C with & without steam. Using steam when baking will produce a thinner (& slightly chewy) crust. If I want a thinner crust I will bake at 180 C with steam. To bake with steam put a slice tray/baking tray in the bottom of the oven & add boiling water to it. 

Before putting the baguettes into the oven ensure that the dough has risen ~1.5X.

Baking time will vary depending on the temperature. At 210 C bake for ~30 mins or bake for ~40 mins if the oven temperature is 180 C. The time will vary depending on the individual oven. If your oven has a hot spot turn the bread halfway through baking. 

Take out of the oven & cool the bread on a cooling rack. The bread should slide out of the baguette pan; if it doesn't don't force it out, wait until it cools.

Ensure the bread has cooled before cutting into it. 

Turn the oven on to ~100 C when you are ready to slice the bread.

Slice the bread thinly & arrange it on a lined baking tray. 

Optional Lightly (very lightly) spray the sliced bread with oil.

Put the trays in the oven. Check the crackers for crispness after an hour. If the crackers do not snap they need a bit longer in the oven. The length of time required to dry the crackers will vary depending on the thickness of the slices & your oven. 

When the crackers are crisp turn off the oven. I usually leave the crackers in the oven to cool down. Stored in an airtight container they can keep for weeks (if they are not eaten first). 

Simply enjoy!