It was a Tuesday morning in March, and I stood in front of my kitchen counter staring at what should have been a beautiful, puffy loaf of sourdough. Instead, I was looking at a dense, barely-risen brick. Again. This was the third failed bake in two weeks, and I’d been doing this for eleven years. … Read more
There I was, flour dust settling on my apron like fresh snow, staring down at what looked like a crime scene across my marble work surface. My beautiful sourdough dough—the one I’d been nurturing for three days—was stuck. Not gently clinging to the counter. Stuck. Like it had formed an unbreakable bond with that marble … Read more
I was standing in my kitchen at 5 a.m., staring at a beautiful, perfectly proofed loaf that I’d spent two days nurturing, when I grabbed a dull paring knife and completely mangled the score. The blade caught, dragged, and tore through the dough like I was hacking at a cardboard box instead of performing delicate … Read more
If I had to pick one flavored cracker to make for the rest of my life, it would be rosemary and sea salt. It’s the cracker I served first at every market table because it’s universally loved, it pairs with everything, and it makes the whole kitchen smell incredible while it bakes. After 11 years … Read more
The first time I made sourdough cheese crackers, I was trying to recreate the boxed cheese crackers I grew up on — and I overshot wildly. Mine were sharper, snappier, and tasted like actual aged cheddar instead of cheese powder. They disappeared in an afternoon. Over my microbakery years these became a holiday staple that … Read more
Seeded crackers were my best seller at the microbakery, and they’re still what I make most often at home. A plain sourdough cracker is good; a seeded one feels intentional — there’s crunch, nuttiness, and visual appeal that makes people reach for a second before they’ve finished the first. After years of making these by … Read more
Soft, bendy sourdough crackers are the single most common complaint I hear, and I made every one of these mistakes myself before I figured them out. Over 11 years of baking — and three years selling crackers out of a home microbakery where a soft batch meant a batch I couldn’t sell — I learned … Read more
If there is one recipe that turned my weekly pile of sourdough discard from a guilt-inducing waste problem into something I actually look forward to, it is crackers. I’ve been baking sourdough for 11 years, including three years running a home microbakery, and during that time I made crackers almost every single week — partly … Read more
I’ll never forget the morning I pulled my beloved Dutch oven out of the oven to find rust blooming across the bottom like some kind of unwelcome sourdough starter culture. Rust. On my most precious baking tool. My hands actually shook as I stared at it, realizing that eleven years of sourdough baking had somehow … Read more
The sourdough loaf sat cooling on my counter, looking absolutely perfect. Golden, crackling crust. That gorgeous ear. But something was wrong. The crumb was dense. Gummy. After eleven years of baking, I should have known better. I’d committed the cardinal sin: I’d borrowed my neighbor’s ceramic Dutch oven for the final bake, and I was … Read more
