Hunger. You are hungry. You want something with a satisfying crunch, but all there is in the bread bin is some stale old toast bread. What can you do? Well, making this knäckebröd is as simple as pie, and because of the low hydration in the final bread, it can be stored for months without spoiling. This is my sourdough knäckebröd recipe.
Knäckebröd is a very simple flatbread. Traditionally made with rye flour and often paired with some delicious seeds.
If you are just here for the recipe, you can press the button underneath to be automagically transported to the recipe:
Knäckebröd has been eaten in Sweden since the middle ages, but probably not in the form it’s known today.
Rye has been the predominant flour used in crispy bread, and rye was probably not around in the 5th century when barley was the norm. No matter what, the Swedish people have been chomping on crispbread for centuries.
The crispbread came out of Värmland but quickly spread to the rest of the country.
The basic recipe comprises unsifted rye flour, yeast or sourdough starter, water, and salt. After it’s rolled out, the dough is usually rolled with a unique spiked rolling pin, so the bread doesn’t rise. This can be emulated by pricking the rolled-out dough with a fork.
It’s baked really hot to drive off the moisture so the bread doesn’t go bad.
They were usually shaped like a wheel with a hole in the middle, so they could be stored on torkstänger (literally drying sticks).
Because of the low hydration in the final bread, it’s said that bread baked at birth could stay good until the child’s engagement.
Today most käckebröd is made commercially, and they have many, many varieties. Wheat flour is now more common than rye, although rye is still used.
The history of knäckebröd was adapted from this article.
The dough in this sourdough knäckebröd recipe
The dough in this classic sourdough knäckebröd recipe is made using sourdough discard, whole grain rye flour (dark rye in the States), and rolled oats.
It gets some of its hydration from the starter, but water is also added, but it’s not a defined amount. The consistency of the dough is more important.
The amount of seeds used is 200 grams, but you can easily substitute with a different kind of seeds. That also makes for a different bread each time you bake it.
Weight
Ingredient
Baker's Percentage
150g
starter (100% hydration)
150.0%
50g
rye flour
50.0%
50g
rolled oats
50.0%
75g
water
75.0%
7g
salt
7.0%
100g
sunflower seeds
100.0%
50g
flax seeds
50.0%
50g
pumpkin seeds
50.0%
As always, the formula for the bread can be played with, changed around, and whatever you do to formulas here in my Bread Calculator. The amount of water is a guesstimate on my side.
The conclusion of this sourdough knäckebröd recipe
This bread is something I love to have in my kitchen cupboard.
It’s great with a piece of smelly cheese and some blackcurrant jam. Another favorite of mine is liver patée with slices of fresh cucumber.
It has a delicious taste from the rye flour and the oats. The crunch is amazing, and added taste and chew from the seeds are wonderful.
It’s a pretty healthy piece of bread with lots of fiber and not many calories. The fat in it is from the seeds and the healthy monounsaturated kind.
If you are worried about the salt content, lower it to where you like it, but classic knäckebröd has a high salt content as it drives away the moisture, which is needed for the long shelf life.
So why is this the best recipe for sourdough knäckebröd?
Super crunchy – high satisfaction
Healthy compared to most other bread
Easy to make
A high amount of fiber
Low calories
Very low amount of gluten (if you have a gluten-free starter, it’s even lower)
Go for it. It’s a super delicious bread. Just listen to the crunch in the video.
Please share this recipe for sourdough knäckebröd on social media
This is my recipe for sourdough knäckebröd. If you like the recipe, please consider sharing it with like-minded bread lovers on social media.
If you make it and post it on Instagram, please tag me as @foodgeek.dk so I can see it. That would make me very happy.
Tried this today! A bit strange to my American pallet. Easy to make. It was MUCH better once it was cooled and I would call it a cracker and not bread. Thanks for the unique recipe. One note: In the future I would adjust the salt downward as sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds in the US almost always come salted.
I can imagine. My ex-wife is American and she thought we ate some weird stuff 🙂
Knækbrød means “bread that cracks”, so I guess it makes sense 🙂
I made this today. Mine needed a lot more than 75 mls of water. The dough was so stiff I could not roll it . I think I added at least another 40 mls. My oven at 180 degrees with the fan was too hot and I burnt them in under 20 mins. The edible ones were really yummy, so I will try again soon.
Can I use light rye flour instead of dark rye flour? Is there a big difference?
You can. It won’t have as much of rye taste as if you use dark, but I’m sure it’ll still be delicious 🙂
Made these today exactly as written and they are the best! 5 stars Thanks Sune! Forgot to cut them before baking so I used a pizza cutter after 20 minutes and continued to bake. Next time and there will be a next time I will use 2 baking sheets as I felt I could roll them thinner if I had more room. Feeling healthy with all those seeds, fiberlicious 😁
Just tried your knäckebrüd recipe. All looks great, but despite the fact that I used a quality parchment paper, my knäckebrüd stuck to the parchment paper and it was very difficult to separate it. Any suggestions?
Hi Sune! Thanks for the recipe, I made it – it was delicious!
How do you keep this bread? Mine has gone soft after 1 day so I’m not sure if I underbaked it or it is the English weather working its magic… 🙂
I put it in a airtight container with kitchen towel in between 🙂
You may wanna bake it a bit more too 🙂
So moreish…Crispy and tasty…added some sesame seeds which added to the flavours. I used ripe starter, as did not see it was discard! Worked fine tho
Baked these tonight, came out great.
Hello. Had a go at the sourdough crackers and was really looking forward to making these but I have a problem. Did everything as per recipe with a little water, but wasn’t sure how much to use and left the dough to ferment. Now that I try to roll it out it is REALLY difficult and after half an hour I have put it in the oven but much thicker than they should be. Why is that please?
Just tried these and they are superb. Thank you for the recipe
You are welcome 😀
My second attempt at the knackebrod. First time I did not roll it thin enough. This time everything seemed right but really struggled to remove the baking paper from the brod after baking! Also after 2 hours on the counter the dough was no longer a paste but had hardened. I decided to add more water at that stage and mix in and leave for another hour. Something is not yet right! Also please provide a key word search on your site! Love the channel. Thank you
Hey Sune. Lefty guitarist here. Been using your site for so long I feel like a brother. I’m going to slide my recipe directly onto the baking stone this time and give that a try. Last one I made I finished off in my Excalibur dehydrator. I liked the way it finished. I’ll let you know how the baking stone works out when it’s done.
Hi Sune, love your recipies and videos. I made the Knäckebrot today for the first time… somehow it was really stuck to the paper, when I tried to remove the pieces… some still have paper stuck to them. Do you have any idea what I did wrong?
Thank you and best regards from Germany
Cath
Er det alm havregryn eller de grovvalsede man skal bruge her?
Jeg bruger finvalsede 🙂
THE NOISY GUY ADDED NOHING.
Your recipe seemed to show 85% hydration which is about 18g water added. Is This correct?
Thanks for good presentation
made this today, so good! thank you!!
Tried this today! A bit strange to my American pallet. Easy to make. It was MUCH better once it was cooled and I would call it a cracker and not bread. Thanks for the unique recipe. One note: In the future I would adjust the salt downward as sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds in the US almost always come salted.
I can imagine. My ex-wife is American and she thought we ate some weird stuff 🙂
Knækbrød means “bread that cracks”, so I guess it makes sense 🙂
I made this today. Mine needed a lot more than 75 mls of water. The dough was so stiff I could not roll it . I think I added at least another 40 mls. My oven at 180 degrees with the fan was too hot and I burnt them in under 20 mins. The edible ones were really yummy, so I will try again soon.
Can I use light rye flour instead of dark rye flour? Is there a big difference?
You can. It won’t have as much of rye taste as if you use dark, but I’m sure it’ll still be delicious 🙂
Made these today exactly as written and they are the best! 5 stars Thanks Sune! Forgot to cut them before baking so I used a pizza cutter after 20 minutes and continued to bake. Next time and there will be a next time I will use 2 baking sheets as I felt I could roll them thinner if I had more room. Feeling healthy with all those seeds, fiberlicious 😁
Just tried your knäckebrüd recipe. All looks great, but despite the fact that I used a quality parchment paper, my knäckebrüd stuck to the parchment paper and it was very difficult to separate it. Any suggestions?
Hi Sune! Thanks for the recipe, I made it – it was delicious!
How do you keep this bread? Mine has gone soft after 1 day so I’m not sure if I underbaked it or it is the English weather working its magic… 🙂
I put it in a airtight container with kitchen towel in between 🙂
You may wanna bake it a bit more too 🙂
So moreish…Crispy and tasty…added some sesame seeds which added to the flavours. I used ripe starter, as did not see it was discard! Worked fine tho
Baked these tonight, came out great.
Hello. Had a go at the sourdough crackers and was really looking forward to making these but I have a problem. Did everything as per recipe with a little water, but wasn’t sure how much to use and left the dough to ferment. Now that I try to roll it out it is REALLY difficult and after half an hour I have put it in the oven but much thicker than they should be. Why is that please?
Just tried these and they are superb. Thank you for the recipe
You are welcome 😀
My second attempt at the knackebrod. First time I did not roll it thin enough. This time everything seemed right but really struggled to remove the baking paper from the brod after baking! Also after 2 hours on the counter the dough was no longer a paste but had hardened. I decided to add more water at that stage and mix in and leave for another hour. Something is not yet right! Also please provide a key word search on your site! Love the channel. Thank you
Hey Sune. Lefty guitarist here. Been using your site for so long I feel like a brother. I’m going to slide my recipe directly onto the baking stone this time and give that a try. Last one I made I finished off in my Excalibur dehydrator. I liked the way it finished. I’ll let you know how the baking stone works out when it’s done.
Hi Sune, love your recipies and videos. I made the Knäckebrot today for the first time… somehow it was really stuck to the paper, when I tried to remove the pieces… some still have paper stuck to them. Do you have any idea what I did wrong?
Thank you and best regards from Germany
Cath
Er det alm havregryn eller de grovvalsede man skal bruge her?
Jeg bruger finvalsede 🙂
THE NOISY GUY ADDED NOHING.
Your recipe seemed to show 85% hydration which is about 18g water added. Is This correct?
Thanks for good presentation
His content isn’t making recipes 🙂
85% is about 75 grams of added water, as you can see in the formula: https://fdgk.net/sourdough-knackebrod-formula
But the texture of the dough is more important than the water.