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1
Place water in a large bowl, sprinkle yeast on top, and let rest until yeast has dissolved, about 10 minutes.
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2
Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
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3
Place dough on a surface sprinkled with rye flour and knead until smooth, about 5 to 10 minutes.
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4
(If the dough becomes too sticky, sprinkle it with additional rye flour as needed.)
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5
Divide dough into 8 pieces and roll each piece into a ball.
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6
On a surface sprinkled with rye flour (a warm spot is best), place dough balls at least 2 inches apart, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest until almost doubled in size, at least 1 hour.
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7
Meanwhile, heat the oven to 400 degrees F and arrange two racks to divide the oven into thirds.
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8
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
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9
Remove 1 dough ball from underneath the plastic wrap (keep the remaining dough balls covered) and place on a surface generously dusted with rye flour.
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10
Roll into a very thin, even round (until you can see the caraway seeds) about 10 to 11 inches in diameter, turning the dough often to keep it from sticking.
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11
Using a knife or a 1-inch circular cookie cutter, cut a hole in the middle of the round (this makes it easy to cool the crackers on the handle of a wooden spoon).
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12
Place the round on one of the prepared baking sheets and repeat rolling and stamping a second round, placing it on the other baking sheet.
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13
Discard the cut-out dough centers.
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14
Place both baking sheets in the oven and bake until the crackers have lightened in color but are not yet browned, about 6 minutes.
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15
Rotate the baking sheets between racks and continue baking until the crackers are dark brown all over and crisp, about 4 to 6 minutes more.
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16
Transfer the crackers to a wire rack or long wooden spoon handle (anchored to a counter or table) to cool.
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17
Repeat with remaining dough balls.
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18
Store the crackers in an airtight container for up to 10 days.
