Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is the only sourdough chocolate chip cookie recipe you will ever need. They’re chewy, gooey, and the perfect blend of vanilla and chopped chocolate.

So easy to make with just a whisk and bowl. No stand mixer needed! Brown butter gives these sourdough discard cookies a rich and nutty flavor, paired with extra vanilla extract.

It’s the most delicious way to use up leftover sourdough starter.

• PREP TIME :15MINUTES MINUTES
• COOK TIME :12MINUTES MINUTES
• FRIDGE TIME :30MINUTES MINUTES

Ingredients

• 113 grams (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 160 grams brown sugar
• 140 grams granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 80 grams sourdough discard,room temperature (discard less than 5 days is old is preferred)
• 3/4 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 235 grams all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 6 ounces chopped dark or semisweet chocolate from a chocolate bar (if needed you can use chocolate chips, see notes below for what to expect*)
• Flaky salt, optional

Instructions 

Brown the Butter:

• In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Cook for several minutes to brown the butter. It will go from simmering to bubbling to foaming, and you will begin to see brown flecks on the edges of the pan and the bottom. It will smell nutty and delicious. Once you can see a good amount of brown specks, remove from heat and pour butter and scrape all the bits into your mixing bowl that you will use for the cookies.
• Add sugars and stir to coat. Then add sourdough discard and stir to incorporate a bit. Then add egg and switch to a whisk, whisking mixture until it is cohesive. Add vanilla and whisk again.
• In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add half the flour mixture to the wet mixture, and stir with a spatula, about 15 times. Then add remaining flour and stir gently to incorporate, until almost all the flour is absorbed, but not quite. We want to avoid overworking the dough, so add the chopped chocolate now, and finish mixing the dough.
• Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes*. When 30 minutes is up, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare a sheet pan with parchment paper, and scoop 55 gram dough balls. I usually bake 7 cookies at a time.
• Bake for about 13 minutes, until edges are a little bit brown and middles are just set. Do not overbake.Remove from oven and tap the pan on the counter firmly two times, this deflates the cookie a bit and gives you the gooeyness. Let cookies cool on pan for 5 minutes. They will finish baking here. Then move cookies to a wire rack to cool. Top with a light sprinkle of flaky salt

Notes

• You can refrigerate the dough for up to 36 hours. The longer they are in the fridge, the more you will be REWARDED with a more intensified the flavor and goodness. 🙂
• If you don’t want to brown the butter, you don’t absolutelyhave to – you can just melt it. But I really really urge you to, as it is easy and makes these cookies absolutely wonderful.
• I highly recommend using an inexpensive oven thermometerwhen you are baking, as no oven is calibrated exactly precise, even one that is brand new. Your other likely runs hotter or cooler than it actually reads, and this can determine how much your cookies spread or do not spread and if they will look and taste like the recipe was written for. Using an oven thermometer allows you to slightly adjust the temperature to make it correct.
• I tested these cookies with both chopped chocolate from a bar and chocolate chips to demonstrate how it affects the texture of the cookies. You can use either, but I highly recommend chopped chocolate for the very best cookie.Chocolate chips are made with emulsifiers so they hold their shape. This means they do not melt well; cookies spread less when they are used.