Chewy, chocolatey, and a great use for your leftover sourdough starter, these Brown Butter Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies are so delicious! These cookies have crisp edges and the brown butter give them a caramel nuttiness that is hard to resist!
Brown butter is the secret ingredient in these delicious cookies. It takes a few extra minutes to cook the butter, but it is so worth it! And pair that nuttiness with dark chocolate chips and you will make the best cookie that everyone will love!
Baking with sourdough discard is one of my favorite things to do! You can make baked sourdough donuts, sourdough scones, sourdough discard banana bread, sourdough discard pancakes, sourdough discard waffles, sourdough chocolate chip muffins, and even sourdough crackers with herbs and olive oil crackers!
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Why You'll Love These Cookies!
- They are a great use for leftover sourdough starter! If you bake a lot, you know that there is a lot of leftover discard after you feed your starter. Don't throw it out! Bake cookies with it!
- These cookies can be made in advance! Make the dough ahead of time and keep it in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap. You can make the dough a day in advance and bake them when you are ready to use them.
- They are homemade, from scratch! There is nothing better than a scratch made cookie! And throw in browned butter and dark chocolate for a winning combination!
Ingredients To Gather
- All-purpose flour. When adding flour to the measuring cup, fluff it first in the bag so it is not packed down.
- Baking powder and baking soda. Even though we are using sourdough starter in this recipe, the baking powder and baking soda are going to be doing the leavening, not the starter.
- Salt. This is important. You might think it's strange to add salt to baked goods, but salt brings out the flavor and the sweetness in the cookies.
- Butter. Unsalted butter since we are adding salt to the dough.
- Sugar. Both granulated and light brown sugar.
- Vanilla. A classic ingredient in chocolate chip cookies.
- Chocolate chips. For this recipe we are using dark chocolate chips. If you have semi- sweet chocolate chips on hand, use those! You can also cut a large chocolate bar into chocolate chunks for a more rustic type of cookie.
What is Sourdough Discard?
Sourdough discard is the portion of your active sourdough starter that you are not feeding. When you are "feeding" your starter to make bread with, you add equal parts flour, water, and extra sourdough starter to a mason jar and let it rise.
You can't feed your entire active starter, as it doubles and sometimes triples in size, and that's a lot of starter to have on hand! If you are new to sourdough, be sure to check out how to keep a sourdough starter post all about how to keep your sourdough starter happy. Keep your leftover sourdough discard in a mason jar in the refrigerator and use it to bake later on!
Equipment You'll Need
- Stand Mixer or hand mixer
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Ice Cream Scoop used as a cookie scoop
- Silicone Mat or Parchment Paper
- Baking Sheet or cookie sheet
- Wire Cooling Rack
Let's Make Brown Butter Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies!
How To Brown Butter
In a small saucepan, add the two sticks of butter. Set the heat to medium low and begin to brown the butter. The butter will melt and then get foamy. You'll start to see brown bits in the saucepan, that is what you are looking for. It will take about 5 minutes to brown the butter. Take the butter off the stove and allow it to cool slightly.
Lynn's Tip! Do not walk away from the stove when you are browning the butter. The butter will quickly go from toasty, golden brown, to burnt. Stir the butter until it is golden brown, then turn it off.
Let's Make the Cookies!
Tips and Tricks
- Make sure the brown butter is cooled to room temperature when you add it to the large bowl. It should be cool enough to touch. If it is too hot, you run the risk of cooking the eggs when you add them in and melting the chocolate chips.
- Refrigerate this dough for at least a half hour. This will allow the brown butter to harden up in the dough. It will also prevent too much spreading as the cookies bake.
- When the cookies are done baking, sprinkle them with course sea salt for an even more elevated cookie!
Frequently Asked Questions
No! The sourdough discard adds a bit of a tang to the cookies, but they do not taste sour. The sourdough discard adds a bit of rise to the cookies and is a great balance for the sweetness of the sugar. If you want to up the sour flavor, chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for a few hours, or overnight. That will enhance the sour flavor of these cookies.
Yes! You can refrigerate the dough up to 24 hours before you would like to bake them.
Once baked and cooled, store these cookies in an air-tight container for up to 4 days. You can also freeze them, fully baked, in gallon Ziploc bags for up to 3 months.
More Sourdough Cookie Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Brown Butter Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 sticks Unsalted Butter 1 cup
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- ½ cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla
- 2 Eggs
- ½ cup Sourdough Starter Inactive
- 2 ½ cups Dark Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set that aside.
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium low heat. The butter will melt, get foamy, and start turning golden brown. Once it is golden brown, turn the saucepan off and remove from the heat. This process should take 5 minutes. Allow the butter to cool before adding to the bowl. It should be room temperature before it is mixed into the rest of the ingredients.
- Add the room temperature brown butter to a large bowl. Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar. Turn the hand mixer or stand mixer on medium speed and mix for 1 minute until light and fluffy.
- Add the sourdough starter, eggs, and vanilla to the bowl. Mix until fully combined.
- Carefully add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, up to 24 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- When you are ready to bake the cookies, scoop the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are just golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool on a wire cooling rack before serving.
Notes
- Do not walk away from the stove when you are browning the butter. The butter will quickly go from toasty, golden brown, to burnt. Stir the butter until it is golden brown, then turn it off.
- Make sure the brown butter is cool when you add it to the large bowl. It should be cool enough to touch. If it is too hot, you run the risk of cooking the eggs when you add them in and melting the chocolate chips.
- Refrigerate this dough for at least a half hour. This will allow the brown butter to harden up in the dough. It will also prevent too much spreading as the cookies bake.
- When the cookies are done baking, sprinkle them with course sea salt for an even more elevated cookie!
Sheryl
I was looking for something different to make with my sourdough discard. Amazing, delicious, and so easy. I thought at first the recipe called for too many chocolate chips since the dough is filled with chips. It bakes up into a perfect cookie! Thank you
Lynn Polito
You're welcome! I am so happy you enjoyed them!
Maryanne
Do you think these could be frozen for longer storage time?
Lynn Polito
Definitely! You can keep them frozen for a really long time as long as the container is airtight or the Ziploc bag is sealed.