Brown butter sourdough chocolate chip cookies are my favorite way to use up leftover sourdough discard. The brown butter makes for a delicious and rich nutty flavor, while the sourdough starter keeps the cookies chewy and moist. If you love to keep a stash of cookie dough in the freezer, then this is the recipe for you, because they taste amazing straight from the freezer and bake well from frozen.
I shamelessly eat raw cookie dough sometimes. I use very good ingredients in all of my baked goods and don’t have a problem eating raw eggs from chickens and farmers I trust. If this is not the case for you, of course you can bake your cookies!
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Making brown butter
Brown butter is made by melting butter on the stove top until the milk solids separate from the fat and water content of the butter. These milk solids toast during the browning process creating a toasty, nutty flavor and a rich brown color. To make brown butter, gently melt butter over medium-low heat until the butter becomes brown and releases a toasty flavor (I promise you will know when this happens!). As soon as the butter starts to brown you will know that it is ready. Immediately remove it from the heat and let cool. At this point I like to put it in the fridge or set out on the counter until it is a spreadable texture.
Do I have to add espresso powder?
You do not need to add espresso powder to these brown butter sourdough chocolate chip cookies. This addition is optional but makes the cookies really incredible. The bitterness of the coffee balances the sweetness of the cookie resulting in a complex but harmonious cookie without a lot of work on your part.
How to prep brown butter sourdough chocolate chip cookies ahead of time
I like to make the brown butter a few hours before I want to mix up the cookies. This gives the butter time to cool to a spreadable texture and the cookies come together much faster. The best way to do this is to identify when you want to eat the cookies. The day before you want to bake the cookies, make the brown butter and a few hours later, make the cookies and let them ferment in the fridge overnight. When you’re ready to bake, the cookies can go directly from the fridge (or freezer) to the oven.
You can also make the brown butter right before you mix the cookies. Place the brown butter in the freezer to cool down quickly while you measure all the other ingredients. By the time you are ready to whip the butter and sugars together, the brown butter should be cool enough. As always with sourdough it does take some time and consideration to ferment, so plan accordingly.
Supplies you will need to make brown butter sourdough chocolate chip cookies:
Ingredients and notes for brown butter sourdough chocolate chip cookies:
- Organic, unbleached, all-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt-this is the one I use and love
- Very finely ground espresso powder – you can buy it premade, but I just grind my own
- Browned butter – see notes above
- Sourdough discard –
- Brown sugar – check out this blog on how to make your own brown sugar!
- Granulated sugar
- Apple cider vinegar
- Large egg – organic, free range, and local are my go-to
- Semisweet or dark chocolate chips – I prefer dark
- Coarse or flaky sea salt – for sprinkling on top
Brown Butter Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups organic, unbleached, all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon very finely ground espresso powder (optional)
- 3/4 cup browned butter (please see my notes above!)
- ½ cup sourdough discard
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups semisweet or dark chocolate chips but either is fine
- Coarse sea salt
Instructions
- gently melt the butter in a small heavy bottomed sauce pot until it starts to crackle, turn brown, and emit a nutty toasty flavor. This is your browned butter.
- Remove browned butter from the heat and allow it to cool until it becomes a spreadable texture-see notes above for more on this
- In a medium bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder. Set aside.
- In a large bowl beat together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy
- Add the sourdough discard, vanilla extract and the vinegar until smooth. Add the egg and stir just until combined.
- Mix the flour mixture into the wet mixture just until combined. Stir in the chips.
- Allow these to rest in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours
To Bake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Form cookies of desired size and place onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, about 3 inches apart.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until they look light brown around the edges, they will still look underdone in the center. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle each cookie with a little sea salt. Allow to sit on the sheet for 10 minutes before moving to a rack to cool.
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