These sourdough brown butter chocolate chip cookies are hard to beat. The deep, complex, nutty aroma of the brown butter complements the mild tanginess of the sourdough discard perfectly to create a delicious twist on the classic chocolate chip cookie.
Why This Recipe Works
Besides being delicious, brown butter helps us add sourdough discard to this cookie dough. By browning the butter in this recipe, it effectively lowers the water content in the final cookie dough. Since the water is slightly reduced, it’s then easy to add some sourdough starter discard to the dough to compensate for the loss of water without making the dough bread-like. If this sounds complicated, don’t worry. I’ve done all of the math for you behind the scenes, so follow this recipe to a T and you’ll end up with three dozen of your new favorite cookies: sourdough brown butter chocolate chip cookies.
Ingredients You’ll Need for Sourdough Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Butter: You’ll need two US sticks (A.K.A. one cup or 226 grams) of salted butter for this recipe. You will be browning this butter on the stovetop to end up with around 185 grams of “brown butter” once some of the water in the butter has evaporated.
- White Sugar: Plain white sugar provides straightforward sweetness to these cookies.
- Brown Sugar: Dark brown sugar provides sweetness and a deep molasses flavor to these cookies. It balances out the white sugar and the complex flavor combines well with the deep flavor of the brown butter.
- Eggs: You’ll need some medium-sized chicken eggs for this recipe (just in case anyone was planning to use eggs from another bird!)
- Sourdough Starter: You’ll need a 100% hydration sourdough starter for this recipe. You can use risen and active sourdough starter or leftover sourdough starter “discard” that has risen and fallen back down again. Discard will generally provide more of a sour and complex flavor, so use discard if you have it.
- Vanilla Extract: Like most good chocolate chip cookie recipes, you’ll need a touch of real vanilla extract to enhance the flavor of the cookies.
- All-Purpose Flour: I used the King Arthur brand of all-purpose flour for this recipe. You can use any plain white bread flour that contains around 10-12% protein.
- Salt: I used Kosher salt for this recipe, but sea salt or plain table salt will also work well.
- Baking Soda: You’ll need a small amount of baking soda (not baking powder) to make these cookies rise.
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips: You will need one standard bag (340 grams) of semi-sweet chocolate chips for these cookies.
Note: See recipe card below for full ingredient amounts and quantities.
Ingredient Amounts
- Butter – 2 sticks, cut into cubes (226 grams)
- White Sugar – 150 grams
- Brown Sugar – 150 grams
- Eggs – 2 medium (100 grams)
- Sourdough Starter (or Discard) – 60 grams
- Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp
- All-Purpose Flour – 375 grams
- Salt – 1 tsp
- Baking Soda – 1 tsp
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips – 340 grams
How to Make Sourdough Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Step-by-Step Instructions
Browning the Butter
Cut up two standard US sticks of butter into chunks. Melt the chunks of butter over medium heat in a non-stick or stainless steel pan. Cook the butter over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the butter is a deep, brown color. Some of the water will have evaporated from the butter and the butter will have developed a complex, nutty flavor.
Mixing the Wet Ingredients
Pour all of the brown butter into a mixing bowl, then add the white sugar and the brown sugar. Whisk thoroughly to combine the brown butter and sugars. Then, add the eggs, the vanilla extract, and the sourdough starter discard. Whisk the wet ingredients together until fully combined.
Adding the Dry Ingredients
To the wet ingredients, add the total amount of all-purpose flour and the salt and baking soda. Stir the dough with a wooden spoon or a plastic spatula until a thick cookie dough is formed and the dry bits of flour have disappeared.
Folding in the Chocolate Chips
Next, add the semi-sweet chocolate chips to the cookie dough and fold them in gently with a plastic spatula until all of the chocolate chips are well distributed throughout the cookie dough.
Chilling the Dough
Cover the dough with an air-tight lid or a sheet of plastic wrap and let the dough chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour to allow the butter in the dough to solidify. This is an optional step that will help the cookie dough hold together better during baking.
Baking the Cookies
Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). With a standard tablespoon, take spoonfuls of dough and roll them into round balls with your hands. Arrange 12 balls of dough onto a metal cookie sheet and bake them at 350°F (180°C) for 10-13 minutes, until golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool for one minute before transferring them onto a wire rack to cool completely. Continue baking the cookies one dozen at a time until all of the cookies are baked.
Enjoy the warm, nutty, buttery flavors of these sourdough brown butter chocolate chip cookies.
Sourdough Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
These sourdough brown butter chocolate chip cookies are hard to beat. The deep, complex, nutty aroma of the brown butter complements the mild tanginess of the sourdough discard perfectly to create a delicious twist on the classic chocolate chip cookie.
Ingredients
- Butter - 2 sticks, cut into cubes (226 grams)
- White Sugar - 150 grams
- Brown Sugar - 150 grams
- Eggs - 2 medium (100 grams)
- Sourdough Starter (or Discard) - 60 grams
- Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
- All-Purpose Flour - 375 grams
- Salt - 1 tsp
- Baking Soda - 1 tsp
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips - 340 grams
Instructions
Browning the Butter
Cut up two standard US sticks of butter into chunks. Melt the chunks of butter over medium heat in a non-stick or stainless steel pan. Cook the butter over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the butter is a deep, brown color. Some of the water will have evaporated from the butter and the butter will have developed a complex, nutty flavor.
Mixing the Wet Ingredients
Pour all of the brown butter into a mixing bowl, then add the white sugar and the brown sugar. Whisk thoroughly to combine the brown butter and sugars. Then, add the eggs, the vanilla extract, and the sourdough starter discard. Whisk the wet ingredients together until fully combined.
Adding the Dry Ingredients
To the wet ingredients, add the total amount of all-purpose flour and the salt and baking soda. Stir the dough with a wooden spoon or a plastic spatula until a thick cookie dough is formed and the dry bits of flour have disappeared.
Folding in the Chocolate Chips
Next, add the semi-sweet chocolate chips to the cookie dough and fold them in gently with a plastic spatula until all of the chocolate chips are well distributed throughout the cookie dough.
Chilling the Dough
Cover the dough with an air-tight lid or a sheet of plastic wrap and let the dough chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour to allow the butter in the dough to solidify. This is an optional step that will help the cookie dough hold together better during baking.
Baking the Cookies
Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). With a standard tablespoon, take spoonfuls of dough and roll them into round balls with your hands. Arrange 12 balls of dough onto a metal cookie sheet and bake them at 350°F (180°C) for 10-13 minutes, until golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool for one minute before transferring them onto a wire rack to cool completely. Continue baking the cookies one dozen at a time until all of the cookies are baked.
Enjoy the warm, nutty, buttery flavors of these sourdough brown butter chocolate chip cookies.