Sourdough Discard Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Thick, chewy, and deeply flavorful cookies loaded with pools of melted milk and dark chocolate, featuring a clever way to use up your sourdough discard. Boast an exceptionally fudgy texture with wonderfully crispy edges.
Prep Time: 30 mins | Chill Time: 3 hr-overnight | Bake Time: 15-18 mins | Yield: 12 cookies (4oz each)
Quick Baking Tips & Fun Fact
Fun Fact
When developing cookie recipes with sourdough discard, bakers often find that the extra hydration from the starter creates an ultra-fudgy center while keeping the outer edges wonderfully crisp and caramelized.
Key Baking Tips
Reconstitute the Brown Butter: When you brown butter, you cook out its water content. Whisking heavy cream back into your warm browned butter replaces that lost moisture and helps it return to a proper room-temperature butter consistency.
Skip or Adjust the Espresso: While espresso powder is often used to deepen chocolate flavors, you can easily omit it if you prefer a purer brown-butter profile—the cookies will still turn out wonderfully rich and fudgy either way.
Gentle Mixing: Stop mixing halfway through incorporating your dry ingredients to fold in your chocolate. This prevents gluten over-development, keeping your cookies tender and thick.
Ingredients
227g Unsalted Butter (browned)
30g Heavy Cream
180g Brown Sugar
190g Granulated Sugar
1 Large Egg
2 Egg Yolks
80g Sourdough Discard
10g Pure Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Salt
350g All-Purpose Flour
1 Tbsp Instant Espresso Powder (optional / omit if preferred)
6 oz Chopped Milk Chocolate
6 oz Chopped Dark Chocolate
Flaky sea salt (for finishing)
Step-by-Step Instructions
Brown Butter & Mix Wet Ingredients
Brown the Butter: Melt the 227g butter in a saucepan over medium heat, swirling frequently until it foams, crackles subside, and amber-colored bits form at the bottom with a nutty aroma.
Add Cream & Cool: Immediately stir the 30g heavy cream into the hot brown butter. Allow the mixture to cool completely down to room temperature so it returns to a proper room-temperature butter consistency.
Cream Sugars & Eggs: In a large bowl, cream together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, whole egg, and egg yolks until well combined.
Add Butter & Discard: Pour in your cooled brown butter mixture and the 80g sourdough discard, mixing until light and airy. Stir in the 10g vanilla extract until combined.
Combine Dry Ingredients & Fold Chocolate
Mix Dry Ingredients: Whisk together the flour, salt, and instant espresso powder (if using).
Partial Mix: Add the dry ingredients to your wet mixture and mix only until about halfway combined.
Fold Chocolate: Add the 6 oz chopped milk chocolate and 6 oz chopped dark chocolate, continuing to mix just until no dry flour bits remain. Do not overmix.
Chill, Portion & Bake
Chill Dough: Cover the dough and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight.
Portion & Shape: Weigh and portion the dough into 4 oz balls, shaping each one into a flat puck rather than a round mound. (You can freeze any remaining raw dough portions for future use).
Bake: Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Top each puck with flaky sea salt. Bake from chilled for 15 to 18 minutes until golden on the edges and set. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
If you make these, don't forget to snap a photo and tag @SnazySweets so I can see your beautiful baking creations.
Happy baking!
Frequently Asked Questions & Storage
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Browning butter evaporates its natural water content. Stirring heavy cream back in restores that lost moisture and helps the butter solidify back into a smooth, workable room-temperature texture.
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Not at all! Unfed sourdough discard adds moisture and a subtle depth of flavor, but the sweetness of the sugars and richness of the chocolate completely balance it out without a sour tang.
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Yes! Portion the dough into 4 oz pucks, freeze them on a tray, and store them in a freezer-safe bag. You can bake them straight from the freezer whenever a cookie craving strikes.
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Keep your baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 to 5 days to maintain their soft, fudgy center and crisp edges.
Video Tutorial Coming Soon!
