Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
Sourdough discard in cookies creates a barely noticeable tang that makes the butter and brown sugar taste deeper and more complex. The texture is what you're after -- chewy in the center with edges that shatter. A cold chill before baking is what gets you there.
Ingredients
- 170gunsalted butter (softened)
- 150gbrown sugar (packed)
- 50ggranulated sugar
- 100gsourdough discard-- straight from the fridge
- 1 largeegg
- 2 teaspoonsvanilla extract
- 280gall-purpose flour(100%)
- 5g (about 1 teaspoon)baking soda
- 5gsalt
- 200gdark chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
Instructions
- 1
Beat the softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. The creaming builds air pockets that give the cookies lift.
- 2
Add the egg, sourdough discard, and vanilla. Mix until combined. It might look slightly curdled -- that's fine, the flour will bring it together.
- 3
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- 4
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix on low speed (or fold by hand) until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- 5
Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour, and up to 72 hours. This firms the butter (so cookies spread less) and develops flavor. The 24-48 hour mark is the sweet spot.
The chilling step is the difference between a flat, crispy disk and a thick, chewy cookie. Don't skip it.
- 6
Preheat your oven to 180C (350F). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- 7
Scoop the dough into 50g balls (about 2 tablespoons each). Place them 7cm apart on the prepared sheets. Don't flatten them -- the oven does that.
- 8
Bake for 11-14 minutes. The edges should be golden and set, but the centers will look slightly underdone and puffy. They'll firm up as they cool. If you wait until the centers look done, you'll have overbaked them. Sprinkle with a few flakes of sea salt right out of the oven.
Tips
Chopped chocolate from a bar creates uneven pieces -- some shards, some chunks -- that look and taste better than uniform chips. Use a serrated knife.
The 24-48 hour chill makes a noticeable difference in flavor. The flour hydrates more fully, the sugars get more complex, and the discard's tang has time to develop.
These freeze perfectly as scooped dough balls. Freeze on a sheet pan, then transfer to a bag. Bake from frozen -- just add 2-3 minutes to the bake time.
If you prefer thinner, crispier cookies, flatten the dough balls slightly before baking and add 1-2 minutes to the bake time.
Flaky sea salt on top isn't optional. The contrast between sweet and salty is what makes these addictive.