sourdough chocolate chip cookies
No matter whether you’re a seasoned sourdough veteran or are relatively new to the game, I’m sure you’ve wished that there was a way to feed your starter but not create so much discard waste. Discarding most of your starter during each feed is a vital part of maintaining a nice healthy starter, but I’ve always thought it a real shame to pour so much down the drain.
I’ve tried a few different recipes that utilise this discard, from crumpets to pancakes to crackers, but these cookies are hands down my new favourite. They are an adaptation of my overnight cookies, with the starter bringing a slightly different flavour to the party.
The thing to bear in mind when making these is that, most likely, your starter is around 50% water, so you are adding a lot of liquid to a recipe that normally doesn’t call for any. With that in mind, we have to remove liquid from other ingredients in order to maintain the right consistency and result in a nice texture. By far the best way to do this is to remove water from the butter and eggs, by only using the yolks and by browning the butter (which also adds a mad amount of flavour).
This recipe also calls for you to leave the dough in the fridge for a period of time to allow the ingredients to fully merge together. You will need to do this for at least 4 hours, however, the longer you leave it, the more flavour the starter will add to the cookies. I like to leave it overnight as this results in the best tasting cookies in my opinion.
for the cookies
240g sourdough starter (at peak)
225g chopped unsalted butter
375g plain flour
220g golden caster sugar
60g white sugar
160g dark brown sugar
4 egg yolks
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
400g chopped dark chocolate (70%+)
flaky sea salt to sprinkle on top
method
Start by browning the butter. This is a key step as it removes a lot of water and counterbalances the starter that you’re adding. Put your cubes of butter in a saucepan over a medium heat until it all melts, starts to bubble, then foams. Once it foams up, give it a stir and keep going until it’s a nice nutty brown and the water has stopped evaporating. Try to keep an eye on it as it tends to burn if you leave it for too long.
Remove your browned butter from the heat and let cool for 30 mins or so.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Once the butter has cooled, add it to a bowl with your 3 sugars and whisk until it all combines and fluffs up a little.
Add in your egg yolks and whisk for a few minutes until it starts to lighten slightly in colour.
Add in your sourdough starter and vanilla then fold it all together with a spatula.
Then, add in your flour mix and fold it all together until fully incorporated.
Finally, add in your chocolate chunks and fold to evenly distribute.
Cover the bowl in cling film and leave it in the fridge for 4-24 hours. I like to do this overnight, for around 10 hours if possible. The longer you leave it, the more flavour the starter will add.
Once you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 180c.
Roll the dough into 70g balls (you should get around 25, dependant on how much dough you’ve eaten raw) and space out on a few lined baking trays. Make sure to leave enough room around each ball as these will flatten to around 8-10cm in diameter.
Sprinkle a little sea salt on each one and bake for 15 minutes, until they’ve flattened and started to brown around the edges.
Let them cool on the baking tray for 10 minutes or so, then eat as many as you like. They are best when they are warm, so go to town. You can also store the baked cookies in a sealed tub for 4 days or so.
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This recipe makes quite a big batch so feel free to freeze the balls for a few weeks. Just add a couple more minutes to the baking time if you’re cooking them from frozen.
