Brown Butter Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chunk Cookies

These brown butter sourdough discard chocolate chunk cookies are rich, decadent, and packed full of melty chocolate. With soft centers and crispy edges, these easy cookies put a new spin on the traditional chocolate chip cookie and are sure to be a hit with everyone!

Now, I’m not going to try and claim this is the best chocolate chip or chocolate chunk cookie recipe. I’m not even going to claim that this is the best sourdough cookie recipe—there are just too many sourdough cookies to choose from!

But I will say, this is a darn good cookie recipe, and so far, everyone who has tried it agrees. I’m not one to brag when it comes to cooking, and especially not when it comes to baking. 

But as a person who isn’t a huge fan of cookies to begin with (don’t ask) and hasn’t been all that great at making them, I am, in fact, pretty proud of this recipe—with its chewy texture, crunchy edges, melty chocolate, and the added richness of brown butter.

This recipe has all the feels of a good classic chocolate chip cookie, but with a few new twists that, in my opinion, make it even better!

I played around with a few things to not only create a sourdough cookie recipe but to create a sourdough cookie that would seriously compete with regular chocolate chip cookies. 

Things like using salted butter, chocolate chunks instead of chips, and chilling the dough just long enough combine to create a delicious, sweet, and super yummy cookie that’s great as an after-school snack, dessert, or for baking on the weekends with friends, kids, or grandkids!

Brown Butter Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ingredients

• all-purpose flour
• baking soda
• baking powder
• sea salt
• white sugar OR  cane sugar
• brown sugar
• salted butter, at room temperature
• egg yolks
• sourdough discard
• vanilla extract
• chocolate chunks (milk, dark, or semi-sweet are all great! See notes for other chocolate options)

How To Make Sourdough Discard Cookies

Start by making the brown butter. Place both sticks of butter in a small saucepan or light-colored skillet. Heat over medium heat, stir gently as the butter begins to melt. And continue stirring occasionally after the butter has completely melted. Continue to cook until the butter has turned golden brown, the foam on top has slightly subsided, and the milk solids on the bottom of the pan have toasted. It will smell intensely buttery, nutty, and rich.

Just be sure to keep a close eye on your butter as it browns. Mine is usually done within 5 minutes, but it can cook faster or slower, so be sure to watch it closely—you don’t want to burn your butter!

Remove the pan from the heat and allow your brown butter to cool for 5–10 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the white sugar, brown sugar, and egg yolks, and mix or beat until well combined. Add the vanilla extract, sourdough discard, and cooled brown butter, and mix well.

Now you can either mix your dry ingredients in a separate bowl or simply add them to your large bowl (which is what I usually do). Add the baking soda, baking powder, and salt, and mix well. Then add the flour and mix until combined.

Finally, stir in your chocolate chunks, mixing just until incorporated.

Place your cookie dough in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Remove the cookie dough from the fridge and begin rolling it into balls. I usually use 1 tablespoon of cookie dough, but you could also use 2 tablespoons, depending on how big you want your cookies (you can also use a cookie scoop).

Place your cookie dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet, keeping a decent amount of space between each cookie (I usually bake 5–6 per tray).

Bake for 8–10 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the centers seem set.

Allow the cookies to cool for 3–5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough.

Serve warm with a glass of milk, or allow the cookies to cool to room temperature.

Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Any leftover sourdough discard chocolate chunk cookies can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in an airtight container or freezer bag at room temperature for up to 5 days! Keeping your cookies in an airtight container will help them stay chewy in the center. Just be sure they are completely cooled before storing.

The number of cookies you get from this recipe will depend greatly on the size you make them. Using about 1 tablespoon per cookie, I got over 2 dozen cookies—but obviously, you’ll get fewer if you make them bigger and more if you make them smaller.

You can also use unsalted butter to make these cookies, but I’ve found that salted butter gives me the best-tasting browned butter. Also, feel free to add chopped nuts, oatmeal, or even a variety of chocolates to this recipe. You could even top them with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt.

As I mentioned above, I love using chocolate chunks for these cookies, but you can just as easily use chocolate chips to create brown butter sourdough chocolate chip cookies. You can also use white chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or even flavored chocolate—or you can use chopped chocolate!

I love lining my baking sheets with parchment paper for easy cleanup, but it can definitely be skipped if you don’t have any on hand.

Personally, I’ve never made these cookies with active starter, but I don’t see why that wouldn’t work. The worst that would likely happen is that your cookies would be slightly fluffier. Other than that, I think an active sourdough starter would work just as well as sourdough starter discard.

Looking For More Sourdough Discard Recipes? Be Sure to Check Out These!

Raspberry White Chocolate Scones | sourdough discard recipe

Blueberry Lemon Sourdough Discard Scones

Sourdough Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Crumb Topping

Easy Sourdough Discard Irish Soda Bread