Brown Butter Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

Name: Brown Butter Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 11 min
Ingredients: 227 g unsalted butter ((1 cup/2 sticks)); 220 g dark brown sugar, packed ((1 cup)); 100 g granulated sugar ((1/2 cup)); 1 large egg, plus 1 egg yolk ( (~68 g) room temperature); 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 120 g sourdough discard ((1/2 cup)); 330 g all-purpose flour (2(¾ cup)); 1 teaspoon baking soda; ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt; 14 g nonfat powdered milk ((2 tablespoons)); 111 g semi-sweet chocolate chips ((⅔ cup)); 111 g dark chocolate ((⅔ cup), chopped into chunks, I prefer 70% cacao); 8 g sea salt flakes ((2 teaspoons) I prefer Maldon salt)

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These Brown Butter Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies are everything a bakery-style cookie should be—thick, soft, rich with caramelized brown butter flavor, and loaded with pools of melted chocolate. The addition of sourdough discard adds a chewy texture while also putting extra starter to good use. Add my secret ingredient, powdered milk, to keep these cookies soft for days. This will be your new go-to discard cookie recipe!

Baked Brown Butter Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies with sea salt flakes on top, on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat.

Recipe At a Glance: Brown Butter Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Chill Time: 8 hours
Bake Time: 11 minutes
Yield: 24 sourdough chocolate chip cookies
Calories: ~197 kcal/cookie
Taste & Texture: Caramel and toffee notes from the brown butter, sophisticated chocolate flavor with a hint of saltiness, chewy and soft
Recipe Type: Baking, sourdough discard recipe
Difficulty: Easy. This is a simple, but elevated cookie recipe that impresses for special occasions but is perfect for everyday baking.

Why these are the Best Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you love easy sourdough recipes, these cookies are about to be your next go-to bake! (See my Sourdough Starter Recipe if you don’t have one yet.) Here’s why you’ll love this brown butter sourdough chocolate chip cookie recipe:

Rich Brown Butter Flavor – Browning the butter creates deep caramel and toffee notes that take these cookies far beyond a classic chocolate chip cookie.
The Perfect Use for Sourdough Discard – No need to throw away excess starter. This recipe transforms sourdough discard into a secret ingredient that adds incredible flavor.
Soft and Chewy Texture – A chilled dough and carefully balanced ingredients create cookies with crisp edges and soft, chewy centers.
Bakery Style Results at Home – These cookies bake up beautifully with golden edges, gooey chocolate pockets, and a professional look you can’t resist.
Two Kinds of Chocolate – Use what you like, but this combination of semi-sweet chocolate chips and dark chocolate chunks creates the perfect balance of chocolate goodness.

Sourdough Discard Tip: Discard is the portion you remove before feeding your starter. You don’t have to throw it out. I always keep a jar of sourdough discard in my fridge. While its primary purpose is to keep your starter from getting too big, discard can be used in various recipes like Sourdough Discard Blueberry Muffins and Sourdough Discard Banana Bread. Sourdough discard adds flavor, improved texture, and aids in digestibility (since it contains pre-fermented flour).

Ingredients for Brown Butter Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sourdough Discard: Use a starter that has been fed within three weeks. Avoid using overly hungry starters with a strong, acidic aroma. This recipe is based on a 100% hydration discard (fed with equal amounts of flour and water).
Brown Butter yields a cookie with a slightly nutty, almost toffee-like flavor. Use unsalted butter so you can control the amount of saltiness in this recipe. See my tips below on how to brown butter.
Powdered Milk gives the cookie a super soft texture, that stays fresh for days. This key ingredients helps to make up for the moisture lost when browning the butter.
Whole Egg: Often in sourdough discard cookies, you won’t use an entire egg – only the egg yolk. Removing the white is an easy way to counteract the liquid added from the discard. However, when adding powdered milk, using a whole egg will help keep the cookies from drying out.
Egg Yolk: Egg yolks are a great way to add a chewy texture to brown butter sourdough cookies.
Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips and Dark Chocolate Chunks: These two types of chocolate give the cookies a sophisticated flavor profile without being overly sweet. I like a dark chocolate around 70% cacao. Chocolate chunks are perfect for creating little pools of chocolate that sit on top of the cookies.

See the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and measurements.

Substitutions

Sourdough Discard: You can use active bubbly starter for these discard. You’ll still get chewy brown butter chocolate chip cookies!
Powdered Milk: You can omit the powdered milk if needed, however, the cookies won’t be as soft and tender. Replace it with more all-purpose flour.
Chocolate: You can use any type of chocolate you like. I do suggest using some type of chocolate chunks if you want to have to delicious pockets of chocolate.

How to make Brown Butter Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

Timeline Tip: Brown butter chocolate chip cookies turn out best when you can chill the dough for a few hours, preferably overnight. I suggest making this recipe the day before you want to bake the cookies.

Brown the butter

Browning butter is the process of cooking butter over medium low heat, cooking off the water and toasting the milk solids. It creates a nutty, almost toffee-like flavor in cookies.

Step 1: Slice the butter and melt in a light colored sauce pan on medium low heat. Stir frequently to keep the butter from burning.

Step 2: As soon as you see a golden amber color on the bottom of the saucepan, remove it from the stove. I take it from the heat as soon as I see some color and smell a nutty aroma.

Heather’s Tips for Browning Butter: Butter can very quickly go from brown to burnt. Here’s a few tips to keep in mind as you brown your butter.

Use a light colored sauce pan so you can see the progressions of the browning.
Slice the butter to melt it evenly.
Use a medium low heat – don’t rush it.
Stir frequently to prevent the butter from burning.
As butter browns, it will foam, bubble, and then crackle. Soon after, you’ll start to see flecks of brown milk solids.
Remove the pan from the heat as soon as you see a golden amber color at the bottom of the pan AND you smell a nutty aroma.
Immediately transfer the brown butter to a heat safe dish. The butter will continue to brown a bit more, so I like to put it immediately in the refrigerator to keep it from browning too much.
Be sure to scrape out all the brown flecks from the bottom of the pan – that’s where all the flavor is!

Step 3: Immediately pour the brown butter into a heat safe bowl. Refrigerate it for at least 3 hours until it comes to a solid form.

A bowl with browned butter in a solid form, broken into pieces.

Step 4: Break up the chilled browned butter. You’ll see all those beautiful golden flecks on the bottom.

Browned butter, in a creamy texture, in the bottom of a mixer bowl.

Step 5: In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the cooke paddle attachment, whip the browned butter on low speed until it’s smooth. Again, you should be able to see the toasted milk solids in the butter.

The sugars and butter for brown butter sourdough chocolate chip cookies, mixed together in a mixer bowl.

Step 6: Cream the butter together with the brown and granulated sugars. It won’t be a creamy mixture, but it should be mixed until fully incorporated, about 1 minute on medium speed.

Sourdough discard, eggs, and vanilla, added to the mixer bowl containing sugars and butter that have already been mixed.

Step 7: Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and sourdough discard. Mix on medium low speed until fully combined.

A creamed mixture of brown butter sourdough chocolate chip cookie dough in a mixer bowl.

Step 8: In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and powdered milk. Add it to the mixer bowl, and mix until combined. Avoid over mixing or the cookies may turn out crumbly.

Tips for mixing cookie dough:

Use the paddle attachment instead of the whisk attachment for a chewy cookie texture.
Creaming the butter and sugars together is key for creating a cookie with a excellent texture and volume (no flat cookies here!). When they’re creamed together, the sugar crystals cut into the butter and create pockets of air bubbles. When baked these air pockets expand, creating a lighter texture. The longer you beat the butter and sugars, the fluffier the texture of your cookies. For a denser cookie, cream until they’re just combined (which is what I like to do.)
Once the flour is added, mix only until combined. The more you mix the flour into the cookie dough, the more you risk a dry, crumbly cookie.

Chocolate chips and chunks added to the dough of the brown butter sourdough chocolate chip cookies.

Step 9: Add the chocolate chips and chunks. Mix until just combined, or fold them in by hand.

Brown butter sourdough chocolate chip cookie dough all mixed together in a mixer bowl.

Once the chocolate is incorporated, it’s time to chill the dough. Instead of chilling it all together in one bowl, I like to scoop and shape it first.

A hand pinching a ball of brown butter sourdough chocolate chip cookie dough.

Step 10: Scoop the cookies onto a prepared baking sheet. I like to pinch my cookie dough, making it a bit taller. This is a technique I’ve noticed gives cookies those perfect bakery-style crinkle tops.

Several balls of chocolate chip cookie dough on a bking sheet.

At this point, you can either refrigerate the cookies for at least 6 hours, but preferably overnight. You could also freeze the scooped cookie dough to bake later. (See my baking intstructions in the recipe notes.)

Bake the cookies

Baked brown butter sourdough chocolate chip cookies, with salt flakes on top, resting on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat.

Step 11: Bake the cookies at 350°F/176°C for about 11 minutes, or until the edges are set and just starting to brown. The centers may look a little soft, and that’s okay. Sprinkle the cookies with salt flakes.

Two hands pulling apart a brown butter sourdough chocolate chip cookie.

And now the hard part – let the cookies cool on the pan for at least 10 minutes before serving or transferring to a cooling rack. These brown butter sourdough chocolate chip cookies are irresistable! They’re perfect for a casual cookie day, as well as a special occasion!

Storing tips

Store the cookies in an airtight container, at room temperature, for up to 4 days.
Once the cookies have completely cooled, you can also freeze them in a freezer zip top bag for up to 2 months.

Heather’s Tips

Prepare the cookie dough the day before you want to bake them. Trust me, chilling the dough overnight makes all the difference!
Use the type of chocolate YOU like, but consider including chocolate chunks to create those yummy puddles of chocolate on top.
Use sourdough discard that has been fed within 3 weeks. You don’t want to use an overly acidic starter or it will affect the flavor of your discard cookies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make sourdough discard chocolate chip cookies in advance?

Yes, in fact refrigerating the dough overnight is preferred. It allows time for the flour to hydrate, and will give the cookies a more soft, tender, and chewy texture.

Can I freeze the cookie dough?

Yes! Scoop and shape the cookies, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment, cover and freeze until solid, about 12 hours. You can bake them directly from the freezer – add 2 to 3 minutes of bake time.

Are sourdough discard cookies healthy?

I wouldn’t say they are healthier, but they may be easier to digest due to the addition of pre-fermented flour from the sourdough discard.

Can I skip the chill time for the cookie dough?

You can, but it’s not ideal. When baking the cookies without chilling, they will bake up fluffier, more like cakey cookies, and will have a slightly dry texture.

Baked brown butter sourdough chocolate chip cookies with sea salt flakes on top, resting on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

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