Sourdough Peanut Butter Cookies
Brown butter sourdough peanut butter cookies with crispy edges, a soft and chewy center, and a depth of flavor that regular peanut butter cookies simply can't touch. Made with sourdough discard and rolled in coarse sugar before baking, these are the cookies people ask you for the recipe for!
Ingredients
- 230 g butter (1 cup)
- 140 g brown sugar
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 170 g peanut butter smooth
- 100 g sourdough discard
- 5 g vanilla paste
- 1 large egg
- 220 g all purpose flour
- 4 g sea salt
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ - 1 cup sanding sugar or granulated sugar for rolling
Instructions
Brown The Butter:
- In a medium-sized sauce pan, over medium-low heat, melt 1 cup unsalted butter and simmer the butter, stirring regularly, until it takes on an amber color, the milk solids have browned, and it smells nutty. This will take between 3-5 minutes of simmering, but do watch it closely because the butter can burn.
- Transfer the browned butter to a heat proof container and place in the fridge to cool for at least 30 minutes.Note: You’ll only be using 110g of the browned butter. Reserve the remainder for use in other recipes.
Make The Cookie Batter:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 110g brown butter, 100g granulated sugar, 140g brown sugar and cream together on medium speed until fully combined.
- Add 170g creamy peanut butter, 100g sourdough discard, 5g vanilla paste, and 1 large egg. Mix on low speed until completely combined, then beat together on medium high speed until airy and creamy in color..
- In a medium sized bowl, add 220g all purpose flour, 4g salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda. Whisk together dry ingredients before adding to the wet ingredients.
- Stir the flour into the peanut butter mixture on low speed until just combined and all flour is incorporated, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl at least once. This only takes about 60 seconds.
- Cover the bowl and rest at room temperature while preheating the oven to 350f degrees Fahrenheit.
Bake The Cookies:
- Prepare a baking sheet by lining with parchment paper or a silicone baking liner, set aside. Add about 1/2 cup of decorative or granulated sugar to a saucer or shallow bowl.
- Using a #40 cookie scooper or a tablespoon, scoop cookie dough into your hands and roll gently to form into a ball – the dough is really soft and fluffy at this point.
- Roll each ball into the sugar then place onto the prepared baking sheet spaced a couple of inches apart.
- Bake at 350f for 12 -14 minutes, or until the edges are set and the bottoms are just barely golden brown.
- Allow peanut butter sourdough cookies to cool on baking sheet for 4-5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Long Fermented Cookies:
- Scoop and roll dough balls in sanding sugar before refrigerating, cold dough won't hold the sugar as well. Place in a covered container in the fridge for 12–36 hours. The sweet spot is around 18 hours for deeper flavor and chew without excess tang. When ready to bake, place dough balls on a parchment-lined sheet while the oven preheats to 350°F and bake for 14 minutes.
Notes
Expert Tips
- When adding the browned butter to the cookie batter, use a spatula and get ALL those little bits of browned milk solids. Those little nuggets add so much caramel, nutty flavor to the cookies!
- I like to use pretty fresh sourdough starter discard for this recipe, like discarded yesterday fresh. These cookies aren’t overly sweet and an aged discard may deliver too much sourdough tang. If you don’t have fresh discard, you can use active starter in it’s place.
- This recipe makes about 26 (2+ dozen) cookies when using a #40 cookie scoop. If you're rolling balls by hand, this may be less accurate.
- If the cookies puff up during the baking process, you can bang the cookie sheet on the counter to deflate them after baking!
