Vegan Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you’re making sourdough bread, you probably end up with sourdough “discard”, which is the excess sourdough starter that’s being discarded every time we feed/refresh our starter. Many will see discard as a waste and will place it in the compost; but I like to keep it in a container in my fridge and use it in all sorts of recipes (cookies, brownies, waffles, pancakes, etc) so nothing gets wasted.
Since we’re using our discard in its inactive form (meaning it has not been fed recently), its purpose is not to generate fermentation as it would for bread. We’re mostly using it as a replacement for flour and liquid in a recipe. Its slight acidity helps activate the baking soda and baking powder, but also brings a nice depth of flavour.
These vegan cookies are such a great way to use extra discard. They’re soft and chewy in the middle with slightly crispy edges, filled with melting chunks of dark chocolate and sprinkled with flaky sea salt.
*Notes:
- (I’ve tested this recipe using regular all-purpose flour (I used La Milanaise), and using Flourist Sifted Red Fife flour and both turned out great, although I have a preference for the red fife (my favourite for baking). Use your favourite baking flour - even a light spelt flour would work well here.
- I like to use virgin coconut oil for my baked goods, but if you don’t like its tastes, you can use refined coconut oil (which has no taste or aroma). You could also sub the coconut oil for vegan butter (or even regular butter for non-vegans).
- I use coconut sugar for these cookies as I love its malty caramel-like taste, but organic cane sugar should work fine too if you prefer a more traditional cookie.
- My sourdough starter is made of 50% all-purpose / 50% rye flour, and equal part water. You can use discard that has been fed with other flours, but make sure it’s 1:1 (equal parts flour and water). It’s best to use room temperature discard, as the coconut oil will likely solidify when in contact with the cold discard. If you use a cold discard straight from the fridge and get tiny pieces of solidified coconut oil, simply use your hands to get as much of it incorporated into the dough. No worries if there are still tiny pieces of coconut oil in there when you form the cookies, they will still turn out great.
Vegan Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
Makes about 20 cookies
1 1/4 cups (160 g.) unbleached all-purpose or light spelt flour
1/4 tsp (2 g.) baking powder
1/4 tsp (2 g.) baking soda
1/2 tsp (4 g.) sea salt
1/2 cup (100g) room temperature coconut oil, not melted (vegan butter should work too)
3/4 cup (155 g.) coconut sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (140 g.) sourdough discard (unfed/inactive sourdough starter) ideally at room temperature - see notes*
1/2 cup (80 g.) vegan chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate + more for topping
Optional: Maldon flaky sea salt or Fleur de sel to sprinkle
MEthod
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt into a bowl and set aside.
Place the coconut oil in a large bowl with a hand mixer (or in the bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment) and beat on low speed until softened. Then add the coconut sugar and beat until combined. If chunks of coconut oil remain, simply use your hands to help dissolve the larger chunks of coconut oil. Then add the vanilla and sourdough discard and continue to beat on medium speed until fully incorporated.
Gradually add the dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients and continue to beat, just enough to combine (do not overmix). Then gently add the chopped dark chocolate and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula.
Use a cookie scoop to form your cookies, and place on the prepared baking sheet. You can roll each ball between your hands to make your cookies more even if you’d like (otherwise simply leave the balls as is), then press slightly with your palm to flatten each cookie.
Bake at 350˚F for 8-10 minutes (mine are usually perfect at 9 minutes, but ovens may vary slightly). Do not overbake; the cookies will still be soft when you take them out of the oven, but will continue to cook and harden slightly as they cool. Remove from the oven and immediately add a few chocolate chunks on top of each cookie if you’d like, pressing it gently into the dough. I like to do this so that each cookie shows a generous amount of chocolate on top, but this step is optional. Sprinkle with Maldon flaky salt or Fleur De sel. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies can be kept in an air tight container at room temperature for up to a week.
