Sourdough Brownies
If you’ve entered into the great sourdough experiment, you know one of the biggest challenges isn’t what to make with your starter, but what to do with the discard. You could always do as the name implies and simply throw it away, but that always makes me feel just a little wasteful. This recipe is an indulgent, fudgy, intensely chocolatey way to avoid that feeling and enjoy a classic brownie with just enough tang to make you say, “Hmm, I wonder…”
This recipe actually started with my son’s search for a way to use a generous amount of sourdough discard. He found a brownie recipe that called for 125 grams — more than most of the recipes we’d come across — and gave it a try. The first batch was intensely chocolatey, but with so much melted chocolate, the texture crossed the line from fudgy into dense and almost oily. My son ate most of that batch anyway; they still tasted very good, and he often isn’t particularly concerned with texture as long as he enjoys the flavor.
I, on the other hand, felt compelled to see if I could keep that same generous amount of sourdough discard while achieving a more classic brownie texture. So, I started reworking the formula, adjusting nearly every ingredient ratio and changing the method as well.
Ultimately, both the proportions and method ended up much closer to my Fudgy Brownies recipe. After multiple iterations and several “failed”, yet still very yummy, attempts, I made the final version several more times just to be sure the results were consistent from bake to bake. At that point, I was confident we’d landed where I wanted to be: deeply chocolatey and rich, with a fudgy texture that is still unmistakably brownie rather than something closer to chocolate truffle filling. So, if you love a classic brownie and want a delicious way to put your sourdough discard to use, give this recipe a try.
Sourdough Brownies
Equipment
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350°, line a 9″x9″ metal baking pan with non-stick foil
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and cocoa powder; set aside60 g flour, 32 g dark cocoa powder
- Place the eggs, sugar, brown sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Set the mixer on its lowest speed and allow it to blend until it is a thick, glossy syrup and has little to no grit remaining from the sugar – do not whip in air.3 eggs, 200 g sugar, 55 g brown sugar, 3 g salt
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the chocolate chips, vanilla and espresso powder. Whisk until the chocolate has completely melted and the mixture is smooth.140 g butter, 240 g bittersweet chocolate, 15 ml vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp espresso powder
- Slowly pour the warm chocolate mixture into the bowl of your still running stand mixer. Continue mixing until the batter is homogenous in color, completely smooth with a satiny sheen.
- Add the sourdough discard and the flour mixture. Stir just until combined and no streaks of discard or dry ingredients remain – avoid overmixing. If you are using the chocolate chips, fold them in while just a few streaks of the dry ingredients and discard are still visible.125 g sourdough discard, 135 g chocolate chips
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spread to the edges and smooth the top. Bake for about 25-30 minutes – the edges will be slightly puffed, the surface will be dry and shiny with a few cracks. Allow the brownies to cool completely in the pan, lift them out of the pan using the foil and cut into 20 (small) or 16 (large) bars.
Private Notes
Nutrition
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