Browned Butter Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Hands down my favorite cookie bar! The browned butter combined with the sourdough discard takes the flavor to the next level! Oh, and the coarse salt on the top? It makes it! These bars are huge and are perfect for a crowd.
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Servings: 24 cookie bars
Ingredients
- 1½ cups salted butter
- 1¼ cup white cane sugar
- 1¼ cup packed brown sugar
- 4 egg yolks
- 1⅓ cups flat and runny sourdough discard
- 1½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1½ teaspoon vanilla
- 3⅓ cups all purpose flour
- 3 cups chocolate chips
- 4 oz. 1/2 cup chocolate chips for pressing into the top of the cookies
- ¼ tsp coarse flake salt, for topping
Instructions
- Brown the butter. In a medium saucepan on the stove over medium to medium-high heat, add the butter. Let melt. Then stir as the butter begins to bubble and foam. Stir frequently. (Read: don’t walk away or it could burn) When the liquid butter under the foam turns from yellow, to deep yellow, be ready because it’s nearly done. Once the liquid starts turning a light brown remove it from the heat and let it cool at least 30 minutes or more.
- Combine the browned butter and both sugars. Beat together with an electric hand mixer or with a stand mixer. The mixture will look a bit dry and crumbly, like semi- wet sand.
- Add the egg yolk to the mixture and beat with an electric mixer for a couple of minutes. As you continue beating, the mixture will become lighter and fluffier.
- Add the vanilla and the flat and runny sourdough discard and mix.
- Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to a large bowl and whisk to combine. Mix, then add all of it to the wet ingredients. Mix with a large mixing spoon until just barely combined. Don’t over mix.
- Add the chocolate chips and mix together until combined.
- Pour cookie dough into a greased cookie sheet. Use your hands to flatten it to reach the edges of the pan.
- *not necessary but optional for full sourdough fermentation effect* Cover with plastic wrap or a lid and refrigerate for up to 24 hours to ferment.
- Preheat your oven to 350℉.
- Bake for 17-21 minutes. Do not overbake or they will be crumbly. For cold refrigerated dough, you do not need to bring it to room temperature first, but you’ll need to increase the baking time by about 1-2 minutes. They should come out of the oven with the top set and should be a light golden brown color.
- Remove from oven and top with a few more chocolate chips and a sprinkle of flake salt.
- Cut into 24 equal squares or cut into your desired serving size. Enjoy!
Notes
These are best the day of and the following day, but beyond that, I would recommend freezing any leftovers in an airtight bag or container so they don’t get crumbly over time.