My wife posed a hypothetical question to me the other day: Can you make sourdough cookies?
I had never tasted one before, or tried baking a batch. I went browsing online and soon found this recipe posted on a sourdough baking message board. A little more digging turned up recipes that were very similar or identical to the one I had found, which was originally published in Sourdough Cookery in 1977.
In many ways the recipe was similar to traditional chocolate chip cookie recipes – plus the addition of sourdough and rolled oats, of course. I figured this would be as good a place as any to start my exploration of sourdough cookie recipes.
I only had one thing to decide – should I use one egg or two? The recipes I saw were split on the topic. I opted for two, because that is what traditional chocolate chip cookies recipes call for. I also decided to use butter instead of vegetable shortening.
After mixing everything together, I had a fairly soft dough that I was afraid would spread too much if baked in cookie form. (The vegetable shortening has a higher melting point than butter, which helps cookies keep from spreading.) I opted to make a tray of bar cookies instead.
The final result? You can definitely taste the sourdough flavor, which is neat. It melds well with the vanilla and chocolate. When I make this recipe again, I’ll experiment a little more and see if the number of eggs or shortening makes a difference. My ideal cookie is a little less cake-y than these.
Makes 4 dozen cookies. (The ingredients list below is for the cookies I baked)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup (two sticks) unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sourdough starter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
Step 1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cream together the butter and sugars. Beat on medium-high speed for 2 minutes. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda and set aside.
Step 2. Add the eggs and beat thoroughly. Then add the sourdough starter (fed or unfed, doesn’t matter) and vanilla. Mix thoroughly. Next, add the reserved dry ingredients. The dough will be fairly wet.
Step 3. Add the rolled oats and chocolate chips and mix thoroughly. Spread out the dough onto a sheet pan (the one I use is 11×17 inches).
Step 4. Bake for 20 minutes. Wait until the cookies are completely cool before cutting.
