Best Chewy Sourdough Peanut Butter Cookies
These sourdough discard peanut butter cookies are intensely chewy with the most beautiful crackled top, buttery edges, and extra nutty flavor. They're perfectly salted with a hint of vanilla, and brown sugar gives them a lovely caramel note that pairs so well with peanut butter. The rich, dense center is everything! Easy to make and there is an option to refrigerate the dough overnight if you want a longer fermentation.
Yield: 15 to 16 cookies
Ingredients
- 95 grams unsalted butter, softened
- 240 grams granulated sugar (plus a little extra for rolling the dough in)
- 40 grams brown sugar
- 125 grams creamy peanut butter (NOT the natural kind, should be like Jif or Skippy)
- 75 grams sourdough discard
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 185 grams all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon + extra pinch fine salt
Equipment
Instructions
- Cream butter for 1 minute on medium high. Stop and scrape down sides of bowl. Then add sugars; cream for at least 2 more more minutes, until light in color and fluffy. Scrape down sides a few times during mixing, as needed.
- Add peanut butter and sourdough discard, and mix on medium for about 45 seconds, until the mixture is mostly homogenous. It doesn't have to be perfect. Add egg and vanilla, and mix on low for 45 seconds to combine, scraping down sides.
- In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt. Whisk to combine.
- Add dry mixture in two increments to the wet ingredients, with stand mixer on speed 2, low. Turn up speed to medium for 30ish seconds to fully combine, just until no flour streaks are left. Don't overmix. Refrigerate dough for 2 hours* (up to 24 hours) to allow dough to rest and absorb liquids.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Scoop dough 55 gram dough balls. Roll in granulated sugar. Place 6 dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet with room in between.
- Bake for 9 minutes, then use pan-banging technique; lift one corner of the cookie sheet a few inches and let drop onto rack. Then do the same thing to one other corner. Let cookies bake for another 1 1/2 to 2 minutes (you'll see their centers will puff up), repeat the banging. Let cookies bake for another 1 to 2 minutes until they are set in the middle but slightly underbaked when you pull them out of oven to ensure chewiness. Remove cookies from oven and drop pan on counter once more, and let cool on pan 5 minutes before transfer to cooling rack.
Notes
*The longer they are in the fridge, the more you will be REWARDED with a more intensified the flavor and elite texture. Same goes for these delicious Chewy Gooey Sourdough White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies. :)
* Do NOT decrease the amount of sugar; they are not too sweet. The amount of sugar used makes them perfectly salty sweet and allows them to achieve the superbly chewy texture.
*I highly recommend using an inexpensive oven thermometer when you are baking, as no oven is calibrated exactly precise, even one that is brand new. Your other likely runs hotter or cooler than it actually reads, and this can determine how much your cookies spread or do not spread and if they will look and taste like the recipe was written for. Using an oven thermometer allows you to slightly adjust the temperature to make it correct.
