Ingredients
Let’s go over the ingredients and their possible substitutions.
Sourdough Discard. This recipe is perfect for using up leftover sourdough starter—we’re using 220g of it! You can also use an active sourdough starter, but I don’t think it will make much of a difference. Once the dough comes together, it goes straight into the fridge, so there’s no extended fermentation time. In fact, I don’t recommend letting these cookies ferment on the counter, as that would develop gluten—and we don’t want that! (Tough cookies, anyone?)
As with most of my sourdough discard recipes, you’ll need sourdough discard at 100% hydration, meaning it comes from a starter fed with equal parts water and flour. That’s really important! Using a different hydration level could throw off the recipe, adding too much or too little liquid.
Butter. We’re using melted, unsalted butter. If you only have salted butter, that’s fine—just skip the added salt.
For a vegan alternative, use vegan butter. I don’t recommend using oils like avocado or olive oil as substitutes in this recipe. When I tried using oil, the cookies spread too much.
Molasses. Use 100% fancy molasses. If you don’t like molasses or need a substitution, honey or vegan honey works just as well.
Sugar. Granulated sugar works perfectly—no need for brown sugar since the molasses already adds that rich, caramelized flavor.
Flour. Use all-purpose white flour for this recipe.
Baking Soda. Don’t skip this ingredient! Baking soda is essential both for neutralizing the tangy sourdough flavor and for helping the cookies rise. Without it, you’ll end up with tough cookies. And no, baking powder isn’t a good substitute here.