Sourdough Peanut Butter Cookies
Peanut butter cookies made with mature sourdough discard, chilled dough, and a light sugar coating. Plan for three trays baked one at a time.
Ingredients
For the Cookie Dough
- 95 grams unsalted butter (softened) Make sure the butter is softened.
- 240 grams granulated sugar For the dough; rolling sugar is separate
- 40 grams brown sugar
- 125 grams creamy peanut butter Conventional stabilized creamy peanut butter, without separated oil
- 75 grams sourdough discard Mature healthy discard; starter fed equal flour and water weights
- 1 large egg
- 1.5 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 185 grams all-purpose flour
- 0.5 teaspoons baking powder
- 0.5 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon fine salt Add an extra small pinch only if desired
For rolling
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar Separate from dough sugar; coat lightly
Instructions
- Beat softened butter until smooth, then cream with the measured granulated and brown sugars for about 2 minutes, scraping the bowl.
- Blend in peanut butter and discard. Mix in the egg and vanilla. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt separately, then add in two parts just until incorporated.
- Cover and refrigerate the dough at least 2 hours, or up to 24 hours. Keep the separate 2 tablespoons rolling sugar aside.
- Heat the oven to 375°F. Portion approximately 16 balls around 55 grams each and coat lightly with rolling sugar. Put no more than 6 on a parchment-lined metal tray, leaving spreading room.
- Bake 9 minutes. If desired, gently drop one tray corner a small distance onto the rack, then another, using oven mitts. Continue 1½–2 minutes, optionally repeat the small drop, then bake another 1–2 minutes until edges are golden and centers just set without wet dough. Total bake is approximately 12–13 minutes per tray.
- Cool 5 minutes on the tray and about 25 minutes on a rack. Repeat for the remaining two trays, keeping unbaked dough cold and letting the tray cool before reuse.
Notes
Use mature equal-weight flour/water starter discard and stabilized creamy peanut butter. Rolling sugar is separate. Yield is about 16 cookies with 55-gram portions. Timing includes a 2-hour chill, three sequential 13-minute tray bakes, and 30 minutes final cooling. Gentle pan dropping is optional and only for metal trays; do not leave raw centers.