Sourdough Thumbprint Cookies With Chocolate And Sea Salt
These sourdough thumbprint cookies with chocolate and sea salt are simple yet offer an exquisite mouthfeel. Crumbly and tender, these shortbread-like sourdough cookies offer the perfect balance of sweetness to satisfy your sweet tooth. The added touch of sea salt complements the chocolate flavors to perfection.
Thumbprint cookies are traditionally filled with fruit jam, but I wanted to play around a bit and give it an interesting twist. We could even argue that these sourdough thumbprint cookies are a hybrid between the classic thumbprint cookies and chocolate chip cookies.
These sourdough discard cookies are super easy to make and a fun way to involve your children in the cooking process. They will love shaping the cookie dough into balls, make the thumbprints, and fill them up with chocolate chips. Little to no mess and a great sensorial experience for the kids.
Ingredients needed for the sourdough thumbprint cookies:
- Sourdough starter: discard or active. You can use your starter straight from the fridge.
- Softened unsalted butter
- An egg
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar: I used unrefined
- Soft light brown sugar
- Baking powder
- Vanilla extract
- Sea salt crystals
- Chocolate chips or chunks: milk chocolate or dark chocolate depending on your preference.
How to make sourdough thumbprint cookies with chocolate and sea salt:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter and sugars.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix well.
- Add the sourdough discard and the baking powder.
- Slowly incorporate the flour into the cookie dough. You will need to use your hands towards the end to make sure the dough is smooth.
- The dough should be thick and soft when ready. Play-dough-like consistency.
- Shape the dough into a bowl and weigh it on your kitchen scale.
- My dough had 770g in total.
- Now divide the dough into 14 equal pieces.
- Mine weigh 55g each.
- If you wish to make the cookies smaller, divide the dough into 18 equal pieces.
- Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper and roll each cookie into a ball.
- Once they are on the cookie sheet, gently press them down with your hands. Don’t overdo it as you don’t want flat cookies.
- Place your thumb in the center of each cookie and gently press to create an indentation. The hole should not go all the way through. About halfway the cookie’s thickness.
- You can also use a measuring spoon to create the indentation. I actually prefer it as it looks better and more even.
- Add the chocolate chips in the holes you created.
- Bake the cookies at 350°F (175°C) for about 13 minutes.
- Take the tray out and gently spread the chocolate if the chocolate hasn’t melted.
- Sprinkle the sea salt crystals on the cookies and put the cookie sheet back in the oven.
- Bake for another 2 minutes or until slightly golden.
- Serve and enjoy!
How to store the cookies:
These sourdough thumbprint cookies last really well in an airtight container. They are also easy to pack for lunches, picnics, or long journeys.
More sourdough recipes to enjoy:
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Sourdough Thumbprint Cookies With Chocolate And Sea Salt
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup softened butter approx. 115g
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup sourdough starter (discard or active) approx. 70g
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour approx. 300g
- 1/4 cup soft brown sugar approx. 50g
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (I used unrefined) approx. 100g
- 3/4 cups chocolate chips (milk or dark chocolate) approx. 100g
- sea salt crystals (to sprinkle on the cookies) as little or as much as you want
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter and sugars.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix well.
- Add the sourdough discard and the baking powder.
- Slowly incorporate the flour into the cookie dough. You will need to use your hands towards the end to make sure the dough is smooth.
- The dough should be thick and soft when ready. Play-dough-like consistency.
- Shape the dough into a bowl and weigh it on your kitchen scale.
- My dough had 770g in total.
- Now divide the dough into 14 equal pieces.
- Mine weigh 55g each.
- If you wish to make the cookies smaller, divide the dough into 18 equal pieces.
- Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper and roll each cookie into a ball.
- Once they are on the cookie sheet, gently press them down with your hands. Don’t overdo it as you don’t want flat cookies.
- Place your thumb in the center of each cookie and gently press to create an indentation. The hole should not go all the way through. About halfway the cookie's thickness.
- You can also use a measuring spoon to create the indentation. I actually prefer it as it looks better and more even.
- Add the chocolate chips in the holes you created.
- Bake the cookies at 350°F (175°C) for about 13 minutes.
- Take the tray out and gently spread the chocolate if the chocolate hasn’t melted.
- Sprinkle the sea salt crystals on the cookies and put the cookie sheet back in the oven.
- Bake for another 2 minutes or until slightly golden.
- Serve and enjoy!
