Sourdough brownies have a rich chocolate flavor, fudgy texture, and a signature sourdough kick. Whip them up in an afternoon or long ferment them overnight.
This sourdough brownie recipe is one of my favorite ways to utilize sourdough starter discard. (See some of my other sourdough discard recipes in this post.)
When chocolate cravings hit, it is usually sourdough chocolate cake, fresh milled chocolate chip cookies, sourdough chocolate rolls, or these brownies that find their way to my oven.
If you are used to grabbing a box mix for brownies, you have to give this a try. These easy sourdough brownies are so simple and do not require an extra trip to the grocery store. Everything in the recipe is likely in your fridge or pantry already.
Serve with a cold glass of milk, a dollop of whipped cream, or a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream for the perfect treat.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Delicious – Gooey centers with a crackly top, these are classic brownies with a burst of sourdough flavor.
Long Fermented (optional) – Long ferment this recipe it to help break down the phytic acid, reduce the gluten content, and make the nutrients more bioavailable.
Great way to use discard – If you have a brand new starter, this is a great recipe to use up the discard.
Ingredients
Butter – Use unsalted butter to control the amount of salt in the recipe. You can also use a neutral oil, like avocado oil.
Semi-sweet chocolate chips – This gives it a nice balance without making the brownies too sweet.
Vanilla – I use homemade vanilla extract.
Flour – Whole wheat flour, spelt, or all purpose flour will work. You can also check out my brownie recipe using freshly milled flour.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
How To Make Sourdough Brownies
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a 9″ × 9″ pan by lining it with parchment paper. In a medium saucepan over low/medium heat, melt butter. Take off heat and add chocolate chips and vanilla.
Step 2: Stir until all melted together.
Step 3: In a medium or large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Stir to combine.
Step 4: Pour melted chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients. Add in eggs and sourdough discard. Stir well until there are no clumps.
Step 5: Pour the sourdough brownie batter into prepared pan.
Step 6: Bake for 40 minutes in the prepared 9″ x 9″ pan or until a toothpick comes out clean and the middle is set. Allow to cool completely before slicing and serving. This will help it set up and also develop the flavors.
Tips
- My sourdough starter is at 100% hydration, meaning I feed it with equal parts flour and water.
- Make sure your eggs are room temperature. If you forgot to take your eggs out of the fridge ahead of time, you can bring them up to room temperature by placing them in a bowl of hot water for 5 to10 minutes.
- Allow the brownies to cool totally before cutting. Once they are completely cooled, the flavor will have developed, and the brownies will hold together.
- Long ferment the dough overnight to add more delicious tang from the fermentation of the grains. Combine the flour, sourdough starter, sugar, and half a cup of melted butter the night before. Cover and leave overnight or up to 24 hours. The next day, add the rest of the ingredients.
Recipe FAQ’s
Basically sourdough adds flavor. If you have excess sourdough starter, this is an easy recipe to try! If you long ferment the recipe overnight, you will gain the benefit of easier digestion thanks to the breakdown of phytic acid.
If these are made without long fermenting, then they are basically the same as regular brownies. If long fermented, sourdough helps to make the gluten in the brownies easier to digest.
Fudgy brownies have more fat in them than flour, while cake like brownies have more flour than fat.
Store in an airtight container for up to 2 or 3 days at room temperature or in the fridge for 3 to 5 days. These also freeze well! Freeze for up to three months once completely cooled.
More Sourdough Dessert Recipes
- Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Sourdough Monster Cookies
- Sourdough Monkey Bread
- Sourdough Discard Double Chocolate Bread
- Sourdough Discard Blondies
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love it if you could come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone.
Fudgy Sourdough Discard Brownies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, 113 grams
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, 170 grams
- 1 tablespoon vanilla, 13 grams
- ¾ cup flour, 105 grams
- 1 ¼ cup sugar, 250 grams
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 50 grams
- ½ teaspoon salt, 2.5 grams
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup sourdough discard, 125 grams
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a 9" × 9" pan by lining with parchment paper.
- In a medium saucepan over low/medium heat, melt butter. Take off heat and add chocolate chips and vanilla. Stir until all melted together.
- In a medium or large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Stir to combine.
- Pour chocolate butter mixture into the dry ingredients.
- Add in eggs and sourdough discard.
- Stir well until there are no clumps.
- Pour into prepared pan.
- Bake 40 minutes in prepared 9″ x 9″ pan or until a toothpick comes out clean and the middle is set.
- Allow to cool completely before slicing and serving. This will help it set up and also develop the flavors.
Notes
- Make sure your eggs are room temperature. If you forgot to take your eggs out of the fridge ahead of time, you can bring them up to room temperature by placing them in a bowl of hot water for 5-10 minutes.
- Allow the brownies to cool totally before cutting. Once they are completely cooled, the flavor will have developed, and the brownies will hold together.
- Long ferment the dough overnight to add more delicious tang from the fermentation of the grains. Combine the flour, sourdough starter discard, sugar, and a half a cup of melted butter the night before. Cover and leave overnight or up to 24 hours. When ready to bake, add the rest of the ingredients to the batter.
- If long fermenting, use a double boiler to melt the chocolate before adding to the fermented batter.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can I sub einkorn flour instead of AP?
Here’s my recipe for einkorn brownies. 🙂
Can you please help me with the instructions for the overnight ferment? I am confused because the instructions say, “Combine the flour, sourdough starter, sugar, and half a cup of melted butter the night before. Cover and leave overnight up to 24 hours. The next day, add the rest of the ingredients.”
The recipe calls for half a cup of butter, and so does the ferment instructions. The regular instructions say to melt the butter and add the chocolate chips and vanilla, and the ferment instructions say to just add the rest of the ingredients the next day. Do I not melt the chocolate chips after the ferment? If so, how? I already added the half cup of butter to my ferment batter. Thank you for your help!
Yes, add the additional ingredients the next day!
Absolutely delicious!! I added a tinyyyy bit of extra salt because I just love salty chocolate. I was worried it might be too salty, but I gave some to a friend and she shared with her sister and they just gave the most glowing reviews. Said they are by far the best brownies they have ever had, and I agree! I put some in the freezer so I wouldn’t eat them all (didn’t work lol), they are just like brownie fudge straight from the freezer. Hard to say if I prefer them fresh or frozen, they are SO GOOD! I made a double batch and baked in a 9×13 glass dish, they were the perfect thickness. I’m actually about to make a quadruple batch and will be taking half to a potluck tomorrow and the other half I will be gifting as party favors for my daughter’s upcoming birthday because I just need to share the goodness! This will be the only brownie recipe I ever make going forward. Happy Easter, He is Risen!! May God bless you and your family, Lisa!
The flavor of these brownies is absolutely delicious! I need some advice on the texture. I followed directions and measurements exactly. The brownies were super cakey and dry. Do you think I should bake for less time? Or try only one egg? Could there be an issue with the sourdough discard to make them dry? Definitely want to try again for that fudgy moist consistency!
I would try baking them for less time. That is usually the cause of cakey brownies. Each oven is different, so it might just take adjusting.
Absolutely love this recipe
Thank you for sharing this and all your recipes!!
Delicious! I love the tangy undertone from the sourdough. I was a little concerned because my batter looked grainy (I’m assuming the sugar not being dissolved?) but they were grainy in texture when baked 🤷🏼♀️ Next time I think I’ll try the chocolate melting tablets instead of chocolate chips because I’ve read elsewhere that chocolate chips have a lot of preservatives or other additives to help them stay stable … any way… it was an awesome recipe. Thanks!
I used einkorn fmf in place of the all purpose. I milled 140g of einkorn (1 cup) , mixed all ingredients together and let sit on the counter for 24hrs. They turned out amazing!
These were the perfect tea snack for my mother’s baptisim tea. So light and fluffy! She loved them!
Best from scratch brownie recipe I’ve ever made, sourdough or otherwise!
Can I use just the cocoa powder if I don’t have chocolate chips or would that make the brownies too dry?
Thank you!