Fudgy Brownies with Sourdough and Browned Butter

Okay, I know, these sound a little extra, and they are, but in the best way. I adapted this recipe from one my mom has been using since I was a kid and has always been my favorite. It was originally from the cookbook with the red and white checkered cover, if you know you know! This is my take on this classic, rich and comforting dessert.

I am still a sourdough novice and I love exploring ways to use the starter in interesting and delicious ways. In this recipe the sourdough adds a yogurty tang that beautifully balances the richness of the fudgy brownie. You would never eat this and think “oh, this tastes like sourdough”. Rather, you would wonder what was creating that curious and complex flavor experience. But enough of this musing, let’s get to it…

How to Make Fudgy Sourdough Brownies

As always, I recommend that you measure out all your ingredients and have all your equipment handy before starting to assemble the recipe. These brownies come together very quickly and preparing the ingredients will save you time. Measure and combine the flour and salt. Chop the walnuts. Crack the eggs into a bowl. Measure and set aside all the other ingredients.

Prepare the baking dish by buttering or spraying the pan. Rub softened butter on the bottom and up the sides. You can use the butter wrapper or a bit of parchment to hold the butter while rubbing it in the pan. This will keep your hands clean. If you choose to use a cooking spray, spray the pan thoroughly getting into the corners. When using cooking spray, take care not to get it all over the place, especially take care to not get it on the floor. Spray the dish over the sink or over the open door of your dishwasher for safety and easy cleaning.

How to Brown Butter

This recipe would be great even if you didn’t brown the butter, and I do skip this step sometimes, but doing this adds a nutty caramel flavor that is truly wonderful. Browned butter is good for so many things; cookies, mashed potatoes, roasted veggies, anything you can think of really. Browning butter is not difficult to do but it is very easy to burn if you’re not paying attention. In this process, be present, don’t answer the phone, put on a show for the kids and focus on the buttery goodness

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low-medium heat. Keep an eye on the heat it should be fairly low, especially if it’s your first time. Once you become more comfortable you can increase the heat slightly and adjust as needed. At first, be patient.

The butter will first liquify, then sputter and bubble, and finally foam and brown. Not all the butter will turn brown, only the milk solids, the oily part will remain the same color.

From stage one, when the butter liquefies, stir it constantly with a rubber spatula being sure to get into all the corners of the pot. Keep stirring. Once the butter foams, browning is imminent. It can be difficult to see so you can tilt the pan or stir from the bottom up lifting the milk solids to the surface to check the color.

Keep stirring and notice the aroma changing to a toasty caramel scent. You’re looking for the butter solids to be the color of peanut butter, not too dark. Once you notice this color remove from the heat immediately, it can burn quickly at this stage. I like to set the pan on a hot pad on my counter near the other ingredients.

Combining Ingredients for Sourdough Brownies 

Switch to a whisk and stir in the sugar and cocoa powder. Adding these ingredients immediately after the butter has browned will cool it down and negate the risk of the butter getting bitter by overcooking. Again, be sure to have the ingredients prepped to make this an efficient process.

Whisk until the sugar has mostly dissolved. Set the mixture aside for about 5 minutes. Don’t skip this step! It’s important for 2 reasons; adding the eggs when the batter is too hot will curdle them and adding the sourdough while it’s too hot will kill the starter, I talk about this more a little later. Taking the temperature of the batter at this point, I found it was around 160˚.

After the 5-minute rest, whisk in the eggs one at time. Adding the eggs one at a time ensures even blending. The mixture might look weird and gloopy at this stage. Just go with it!

Let’s Talk Sourdough for a Moment…

For this batter I use sourdough discard instead of active starter. Brownies don’t need the leavening of an active starter and wouldn’t really rise much anyway because of the density of the batter. I do like the flavor the starter imparts as well as the benefit of easier digestion.

When I don’t have an immediate need for sourdough discard, I will often freeze it to use later. This works well for recipes that specifically call for discard, and the starter could easily be reactivated for recipes that call for active starter. When using a frozen discard, allow it to thaw completely at room temperature, give it a stir and add it to your recipe.

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Why Temperature is Important When Using Sourdough Starter

Continue whisking adding in the vanilla. As a side note, the rest time and whisking vigorously is important for the sourdough. If you add the sourdough into the mix while it’s too hot it will cook the beneficial bacteria in the sourdough essentially killing it. Letting the mixture rest and whisking frequently helps to cool down the batter and preserves the sourdough. Because all the mixing is done in the saucepan, cooling down the batter enough is an essential step to reap the benefits of adding the starter in the first place.

Before adding in the sourdough discard, check the temperature of the batter with an instant read or candy thermometer. You want the temperature to be 120˚ F or lower, and absolutely no higher that 140˚ F. At 120˚ F you run the risk of some of the beneficial bacteria dying but ultimately enough will survive. 140˚F  will definitely kill the sourdough.

Whisk in the starter when you achieve an acceptable temperature. If you’re temp is still too high let the batter rest a few more minutes. I have found that the 5 minute rest, whisking and adding the eggs prior to the sourdough have been enough to bring the temperature below 120˚ F.

 

Switch back to the spatula and fold in the flour mixture. Be gentle with the batter and don’t overwork it. There should be no streaks of flour and the batter will look glossy.

Finally, fold in the walnuts. Pecans are a great alternative to walnuts. Walnuts are a bit more earthy and bitter which contrast nicely with the rich brownie. Pecans are richer and sweeter and would also compliment the brownies well. You could even try peanuts, almonds or seeds, anything you have on hand. Use your favorite or omit the nuts completely if you wish.

Resting Sourdough Batter

Now the batter needs a rest again to allow the sourdough to do it’s thing. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and set aside for 30 minutes. There won’t be any visible changes but the sourdough activity will aid in making the flour easier to digest.

For food safety reasons, specifically because we’ve added eggs, if you plan to rest the batter any longer than 30 minutes I would recommend putting it in the fridge. You could make the batter ahead of time and let it rest in the fridge anywhere between 1-12 hours or overnight. Allow it to come up to room temperature before baking, if you bake it cold your glass dish could crack.

Once it’s rested, sprinkle the chocolate chips on top. Bake for 30-35 minutes, a toothpick inserted in the center should come out slightly moist with a few crumbs. Cooking for less time makes them more fudgy and dense, cooking longer will make them a tad dryer and cakey. The length of time will depend on your oven and texture preference.

Finishing Sourdough Brownies with Browned Butter

Let the brownies cool for about an hour before serving, if you can wait that long, I know it’s hard. Serve alone or with some ice cream. Even though these are a little more than a “throw in the pan” recipe I’m sure you’ll agree that browning the butter and adding sourdough starter makes these brownies something special. I truly hope you enjoy them!

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