Sourdough Discard Chocolate Raspberry Biscuits
Here is a sourdough discard recipe for my chocolate raspberry biscuits or cookies. This recipe is similar to my sourdough chocolate chip cookies recipe which also uses a good amount of sourdough discard.The base of this recipe is very much like a butter cookie recipe except with sourdough discard mixed in. In this variation I avoid the creaming butter and sugar stage of most butter cookie recipes and instead use browned butter poured on top of brown sugar which is then thoroughly whisked together.
I am not sure what the official difference is between a cookie and a biscuit. However, i have chosen to call these a sourdough discard biscuit because the resulting morsel of goodness is soft and fudge-like. Whereas my idea of a cookie would be have a texture that is soft maybe chewy but relatively flat. Flat these biscuits are not, so biscuits I have decided to call them.
On the other hand, the sweeter the round treat the more inclined i am to call it a cookie. Thus, that is why the recipe these biscuits are based off are called sourdough cookies. For a process video on how I made these sourdough discard chocolate raspberry biscuits just click the link below:
As a quick tip, when you are melting the butter in a saucepan, keep an eye on it. I like to prepare the remaining ingredients whilst it bubbles away on its journey to the browned butter stage however, I do make sure I check in on it frequently as you really do not want it to reach a blackened butter stage.
Other Sourdough Discard Recipes
For other sourdough discard recipes I have on this blog, check out the following:
Sourdough Starter Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe
Sourdough Starter Chicken Pizzas Recipe
Sourdough Starter English Muffins Recipe
I also have a videos on my YouTube channel for the following sourdough starter recipes:
Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies (ASMR)
Sourdough Starter Chicken Pizzas
Sourdough Starter Crackers 2 minutes | Recipe
Crumpets using Sourdough Starter Discard
How to Make Sourdough Cob Loaf
I plan to blog more sourdough starter discard recipes in the future so please do check back in to this blog to see what other recipes I have uploaded.
I combine my dry ingredients using a sieve to sift the cocoa, baking soda and baking powder. However, if you have a purpose built sifter then feel free to use one of those. I always find I have lumps left in the sieve that i need to push through using the back of a spoon or some other utensil or kitchen implement. These days, I like to use a silicon spatula to smooch any lumps through my sieve.
For my sourdough starter discard, it is the discard leftover after my sourdough starter has been bubbling away for about 4 hours. Thus, I have already taken and re fed what I am keeping for my sourdough starter and what I am using in this recipe is 200g of what is leftover. For a lot of people, this is what is wasted or just thrown out but I like to use it in other recipes such as this one or to make quick sourdough discard pizzas.
When adding the eggs to the browned butter and sugar mixture, be sure to whisk quickly so that the heat in the butter does not have time to cook the eggs. We want to prevent the scrambled eggs result and achieve good incorporation of those eggs into the mixture.
Make sure to only mix through the dry ingredients until just incorporated as an over mixed mixture may result in rock hard flat biscuits. Be sure to refrigerate the mixture for at least 30 minutes to allow the dough to rest.
When adding the frozen raspberries (fresh raspberries are not recommended for use in this recipe as they are fragile and the dough is quite dense so will disintegrate all the lovely raspberry morsels) I used gloves. Initially, this was to prevent the plasters on my fingers from accidentally sneaking into the mixture but after making these biscuits i would probably use gloves every time I made these; they are just a little messy and the gloves makes it a little easier to fold the frozen raspberries into the chocolate biscuit dough and then shape into individual flattened rounds.
I place the biscuits onto a non-stick baking paper lined baking tray but of course, if you have a reliable non-stick baking tray that will be fine or just using a butter greased baking tray would work too.
After baking in the oven for 15 minutes, I place each biscuit immediately onto a cooling rack to cool.
The result, I admit, is not the finest or prettiest looking batch of biscuits but their taste is amazing and addictive. These biscuits are soft and fudge like to bite through. The brown sugar mixed with the browned butter gives them a caramelised sweet flavour to balance the tartness of raspberries, whilst the sourdough starter discard gives them a balanced tang on the tastebuds. Just delicious!
Sourdough Discard Chocolate Raspberry Biscuits
Serves 20
180g Butter
150g Brown sugar
400g Flour
4 tbsp Cocoa
1 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Baking soda
1 tsp Salt
200g Sourdough starter discard
2 eggs
1 tsp Vanilla essence
1 cup Frozen raspberries
Sift and combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa together in a bowl.
Melt and heat butter in a saucepan until it reaches the browned butter stage.
Add butter to brown sugar and whisk until well combined.
Add in the eggs and whisk well again until well combined.
Add sourdough starter discard and vanilla to wet ingredients and whisk again until well combined.
Add dry ingredients and fold through using a silicon spatula or wooden spoon.
Once combined, cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius on standard bake setting.
Remove cookie dough from fridge and quickly knead the raspberries into the mixture.
Roll balls of mixture and then flatten and place onto a non-stick baking paper lined baking tray.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and place cookies onto a cooling rack until cool.
Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Note, prior to adding frozen raspberries, the mixture can be kept in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
Thanks.