Sourdough Brownies

Sourdough Brownies

I’ve been teasing everyone with my sourdough brownie trials on instagram lately. I got a big box of Guittard chocolate, kindly gifted by them, and I wanted to bake something super chocolatey with it! When I put the question on my stories, everyone was intrigued by the idea of sourdough brownies (as I had mentioned wanting to make them) so I decided to go ahead and do it!

You might wonder what the point of making sourdough brownies is. Regular brownies are EXCELLENT, why add sourdough into the mix? For me, it’s another delicious way to use up the sourdough discard that comes along with feeding a sourdough starter. You end up with a lot of sourdough going in the bin (as the nature of feeding it means you discard some every day). I’ve been trying to come up with easy, everyday recipes to use this discard instead of chucking it in the bin.

Sourdough Brownies

Previously I’ve made waffles and crumpets using the discard. They’re both really easy to make but not ‘everyday’ recipes. Brownies, on the other hand, are something I bake quite often. They’re probably one of my favourite homemade bakes, even though I weirdly have very few recipes for them on here! So, if I can chuck some starter into my regular batch of brownies, it’s a win-win. My brownies get a bit of tangy sourdough magic, and I use up my discard!

These brownies are my favourite kind. They have a very fudgy middle yet aren’t dense or dry. The top has a fine layer of crisp meringue – made by whipping the sugar with the eggs before folding in the rest of the ingredients. They’re crackly and sticky and delicious (especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some sliced strawberries). You can freeze them in an airtight container if you need to. I hope you enjoy them as much as we have!

How to make sourdough starter

If you haven’t got a sourdough starter yet, I have a comprehensive guide on starting and maintaining a sourdough starter right here.

Update (7 May 2020) – I now have a vegan version of these sourdough brownies which you can get the recipe for here: Vegan Sourdough Brownies

Sourdough Brownies

Sourdough Brownies

A soft, fudgy but not dense brownie made using sourdough discard (and no extra flour!). These brownies are incredible – melt in the mouth with a crispy crust and a deep chocolate flavour.
4.44 from 755 votes
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Course: Bars and Brownies
Keywords: brownies
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 16 brownies

Ingredients

  • 150 g (5.3 ounces) dark chocolate (65-70% cocoa solids)
  • 50 g (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
  • 60 g (1/4 cup) vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs + 1 egg white (if you’re in Europe use size ‘large’. If you’re in the US use size ‘extra large’)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 150 g (2/3 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
  • 110 g (1/2 cup, packed) light brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 50 g (1/2 cup) unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 120 g (1/2 cup + 2 tbsp) sourdough starter (100% hydration) (see notes)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C/375°F fan. Line a 7.5 x 9.75-inch (19 x 25 cm) rectangular or 9-inch (23cm) square brownie pan with baking paper.
  • Break the chocolate up into chunks. Place into a medium pot with the butter and vegetable oil. Set over a low heat on the stove and stir often (to prevent it burning), until the chocolate is almost fully melted. Remove from the heat and set aside so the remaining chocolate can melt from the residual heat.
  • This next step can be done in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or in a large bowl with electric beaters: Place the eggs, egg white, salt and both kinds of sugar into a large bowl (or the bowl of the stand mixer) and whisk until pale and very fluffy. Add the water and vanilla then continue to whisk until the sugar has mostly dissolved – you can tell when this has happened by rubbing some of the mixture between your fingertips, if it feels very grainy, you need to keep whisking. This will take about 10-15 minutes.
  • Mix the cocoa powder and sourdough starter into the melted chocolate mixture until completely combined.
  • Add this mixture to the bowl of whipped egg mixture and fold together until just combined.
  • Pour into the prepared brownie tin and bake for 30-35 minutes (SEE NOTES). The top should look dry and a toothpick inserted into the centre of the brownies should come out with a little bit of batter still stuck to it, but not LOADS.
  • Let the brownies cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing into 16. Sprinkle with some flaky salt if you want!

Notes

  • My sourdough starter is 100% hydration and I feed it with 50% white flour and 50% dark rye flour. This recipe should work with a 50:50 wholewheat + white sourdough starter as well. The starter shouldn’t be super cold as may will seize when mixed with the chocolate if it is.
  • These worked either using discard from that day’s feed OR using discard that I had collected in the fridge over a period of a week.
  • Caster sugar is preferred for making these as the fine sugar crystals aid in getting that meringue-like top on the brownies. However granulated sugar will work just fine, you may need to whip the mixture for slightly longer.
  • You can double all of the ingredients to make a larger batch – just bake in a 9 x 13-inch rectangular tray. The baking time should be 35-40 minutes.
  • BAKING TIME: some people who have made this (mostly those who are in America) have needed to bake the brownies for much longer! I’ve also had a couple of comments from people who had to be them for LESS time. The baking time will vary for a variety of reasons so please use your own judgement to test them and make the call on when they are done. Start checking around 20 minutes to see how they’re doing. They should be quite soft when still warm but should firm up once cooled.
Tried this recipe?Let me know how it went! Mention @izyhossack or tag #topwithcinnamon!

175 thoughts on “Sourdough Brownies”

  1. Don’t throw your babies away. Can’t you get them adopted by a good family? I certainly talk to my plants. At time mind you. These soughdough brownies are an interesting spin. They certainly look nice.

    • haha I ended up giving them to my neighbours! So I didn’t have to throw them away, yay!! Thank you, they’re soooo good, definitely worth a try if you have any sourdough starter

      • I almost throw away my sourdough starter because I tried of making bread. Luckily, I saw the recipe and tried it. OMG, THE BEST BROWNIES in the entire universe.

  2. I’ve been seriously *obsessing* about these on IG and now I’m back again to tease myself with these. They. Look. So. GOOD. I’m going to try them. I am, I swear. And then I’m going to go run around a building screaming at the top of my lungs about how wonderful they are.

    • We followed the recipe exactly as specified, they were not very sweet at all, flaky, not fudgy. 3/3 people wished they were a little sweeter. They are great if you like cakey, not very sweet brownies.

      • I honestly think you must have missed some of the sugar out of the recipe or something, as well as possibly overbaking them. These brownies are very rich fudgy/moussey and honestly quite sweet (some people have previously reduced the amount of sugar in them!).

      • I had the same experience. Followed the recipe exactly (by gram weight) and the brownies are not very sweet at all. They are more cakey and not fudgy. Like SlamSam posted. Any suggestions. Could it be the cocoa I used?

        • my only thoughts could be that either you overbaked them (which I do find makes brownies taste less sweet than when they’re still fudgy), or that you used really dark chocolate (what % cacao was the chocolate you used?) OR that your threshold for sweetness is higher than mine (something entirely possible, just like salt tolerance!)

    • I followed the recipe exactly and I checked them at 25 mins – thank goodness I did because they were VERY well done. Way more done than I would’ve preferred. The top is flaky but the inside is like cake, not fudgey brownies. I should’ve taken them out after 15 mins. I live in US and baked at 400F.

      • Thanks for the note, Rebecca! Baking times will always vary so it’s definitely something to always a good idea when making things to check on them a little early 🙂

        • I think the cook time depends on Electric. Natural gas or LP also elevation. My question is can I use semi-sweet chocolate vs dark chocolate?

      • More eggs means more cake, use less egg, High cocoa will make sweet taste a bit unsweet or bitter. Your oven could probably use a good oven temp guage

      • A lot of recipes you will find online might not come out as described and in the books too. Like making bread a lot, and bam you get funky loaf! What went wrong? Ha that is cooking and baking. If you got the mojo going, good attitude, putting in the love for it does make a difference, just saying!

  3. WOW, sourdough brownies?! This is exactly what I need to see. What a freaking fantastic idea–integrating brownies, aka the national food on my birthday, and sourdough bread, which is my favorite type of bread! Do you think I could use vegan butter and flax eggs for this recipe to make it plant-based?

    • Those are lovely, I’m so pleased! Thank you! Light and tangy with a moist center and a crisp top. My starter is all unbleached white and not 100% hydration, and I used granulated sugar, but it still worked. I’m glad I had a stand mixer for the whipping. I threw in about a cup of starter. My oven runs hot, and I used an 8×8 pan. 35 minutes cook time was ideal.

  4. 5 stars
    Amazing and so delicious!! Took a pan of these to the restaurant I used to work at and everyone lost their minds over them. (Full disclosure: I added some chocolate chips to the batter and topped them with whiskey salt)

  5. I made these and they are almost too dark, but my chocolate is a very fruity variety. I put a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream on them and served with cold milk. They definitely need something to mellow them a bit.

  6. I just made these and am waiting to pull them out of the oven – I’m not sure if it’s the elevation in which I live, but 30-35 minutes wasn’t nearly enough. Just a heads up for other US bakers!? They smell AMAZING though!

    • Thanks for that note, Ellie! Could definitely be the elevation since I have hardly any experience baking at different elevations. Hope you liked them! x

    • I too had this issue in the US. Baked them almost twice as long as recipe states. They’re delicious, but we need to eat them with a spoon…no complaints here though! ?

      • Thanks for letting me know! Might be an altitude thing (or possibly also because the majority of UK ovens are convection so work faster). Glad you like them!

          • Yes I think it’s a combo of altitude, brownie pan material & people’s ovens! Amazing how much effect small differences can make to recipes. Good to know it worked for you!

        • I think I know why they take longer in the US, I think it’s because a lot of people don’t have a convection oven.

  7. Hi, I’m looking forward to trying this brownie recipe, it’s really different. Never thought of trying both butter and oil!

    • Thanks, Lou! Yeah having the oil in there makes up for the fact that the sourdough incorporates more liquid into the batter 🙂 Hope you enjoy them! x

    • Hi Alyssa! I’m so sorry but with this recipe, it wouldn’t work simply substituting in an egg replacement of some kind as they are too essential for the structure of the brownie. The whole recipe would need to be redeveloped without eggs. I can definitely work on that some day but at the mo, just try swapping the flour in your fave vegan brownie recipe for double the weight of sourdough starter (e.g. if you recipe calls for 60g of flour, use 120g of starter) – that should set you off on the right path! x

  8. These were really good. I made them with my half whole wheat starter, and can imagine how the rye would add a special dimension. I reduced the sugar by just a bit, 15%, because I prefer my sweets just a tad less sweet, and I would do the same next time (there will definitely be a next time). While it’s obviously not flourless, it has the feel of a decadent flourless chocolate cake as opposed to, say, the chewiness of a brownie like Alice Medrich’s Best Cocoa Brownies, probably from the extensive whipping of the eggs. The first brownie I cut out crumbled completely apart, but the other ones have held together fine. I stuck them in the fridge and found I preferred these rich treats cold. This is a fantastic use of sourdough discard; thank you for sharing!

  9. 5 stars
    I am not a massive brownie person, but these are utterly delicious! Pretty easy to make, and perfect for using sourdough starter that would otherwise get thrown away (and I hate waste!) Definitely the best brownie recipe I’ve used, and the perfect treat to enjoy making and devouring during the Coronavirus lockdown. Thanks x

  10. 5 stars
    These are AMAZING! I’ve made them about three times, doubling the batch, and they’re perfect every time! Hands dow my favorite starter discard recipe…I’ve even fed my starter to get enough for this recipe! Gonna try folding in some marshmallows next time! THANK YOU!!! Best brownies EVER!

    • Probably should’ve baked for longer! Some readers have had to bake them for a lot longer (and many others for the directed time). Might be something to do with altitude/different ovens/different ingredients.

      • Hello! I am going on my second time making these, but the eggs, whites, salt and sugar are not whipping into a fluffy meringue like I imagine in my head. Is it supposed to be a meringue like texture?

        • It should be similar to meringue but definitely not as stiff as meringue. If you check out my instagram and go onto the IGTV tab there’s a video of me making them on there so you can see what I mean!

  11. Hi! I’d love to make these but have a question about the maturity of the starter–I have a 5 day old starter, would that work or should I add some extra baking powder or other leavening agent since it isn’t fully mature? Thank you!

    • Hi Julia, it should be fine at 5 days old to use in the brownies! It’s not really for the leavening here, just for the flour content. I usually bake mine with discard which I collect in the fridge over a period of a ~2 weeks and it works perfectly 🙂

  12. I made these brownies with 66% Guittard semisweet flats, Guittard Dutch process cocoa rouge, and half wheat starter. I’m in the US and they were completely done at 35 minutes (kind of wish I took them out at 30 for a more gooey effect) . I’m always looking for uses for leftover starter and these were super delicious!

  13. Made these and the flavor is great, super rich and fudgy! Unfortunately, it seems like the starter separated from the batter a bit and formed a thin layer at the bottom of the pan that was a bit more gelatinous and less chocolately. It’s fine when you eat it all together, but a little less appetizing to look at!

    • Thanks for the feedback, Margot! I haven’t had that happen to me before but my only thought would be that it could be to do with the age of the starter (since last feed). I generally used discard that had been hanging about for 1-2 weeks but was in the fridge so wasn’t that ‘degraded’. Or could’ve just been from from some of the starter/chocolate mixture which wasn’t folded in fully? Anyway, glad to heat your enjoyed them!

  14. I don’t know why but the some of the sugar and oil separated from brownie to the bottom. I’m not sure what I did wrong! I followed everything, even used a scale to measure. Maybe the elevation of where I am(Colorado)? They were still delicious alittle dry but everyone in my house still ate them! I just would love to make them correctly since this recipe got such good reviews! Any tips will help!

    • Hmm that is strange! That hasn’t happened to me before. How old was the starter you were using? And was it discard that you’d been saving up or was it just old starter that had been out at room temp? Just thinking that a room temp starter would probs be more degraded than a fridge one so might not ‘hold’ all the sugar/oil in the batter as well.

    • Maybe add a 1/4 cup flour next time? I’m in Colorado at high altitude and I was scared of this so I added a whole cup. The brownies turned out more fluffy cake like than the recipe picture shows more fudgy like. I took out of convection bake at 18 min

  15. Best brownies I’ve ever made. My husband and I almost ate the entire pan in one day. They are fudge and light. I’d call them soufflé brownies because it’s almost like eating chocolate soufflé but in brownie form. Yum!

  16. 5 stars
    This was the second recipe I made with my new starter and they turned out great!!! I admit that I added a cream cheese swirl to mine, but the chocolate flavor was the star! Thanks for a great recipe.

  17. I am on day 3 of my first starter, so I;m new to the scene. What does 100% hydration for the starter in your recipe mean?

    • 100% hydration means that your starter is fed with equal *weights* of water and flour (this is the norm but some people feed on a lower hydration for specific reasons).

  18. 4 stars
    Very complex brownie taste. Baking time is as originally described (I’m from the states and have a convention oven .I just added 3more min until my wooden cake tester came out clean).very fudgy warm …you actually scoop it up with a spoon but even more delish to my taste frozen! This freezes well–individually wrapped in foil. I made a double batch with my sourdough discard and froze it (very convenient) texture is fudgy straight out of the freezer so you don’t have to thaw! Recipe is a keeper?

  19. I just made them & they were great! Thank you! I am US so after reading comments was prepared to cook longer, but no need – 400 for 30 minutes was plenty, they were a little molten in the middle, with a good crispy top. I used slightly less sugar (130g & 100g, instead of 150/110, which may have helped to bring out the chocolate flavor. Like fudge. I’m not sure the sourdough made any difference , though.

  20. 5 stars
    I’ve never felt so inclined to review a recipe before but this….omg these are the best brownies I’ve ever tasted. And I only used egg whites because it’s all I had. Sooooo good!

  21. 5 stars
    These came out beautifully!

    Lowered the sugar as another commenter suggested to 100g & 130g (using caster/powdered sugar), added 2ish tb cardamom powder (fresh ground, we have so many seeds and it’s a pandemic, so…). Only had glass loaf pans, baked at 400F for 28m and pulled them because the outer edges were starting to get dark, immediately flipped them out onto a sheet pan to cool. Topped with smoked maldon.

    Somehow they’re fudgy AND light at the same time, they aren’t cakey but no chew to the fudginess, they just melt in your mouth. Great taste and texture, fun way to use up some starter, and easy as could be in a stand mixer. Will repeat for sure!

  22. These came out beautifully!

    Lowered the sugar as another commenter suggested to 100g & 130g (using caster/powdered sugar), added 2ish tb cardamom powder (fresh ground, we have so many seeds and it’s a pandemic, so…). Only had glass loaf pans, baked at 400F for 28m and pulled them because the outer edges were starting to get dark, immediately flipped them out onto a sheet pan to cool. Topped with smoked maldon.

    Somehow they’re fudgy AND light at the same time, they aren’t cakey but no chew to the fudginess, they just melt in your mouth. Great taste and texture, fun way to use up some starter, and easy as could be in a stand mixer. Will repeat for sure!

  23. Hi Izi,

    I have made them three times and both turned out great. However they were a tad too sweet for me so for the third one I reduced the sugar to 100 gr and brown sugar to 100 gr. It still tasted great, but it was as fudgy and more Cakey, probably because of there were less sugar. Is there any way to make this less sweet but still maintain the fudgyness? Should i cut the baking time? Thank you for the recipe!

    • Glad to hear it! Yes decreasing the sugar content alters texture and moisture retention as it’s completely altering the chemistry of the batter. You could definitely try reducing the baking time. I haven’t made them with lower sugar so I can’t advise on changes to make, unfortunately.

  24. 5 stars
    Thank you so much for this easy to follow recipe. Great results and delicious taste with the inclusion of sourdough. It’s also good to find something lovely to do with the excess! This is a quick and easy recipe – this will be my new brownie recipe from now on!

  25. These turned out so well, defintely going to be making these again! I’m planning on freezing a few to stop myself eating them all in one go, do you have any tips on how to thaw them? Thanks!

    • Hi Annie! So glad you liked them 🙂 You should just be able to defrost them at room temp! When you freeze them, put them into a container/resealable bag and when defrosting, leave them in that container/bag so they don’t end up drying out as they thaw.

  26. 5 stars
    Very happy with how they turned out ? used Icelandic 45% dark salt caramel chocolate! Pretty sure Whole Foods carries it for those in USA ?

  27. 5 stars
    I loved the textures of these brownies!!! I cannot even explain how they came out but they were amazing. I scaled down the recipe and adapted it a but to make cosmic brownies but still.. great stuff! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with all of us

  28. Hi Izy

    My starter is made from Spelt and Rye flour, do you think it would work in this recipe?

    x

  29. I was worried because my discard was pretty watery – for sure above 100% hydration – I had been without a scale the first few days of the starter, and was doing equal measurements of flour and water, HOWEVER, this came out very tasty! I baked at 375 F for about 30 minutes. It was like a chocolate souffle! Lovely delicate crisp top, and light yet rich chocolate cake/souffle texture. Served with whipped cream and strawberries. YUM. Could only detect the slightest tang from starter. Thank you!

  30. I’m baking in the UK. Took them out at 25 mins, could have done with 5 mins less than that! Taste great though. I just love them when they’re almost spoonable!

  31. Tried your exact recipe once and while the flavor was delicious, my brownies were unmanageable. Too gooey, which I didn’t mind, but sometimes I just want to be able to grab a brownie without it falling apart. I tried again a second time and actually added some flour to thicken it and it turned out perfect. Amazing flavor and now, some structure 🙂 Not sure if I did something wrong the first time around but otherwise a very yummy recipe!

    • Probably due to underbaking but also could be down to what hydration your starter is at. It has to be 100% hydration for this recipe as 120g of 100% hydration starter contains 60g of flour which is needed for the brownies to have enough structure.

  32. 5 stars
    I made these a few weeks ago and have come back to make a new batch. They were delicious! Incredibly gooey in the middle and crusty topping. I reduced the sugar and they were perfect! They’ll be my go-to recipe when I have excess starter.

  33. 5 stars
    My daughter loves them so much that she requested these instead of cake for her 9th birthday. And, of course, I love using up my discard in such a delicious way. Can’t wait to try the Vegan version.

  34. 4 stars
    I substituted the granular sugar with coconut sugar and used two hu chocolate bars (the salty ones) so I didn’t add salt. But man it was still way too sweet for us! But the top was crunchy and chewy and delicious, very rich brownie but a nice treat.

  35. Hi – I’m excited to try these and I’m new to sourdough.
    I’ve got a starter in the fridge, and have recently been taught how to bulk-feed it ready for bread (when it is left out at room-temperature for 6-8 hours) so that the starter is at it’s most active. Should I be using the starter at this point or can I put the leftovers from the bread back in the fridge and just use it as-is the next day, cold from the fridge (or warmed up to room temperature, but without feeding it again). Or does that stop it from working?
    thanks

    • The starter here doesn’t need to be active as it’s not being used for leavening (just for the flour content). So you can use it straight from the fridge, unfed. I’ve even used discard which has been in my fridge for a couple of weeks in this recipe

  36. supper yummy brownies my thought for anyone in America cooking these is to bake in a 9×13 pan for 20 minutes turned out perfect and fudgey.

  37. 5 stars
    These are the BEST brownies I’ve ever had. I’m always striving to get that beautiful crackly merengue top and this recipe finally allowed me to achieve it! This one’s definitely on the “Make Again” list!

  38. Can i ask what does 100% hydration mean? i have a starter but have no clue what that means. Also can i just use chocolate chips in this mix to replace the cocao solids? i dont have that however have dark chocolate chips! Thank you! cant wait to try this!

    • 100% hydration means your starter is fed with equal weights of flour and water (e.g. 50g water + 50g flour) NOT equal volumes.
      Most of the time starters are at 100% anyway so yours probably is 🙂
      Yes you could use chocolate chips in this recipe

  39. 5 stars
    Our first recipe we tried with our sourdough starter and came out beautifully. Recipe is super easy to follow and the results are delicious. Great top to the brownies and the inside was moist (I hate cakey brownies). Definitely a repeat recipe for this household!!

  40. My cousin got a some discard from a friend for us to have our own starter last night. The friend also shared this recipe with us. Immediately made the brownies this afternoon with the first discard. Wow!! Your directions were easy to follow and the results were spectacular!! The top had that great crisp and the center was so moist. Shared with a few different neighbors to keep us from eating the whole pan in one go. This recipe is definitely a repeat for the family. Thank you so much for helping to make a grand kickoff for our foray into sourdough!!!

  41. 5 stars
    Just made these this morning easy to make and I stuck to the recipe. Lovely sweet enough for us. I was 50g shirt of dark choc so I put some Belgium cooking chicken in to top up. I will be most definitely be making these.

  42. 5 stars
    Absolutely Devine! I went with 130 gm confectioners sugar and 100 gm brown sugar as people suggested, and cooked for 25 min and let them cool completely before cutting. I served them to 8 people for dessert that said they were the best brownies ever! I just had another one for breakfast. Thanks for the recipe.

  43. I made these yesterday with a very active 100% hydration mostly rye starter. Substituted the caster sugar with icing sugar. Didn’t have enough brown sugar so used more of the icing sugar, and as I prefer bitter to sweet, reduced the combined sugar quantity. So it was about 60 grams brown sugar and 140 grams icing (powdered) sugar. Otherwise I was pretty good with measuring the quantities – though I might have used about 10 extra grams of starter. I also added 1/2 cup of broken walnuts, and 1/2 cup of salted caramel chips. So far I have eaten 3 brownies and have experienced no flavour or texture impact of the salted caramel chips so either at least a whole cup maybe a cup and half, or one might as well not bother! The walnuts too! Otherwise – the combination, quantities, and method of YOUR ingredients have produced the most amazing brownies I’ve ever made! Mind you, I don’t often make brownies because I am invariably disappointed. I have no idea how long I cooked your recipe. I live at sea level, on the west coast of Canada and cooked them at 375F until their amazing aroma filled my kitchen – and living room – I was actually outside on the balcony and smelled they were done when I realized I’d forgotten to set the timer! Dashed to the kitchen, opened the over and stuck a toothpick in the brownies. It came out with a few bits on it but not too much, just like you said, so I took them out, and let them cool a good hour before cutting them (what discipline!) They are probably the most amazing brownies I’ve ever made. In fact, I’d have to say they are the absolute best brownies I’ve ever made. The topping is just as you say – a kind of glazed top – and inside, wow. Not at all cakey. Nor sweet fudge. Smooth, rich brownie flavor – with a texture as smooth as chocolate truffles. They even raised up a bit in the middle of the pan. Excellent recipe. I am also impressed with your readership. Well done!

    • Yum, rye starter in these brownies is a great idea! Mine is 50:50 rye + white wheat flour so I get a little bit of that rye flavour going on and it’s so good. So glad you liked the recipe and that it worked out well for you 🙂

  44. 5 stars
    These are the best brownies I have ever had. I’m in Western Canada and the times work perfectly. They do seem under done when they come out but, have faith! Let them cool and you’ll be rewarded with a crispy crust and oh, so fudgey inside. I adapt them for my mini muffin tin by reducing the cook time to 18min. Use liners if you do them in a muffin tin!

  45. Hi! I only have unsweetened 100% cacao chocolate and semi-sweet 56% cacao. Is there anyway to adjust the sugar/recipe for either of these two options? I have a ton of both so don’t really want to buy anymore chocolate.

    • I would do a 50/50 blend of both those chocolates as that will get you to around 78% cacao which should work here !

  46. 4 stars
    Really enjoyed these. I only had a 7x13inch tray and so they baked quickly. Also used coconut oil as I didn’t have vegetable. Came out really well, very strong dark dark chocolate taste (used G&B 70% and their cocoa) ) which I really liked. Very light texture. Great to use up discard too. Thanks

  47. One of the best brownies I’ve ever had. The kids thought they were a bit too sweet so next time I’ll reduce the sugar. Will be making it again soon!

  48. 5 stars
    We are about to make this for a third time during COVID – it’s a great recipe, thanks!

  49. Just made these today (since COVID stay at home I have made and fed a sourdough starter as mandated by quarantine) as I have been looking for good discard recipes and a friend of mine recommended them. I had to do a little finagling with the recipe because my starter isn’t as liquid as most seem to be (this has become a common theme-I add a little extra water and wind up where everyone else seems to start) but it all turned out. I lowered the oven temp to 360 degrees and they cooked in 25 minutes perfect. They are delicious, moist and chocolaty; I’ll be keeping this recipe in my “Things To Do With The Bread Pirate Roberts Discard” list. Yeah, I named my starter because I think by law you have to or the bread police take your baking license.

    • Interesting re: your starter consistency! I wonder why that is! But glad they worked out well for you 🙂 Thanks for making them!

  50. These were good but cakey and not sourdough like. I thought the amount of sugar in them was fine. Perhaps a video or picture of how the mix should look before adding the chocolate ingredients? I left them in the oven a little longer to see if the top got flakey but it didn’t

    • I think these brownies can become cakey if they’re overbaked (I also find that makes them taste less sweet & less chocolatey). There’s a vid on my IGTV of me making them if you want to check that out!

  51. Hi! I just finished mixing them up and want to double-check with you – there’s no flour in the recipe other than what’s in the starter, right? My batter is pretty runny, so I thought I’d ask to be sure before putting it in the oven. Thanks!

  52. I made these today, doubling the recipe to use an entire cup of starter. I had unsweetened baking chocolate and used up remnants of milk chocolate Easter bunnies and melting chocolate to get the right cocoa % mix – kinda… My husband LOVED them and said it’s the closest he’s had to Grandma’s brownies since she stopped baking them -“Don’t loose that recipe!!” I laughed and hope next time I make them with less random ingredients they taste the same. Great Grandma’s been gone for a long time but she had forgotten her recipe and we never found a written one. Her brownies always had a special place in my husband and children’s hearts. I can guarantee Grandma didn’t use sourdough starter and she used flour, but f the taste is the same – I’ll take it!

  53. Would this work with a 100% hydration All-purpose or plain flour starter? It would obviously lose some of the complexity from not having rye, but would it need to be bulked up with extra flour or anything to achieve the right consistency?

  54. 5 stars
    Very delicious fudgy brownies. I used a sugar substitute which affected the crackly top, but still very good with big chocolate flavour.

  55. 4 stars
    The brownies turned out just like the pictures. Light on top, but soft and cakey inside. It did look like brownie soup when going into the oven, but it turned out well

  56. Definitely bake less, UK bakers, closer to 20-25 mins. The top was VERY crackly so the brownies on the outer edge were a little crumbly, but still a great taste and texture inside. Can these be frozen? Thanks!

  57. Just made them and they are fantastic!!! Thanks for sharing this recipe. Very easy – your directions were spot on. My brownies turned out decadent!

  58. Baked it this morning and had exactly the results described: flakey but fudgey. Perfect texture.
    Maybe I used too sweet chocolate or my sugar tolerance is somewhat in the low side, but next time I bake it, and I will, I’ll probably reduce a bit the sugar amount.
    Very yummy, anyway! Thank you!

  59. I was so excited to try a new SD discard recipe– thank you for sharing! I also had a weird separation of sugar/egg/oil on the bottom of the brownie as another commenter mentioned– but we just happily ate it with a spoon. I’ll try incorporating the flour mixture a bit more, consider reducing sugar, and adding more flour. I appreciate the comment section with suggestions!

    • Ah yes, I’m not sure why that’s happened to a couple of people! The only thing I can think of is that it’s something to do with the consistency of your sourdough discard

  60. I baked these for 38 minutes and I thought they were underdone in the center. I’m not much of a brownie baker so maybe this is the way they are supposed to be. Also, I browned the butter and added cold coffee versus water. This gave the brownies a deeper, nuttier flavor.

  61. Hi Izy. I’d like to make these with just cocoa powder and leave out the chocolate. I think using the same weight of powder as chocolate would be too much, do you think I’m correct? I’m lactose intolerant so I’ll be leaving out the butter too!

    Great to find a different sourdough recipe. We started ours at the beginning of lock down in Ireland. It’s like having a baby! Ours is Sydney the starter

  62. 4 stars
    Thanks for the recipe – my brownies turned out great! I like the slight sour/salty taste from the starter 🙂

  63. 4 stars
    I’ve made these brownies three times and have now been able to perfect them, I added about 30grams extra of cocoa powder, 2 tablespoons of flour and baked at 190°C for about 50 minutes. They were super gooey and fudgy but you could also pick them up without them falling apart, I also added some chopped walnuts. Really tasty brownies! But the other times I made them they turned into chocolate soup that didn’t cook no matter how long they were in the oven.

  64. 5 stars
    I followed everything exactly As the recipe stated . I used Giardelli 60% chocolate and Hershey’s cocoa powder. I am at high altitude and they were perfectly done at 35 minutes .
    I think you could cut the sugar back some …but my family loved them.
    I used my stand mixer for the egg and sugar part.
    Thank you!

  65. OMG these are the best brownies I’ve ever had!!!! My. husband said the same thing and I do alot of baking. Love the sweetness, texture and flavour!!! Thank you so much, Linda

  66. 5 stars
    I’m from the US and I made these brownies, but was a little concerned about how they were going to turn out after reading the comments. But they turned out great! My neighbors and friends loved them too! Fudgey, moist, buttery, rich, not sickeningly sweet and lots of good chocolate flavor. I did make it in a slightly larger brownie pan, used granulated sugar vs. caster and sprinkled sea salt flakes on top of the raw batter before baking so they’d get stuck in there. Real yum! Oh, how I loved that I didn’t have to add additional flour to the recipe! Next time, I’ll pull them out at 20 minutes, I baked them for 23 minutes but I like them a little more gooey so I’ll take em out sooner. Thank you!!! 🙂

  67. 5 stars
    I baked these this morning with my 5yo daughter. They are so quick and easy to make and OMG are they amazing. Choclatey gooeyness at its best . The brownie recipe search is over

  68. These look and smell fantastic!!! Added some walnuts to the batter and they didn’t seem to cause any grief. Now if I can hold out long enough for them to cool so I can have one.

  69. I love these brownies….one of the most delicious ways to use up the discard. I’ve made them twice now – so good!! might add raspberries next time…nom nom nom!!

  70. 4 stars
    I’m not a fan of brownies but I was interested to find another way of using my sourdough discard. I really liked the result – not too sweet, very densely chocolately. I used coconut oil instead of vegetable oil and added a big handful of coconut. I also used Valhrona chocolate and cocoa powder. I did wonder whether the recipe might benefit from a scant 50g of flour to give it a touch more structure. Delicious and easy.

  71. I want to try this recipe, but I just want to clarify…Is the dark chocolate supposed to be an unsweetened baking bar or regular dark chocolate that you could eat as a candy bar? Thanks!

  72. 4 stars
    Let me pre-face this review by saying I made one change. I had to substitute the type of sourdough starter used. Outside of this, I followed the recipe to a “T”. I rate this recipe 4/5 stars because of this change. The starter I used was 100% hydration with 50/50 brown rice flour & water. I had to make this change because I have Celiac disease and cannot have any gluten. I was very excited to try this recipe because it only called for sourdough starter an no extra flour. A lot of times, in gluten free baked goods, the texture or flavor is ‘off’ compared to normal baked goods. This recipe was absolutely AMAZING. Both the taste and texture were a home run. I’m sure if was able to use a starter like the recipe called for, it would be even more mind blowing-ly delicious! Thank you very much for sharing my new favorite brownie recipe! I am definitely going to move this into my rotation, and I have passed on this recipe to some of my friends.

  73. 5 stars
    I just baked these brownies in Newport, RI USA and topped with sea salt from Newport Sea Salt Co. They are fabulous…my 3 daughters couldn’t wait for me to cut and serve them!

  74. 5 stars
    I just made these and I already they will soon be gone. They are just that good! And, I love that I now have another use for my discard. Thank you for the great recipe!

  75. Wonderful, just wonderful! Baked for 30 minutes and they are ooey gooey perfection. So happy to have yet another great sourdough discard recipe. Thanks! I know this is probably not the type of information people really want when eating brownies, but do you by any chance have the “nutritional” information per serving (calories, etc) for these little delicacies?

    • So glad you liked them! I don’t provide nutritional info, unfortunately but you can plug the ingredients into an online calculator 🙂

  76. Followed the recipe exactly and it is great, but REALLY DARK. I like dark chocolate and think they’re delicious, but dark chocolate, for me, is something I let melt in my mouth and savor. For brownies I want to be able to shove them in my mouth and eat way more than I should in one sitting.
    I think I may try the recipe again but with semi-sweet chocolate. The combo of 70% chocolate AND unsweetened cocoa powder just seemed to be too much bitter chocolate.

  77. 5 stars
    Followed the recipe with dark chocolate but added a little bit of flour as my starter was super runny and they came out perfect after 30 mins – pretty sweet, used dark chocolate so will reduce sugar but best brownies i haev ever made for sure.

  78. 5 stars
    These brownies are to die for! Seriously worth the extra work to make them, I do t want to use my discard in any other way! Any suggestion on cooking time to make them in the tiny muffin cups (like 2bite brownies?) I’m making these for a second time in as many days cause they are that good!

  79. 5 stars
    Love this recipe as another use for my discard!

    I use 100%whole wheat discard at 100% hydration.
    I follow the recipe but melt half the chocolate in the butter mixture and the rest I throw in batter. I also do 2 eggs plus yolk instead of the white(saw this in another recipe) and don’t over mix when combining everything!

    Turns out perfect every time. So fudgy. So decadent. Lovely tang. People are constantly asking for the recipe-to bad nobody has sourdough ?

  80. I didn’t read the part about using discard on these so my brownies got very tall! But OMG delicious! The top got that beautiful brownie crackle (though I should have left them in for the full 35 minutes or even a tad longer). These were so fantastic. Fudgy, perfect texture. Just MMM! Will be definitely putting this in my recipe book once I work out the timing. Love it!

  81. 5 stars
    Izy, these are by far the best brownies I have ever made, very rich and chocolatey (I used ~half unsweetened chocolate for a more grown up flavor). Thank you so much, I will definitely watch your site for more sourdough based recipes!

  82. 5 stars
    I made these and they are delicious! Fudgy, not cakey, my favourite consistency. I did use only 2 eggs and only 1 of those whites. I didn’t use any water. Seriously dark and sugary- abd ilove them! Thanks for the recipe xx

  83. 5 stars
    OMG- these are so luscious, I had to write to thank you immediately! I used my fully ripe rye flour starter, added instant expresso powder with the cocoa. I also tented with foil halfway thru and turned the heat down to 350 degrees since the top was looking like it might burn. The tangy sourdough and bitter expresso gave these brownies a perfectly balanced sweetness. I liked the gooey center and crusty top. My husband said these were his new favorites even if he wasn’t stoned. I can’t wait to try more recipes of yours. thank you and take care:-)3

  84. 4 stars
    I love the meringue crackly top, though I think I need to figure out a better way to pour it into the mold, because when I poured the batter in the middle part lost all the meringue (maybe mix 3/4 thoroughly, and reserve the last 1/4 for folding in when it’s already in the pan)

    At first I was a bit disappointed when I took it out of the pan, because it was more cake-like than brownie, but after a few days it thickened up a lot more 🙂 This might have been because my discard was super active even after days in the fridge, and fluffed up the brownie? The end result was very delicate fudge-y texture (it falls apart if you press it too hard). My starter is 100% whole grain rye, if that also might have been a factor.

    I skipped the white sugar entirely, and used 200g of brown sugar, but I should have gone with my gut and used even less. Also added in a handful of chopped pecans <3.

    Sorry if it sounds too critical, I actually think that this recipe is a keeper, and I'm happy to find another great use for my discard. However I definitely will have to play around with the perfect sugar ratio to suit my taste.

  85. 5 stars
    I love the brownies, mine turned out so fudgy and deep in flavor! I took them out of the oven after 30 minutes and they were perfect. Thank you for this amazing recipe

  86. Another US Baker. I also have a 100%hydration, 50%rye, 50%AP flour sourdough starter, used 9×9” pan. Many Americans measure by volume, not weight which could account for inconsistent results. I used a digital scale and went by the grams not volume (cup/Tbls measurement); amounts would have been different if going only by volume. My only modifications were to use dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar, granulated sugar for caster sugar and I added a tsp of instant coffee dissolved in the water. I also used the convection feature in my oven and it was done in 30 minutes. Very fudgy, not too sweet. Rye gave a nice texture. Family enjoyed them and didn’t know I used sourdough discard, which can often be detected when it’s the only ingredient that contains flour. Well done, will make again!

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