These cookies are incredible! They are also incredibly easy to make too. You can use your stand mixer, or a bowl and big spoon work perfectly fine as well. I actually have a tough time putting a title on them because there is so much good stuff in them. Almonds, buckwheat, cranberries, chocolate, salted tops and probably any other goodies you want to swap out! I have been making these for awhile now and every time I am blown away by how good they are. I'm sure these would be great as a typical cookie, but with the long slow fermentation it really adds another aspect to the flavour. I suppose you could even say that these are healthier than if they were not fermented...but, let's not kid ourselves on this one. They make a great treat though. As a bonus they also use a significant amount of your sourdough discard!
When I was working on this recipe I really wanted to figure out a way to bake them from frozen. Mostly because I didn't want to be baking a dozen (or more) cookies at a time, as my self control when it comes to sweets is not that great! So now the freezer is packed with frozen cookie dough balls and I can pull out as many as I want to bake and put them straight into the oven.
See the notes below about preparing the chocolate, cranberries and almonds. In Canada I use buckwheat from a company called Nunweilers, it's really great. If you can't get your hands on any of that I know there are a lot of other options out there. See here.
Ingredients
227g Melted butter (2 sticks)
200g White sugar
200g Brown sugar
160g Sourdough discard
4 Egg yolks
6g Vanilla (1tsp)
250g White flour
120g Buckwheat flour
7g Baking soda (1tsp)
6g Baking powder (1.5tsp)
8g Salt (1tsp)
200g Chocolate (chips, chunks or chopped)
200g Dried Cranberries (rehydrated ahead of time)
200g Roasted Almonds
Process
In a large bowl mix the melted butter and the sugars.
Add the remaining wet ingredients, mix well.
Add all of the dry ingredients, mix well.
Place the dough in an airtight container and let rest in the fridge for two or three days.
Take out of the fridge and let sit at room temperature for an hour or two and then begin scooping into dough balls (or just muscle it with an ice cream scoop while cold). I like to weigh out the dough for each cookie (a little obsessive I know); you will get 24 cookies at 75g each.
Once the dough is rolled into balls place on a baking tray and put in freezer until frozen. Once frozen transfer into a freezer bag or container to bake later.
Place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake from frozen for 20-25mins at 325°F
Once the cookies are golden brown on the bottom remove from oven and cool slightly on the baking sheet (this helps hold the shape) at this point I sprinkle coarse salt on top of the cookies, once they are solid enough to stay together transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Notes:
With this recipe you will end up with 4 egg whites, my favourite thing to make with these is definitely pavlova! My go to recipe for these can be found here on Natasha's Kitchen Blog
This recipes makes 24 cookies at 75g... but make any size you want.
The recipe calls for buckwheat flour, although you can use any combination of flours you have on hand. The buckwheat does add a nice touch to the flavour and aesthetic of the cookie.
I generally use blocks of semi-sweet chocolate and roughly chop it, I like the look more and that way you get nice big chunks throughout the cookie.
I roast my almonds ahead of time at 450°F. Toast to your liking.
I simmer or soak my cranberries in hot water until rehydrated but I like to pull them out before they get soggy.
This recipe can easily be cut in half if you would like, I tend to make the full batch because its so easy to freeze and bake as many as you want for the day.