Nut Butter Cookies with Maple Syrup, Coconut Sugar & Sourdough
For some reason, I often end up with a few containers of nut butter open at the same time in my pantry. When I want to consolidate, a recipe like this one is the perfect choice because it uses quite a bit of nut butter and you can mix different kinds together and still end up with a delicious result.
This recipe is an adaptation of the nut butter cookie recipe from Sarah Owens’ amazing cookbook Sourdough. I changed quite a few things though, including swapping out date sugar for coconut sugar and reducing the amount by 110 g (180 g of sugar - even if it is natural sugar - just seemed like way too much!); adding in more oats; adding in some salt (the nut butters I used were unsalted - if you have any that are salted, you can always use those and omit the added salt); and adding in chocolate chips.
This recipe is also unlike most of the other ones I have made so far because Owens has you make a leaven (or pre-ferment) that gets mixed into the dough, instead of just using sourdough starter discard. If you don’t have the time to wait for the leaven to ripen, I think you could likely get away with using sourdough discard, it might just change the texture a bit.
I hope you’ll give these cookies a try - they are soft, chewy, nutty and really satisfying!
Makes about 28 cookies
Ingredients
For the leaven:
20 g sourdough starter (100% hydration)
50 g water
70 g rye flour
For the cookie dough:
140 g leaven
2 large eggs
60 g maple syrup
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
480 g nut butter (peanut, almond, cashew, etc.)
70 g coconut sugar [grind in a spice/coffee grinder to make the sugar less coarse]
1 tsp. vanilla extract
65 g rolled oats
80 g chocolate chips
Directions
Make the leaven: About eight hours before you make the cookies [Note: this will vary depending on the temperature in your kitchen - if it’s cool, this might take longer than eight hours; if it’s warm, this might take less than eight hours], mix together the starter and water in a small bowl. Then stir in the rye flour. This is a very stiff leaven. Cover the bowl and leave it to sit at room temperature. You will know it’s ready to use because it will be a bit more puffed up and have a nice odor similar to honeyed fruit.
Make the cookie dough: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silpat. To make the cookie dough, you can either mix by hand in a bowl or use a food processor - I went with the food processor because I find it challenging to mix nut butter with other ingredients but if you’re up for the challenge feel free to do it by hand/with a spoon. Put all the ingredients except the oats and chocolate chips in the food processor and blend until incorporated. Add in the oats and chocolate chips and pulse a few times until combined. Form the dough into small balls and place onto the cookie sheet. Using a fork, press the balls gently to flatten.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges appear to firm up. Allow to cool on a wire rack. These cookies store well in a container either on the counter top or in the refrigerator for about a week.
