Name: Fudgy Brownies with Sourdough Discard
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 225 g butter; 250 g 70% dark chocolate; 45 g cocoa powder (regular or dutched); 5 g table salt; 10 g vanilla extract; 100 g large eggs (approx. 2 eggs); 300 g icing sugar; 200 g stirred down discard; 65 g all-purpose flour

Chocolate has been shown to affect your mood in a positive way. After eating chocolate serotonin is released and it helps stabilize the mood. So if you need the ultimate comfort food in the form of a cake, the best choice must be a chocolate brownie. This is my recipe for fudgy brownies with sourdough discard.

There are commonly two types of brownies: cakey and fudgy, and people seem to have a specific preference. My favorite is the fugdy brownie, so that’s what you will see here today.

If there’s enough people asking for a sourdough cakey brownie, I may develop a recipe for that.

If you are just here for the recipe, you can press the button underneath to be automagically transported to the recipe:

Jump to Recipe

The history of brownies

Like most beloved food items, brownies go back a long time and its history is riddled with made up stories and legends.

One such story goes: A socialite called Bertha Palmer, whose husband owned a prominent Chicago hotel called Palmer House Hotel, asked a one of the hotels pastry chef for a confection for the ladies attending the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition.

fudgy brownies on a piece of parchement paper

It was supposed to be smaller than a cake and able to be included in a lunchbox. The result was the Palmer House Brownie with walnuts and an apricot glaze. It is served to this day at the hotel.

This first known printed version of a brownie recipe was published in 1899 in Machias Cookbook. They were called “Brownie’s Food”.

Brownies are loved to this day and are made at home as a huge favorite around the world.

The batter composition

This batter uses both melted chocolate and cocoa powder which helps give it that deep, dark chocolate flavor that’s important for a great brownie.

My thanks goes to Adam Ragusea for figuring out that the secret to getting that glossy papery skin on top of a brownie lies in using icing sugar, because it dissolves faster into the batter, so that’s why I use icing sugar.

Thin papery skin on a perfect fudgy sourdough brownie

The rest of the ingredients are lots of delicious butter, eggs, vanilla and a bit of all-purpose flour for a bit of structure.

Weight	Ingredient	Baker's Percentage
225g	butter, salted	346.2%
250g	dark chocolate	384.6%
10g	vanilla extract	15.4%
45g	cocoa powder	69.2%
100g	egg, whole	153.8%
300g	powdered sugar	461.5%
65g	all-purpose flour	100%
5g	salt	7.7%
200g	starter (100% hydration)	307.7%

If you want to play around with the recipe, you can do so here in my Bread Calculator.

But my pan isn’t 9 times 9 inches?

Well, my custom Brownie Calculator^TM to the rescue.

Just fill in the size of your pan and you will get a custom link to my Bread Calculator with the right proportions needed for your specific pan:

Width

Depth

The conclusion of this fudgy sourdough brownie recipe

So, this brownie recipe sets out to be a very moist and fugdy cake with a lot rich chocolate flavor and complex fermented notes. How does it deliver?

Well, I went through quite a few iterations of this brownie before ending up on this final recipe.

It has the perfect balance of deep, dark chocolate flavor, the right amount of salt, an extremely fudgy texture and just enough fermented taste to just bring the whole cake to another level.

If you love brownies, give this recipe a go. I am sure you will not be disappointed.

Please share this recipe for fudgy sourdough brownies on social media

This is my recipe for fudgy sourdough brownies. If you like the recipe please consider sharing it with like-minded bread lovers on social media.

If you make it and post it on Instagram, please tag me as @foodgeek.dk so I can see it. That would make me very happy.

Fudgy Brownies with Sourdough Discard

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: brownies, discard recipe, sourdough brownies

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 30 minutes

Total: 45 minutes

Servings: brownies

Calories: 395kcal

Author: Sune Trudslev

Nutrition Facts

Fudgy Brownies with Sourdough Discard

Amount Per Serving (1 brownie)

Calories 395 Calories from Fat 216

% Daily Value*

Fat 24g37%

Saturated Fat 14g88%

Sodium 312mg14%

Carbohydrates 47g16%

Fiber 3g13%

Sugar 35g39%

Protein 4g8%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

The absolutely best and most fudgy brownie made with sourdough discard. Lots of chocolate taste and complex fermented notes from the starter.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Equipment

9×9 inch square pan

Metric – US Customary

Ingredients

225 g butter
250 g 70% dark chocolate
45 g cocoa powder regular or dutched
5 g table salt
10 g vanilla extract
100 g large eggs approx. 2 eggs
300 g icing sugar
200 g stirred down discard
65 g all-purpose flour

Instructions

Heat oven

Heat your oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

Mix the batter

Melt butter and dark chocolate in the microwave. Pour the mixture into a medium sized bowl.
Sift in cocoa powder and mix until it's combined.
Add table salt and vanilla extract and mix it in.
Add the eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly after each egg.
Sift in icing sugar and mix it in.
Add the discard and mix it in.
Add all-purpose flour and fold it in.

Prepare the pan

Then grab a 9 by 9 inch pan and add baking paper and pour the batter into the pan.
Tap it against the counter to spread the batter out into the corners.

Bake brownie

Put it in the oven for 30 minutes.
Test that a toothpick comes out clean before removing it from the oven and put it on a wire rack to cool.
After about 15 minutes you can take it out of the pan and let it cool completely on the wire rack.
Then you can cut it up into pieces. Whatever size you find appropriate.