ingredients
Let’s look at the ingredients and their possible substitutions.


Discard the sourdough. This recipe is perfect for using up leftover starter – we use 220g of it! You can also use active sourdough, but I don’t think it will make much of a difference. Once the dough comes together, it goes straight into the fridge, so there’s no extended fermentation time. I actually don’t recommend letting these cookies ferment on the counter as that would develop gluten – and we don’t want that! (Hard cookies, anyone?)
As with most of my sourdough recipes, you’ll need sourdough at 100% hydration, meaning it comes from sourdough fed with equal parts water and flour. This is really important! Using a different hydration level can throw off the recipe by adding too much or too little liquid.
oil. We use melted, unsalted butter. If you only have salted butter, that’s fine – just skip the added salt.
For a vegan alternative, use vegan butter. I do not recommend using oils such as avocado or olive oil as substitutes in this recipe. When I tried using butter, the cookies spread too much.
Molasses. Use 100% luxury molasses. If you don’t like molasses or need a substitute, honey or vegan honey works just as well.
sugar. Granulated sugar works perfectly – no need for brown sugar as the molasses already adds that rich, caramelised flavour.
flour. Use all-purpose white flour for this recipe.
Bicarbonate of soda. Don’t miss this ingredient! Baking soda is essential for both neutralizing the sour taste of sourdough and helping the cookies rise. Without it, you will get tough cookies. And no, baking powder is not a good substitute here.
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