I’m seriously appalled at myself for not liking oatmeal cookies in the past because these Toffee Pecan Sourdough Oatmeal Cookies are an absolute knockout! They are made with brown butter, sourdough discard, loads of toffee bits, oats and pecans. No, they are not your easy-one-bowl cookies but they are 1000% worth the effort.
These sourdough oatmeal cookies are nutty and deeply caramelized from the brown butter, with just a hint of “yeastiness” from the sourdough starter. They are extremely chewy, with crispy edges, and a tiny bit of crunch. They do spread more than your usual oatmeal cookies when the toffee bits melt in the oven, so don’t skip chilling the dough.
Ingredient for sourdough oatmeal cookies
You’ll need 13 ingredients to make these seriously out-of-this-world amazing oatmeal cookies. As always, for the full list of ingredients with quantities, you can skip right ahead to the recipe card.
Notes on key ingredients
- I love using brown butter for the majority of my sourdough cookie recipes, because browning the butter removes water to make room for the extra moisture you’ll add in the form of sourdough discard, and it also adds amazing flavor!
- Sourdough discard adds that subtle tang as well as moisture. All my sourdough discard recipes are tested with 100% hydration discard (unfed starter). You can use ripe sourdough starter as well, the acidity of the fed starter will be lower and your cookies will be less tangy, but no less delicious.
- I prefer to use only egg yolk and not whole eggs to make sourdough cookies more chewy. Using whole eggs will yield more cakey cookies. Plus, removing the egg white also makes room for the extra moisture in the sourdough starter discard.
- I use Heath English Toffee Bits. As far as I know, this is the only brand of toffee bits you can buy at the store. I’ve seen them at Walmart, Stater Bros, and Vons in my area. I know they are a bit difficult to find. You can buy them in bulk online or you can make homemade toffee bits. Stock up and make these super chewy and crispy sourdough chocolate chip cookies with toffee too!
Make these ultimate sourdough oatmeal cookies with me!
Follow along visually as we make my favorite sourdough discard oatmeal cookies if you love seeing each step in photos. Otherwise, you can skip ahead, detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.
1. Make brown butter
Make brown butter in a light color saucepan and pour it into the stand mixer bowl to cool ahead of time.
2. Grind oats and pecans with flour
Grind half the oats and less than half the pecans with flour, baking soda and salt in a food processor.
3. Cream butter with sugar
Beat cooled brown butter with brown and granulated sugar for 2 minutes until light in color.
4. Add remaining wet ingredients
Beat egg yolks, sourdough discard and vanilla with the butter/sugar mixture for another 2 minutes until creamy and fluffy.
5. Form the cookie dough
Incorporate the oat-pecan-flour mixture you ground in the food processor earlier to make pecan oatmeal cookie dough.
6. Add mix-ins
Stir the remaining oats and pecans along with toffee bits into the cookie dough.
7. Divide and chill
Portion the dough with a 3-tbsp cookie scoop and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
8. Bake
Bake 6 to a tray at 350°F for 15 mins.
9. Shape and cool
Use a large cookie cutter to shape the cookies into perfect circles while they’re still hot and soft. Cool on the baking sheet for 15 mins before moving them to a wire rack.
Baker’s tips
- Chilling this dough is absolutely essential. Like I mentioned earlier, these cookies do spread more than usual so chilling is non-negotiable. Also, it allows the flavor to develop, giving you a much more complex and delicious cookie.
- Use a cookie scoop! I use my favorite vintage 3-tablespoon scoop for consistent size cookies that are not too big, not too small. If you want giant bakery size cookies, you can use a ¼-cup scoop and increase baking time to closer to 20 minutes.
- For the perfect cookie, take a round cookie cutter or a spatula and scoot the edges of the cookies in to make them perfectly round, as soon as they come out of the oven and still soft. I typically use a 4 ¼” IKEA blue plastic cookie cutter for this task (see step 9 above).
Toffee and Pecan Sourdough Oatmeal Cookies Recipe
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- Food Processor
- Saucepan
- Skillet
- Baking Sheet
- 3-tbsp Cookie Scoop
Ingredients
- 227 grams (8 oz) unsalted butter brown
- 180 grams (1 ⅔ cup) pecans raw or roasted and unsalted, divided
- 200 grams (2 cup) old-fashioned rolled oats don’t sub instant oats, divided
- 120 grams (1 cup) all-purpose flour about 1 cup
- 6 grams (1 teaspoon) baking soda
- 6 grams (1 teaspoon) kosher salt Morton brand
- 150 grams (¾ cup) brown sugar
- 100 grams (½ cup) granulated sugar
- 120 grams (½ cup) sourdough starter discard or ripe, 100% hydration, less than ½ cup
- 2 large egg yolks
- 14 grams (1 tablespoon) pure vanilla extract
- 226 grams toffee bits 1 bag
Instructions
- Brown the butter – Heat unsalted butter in a light colored saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter melts, it will become foamy. When the foam subsides, you will see clear bubbles, start whisking continuously at this point to keep the milk solids from burning. When the butter is caramel in color and smells nutty, about 8 – 9 minutes, take it off the heat and immediately pour it into the stand mixer bowl and allow to cool.227 grams unsalted butter
- Roast the pecans – In a skillet over medium heat, roast the pecans for 3 – 5 minutes until toasty and fragrant. Set aside to cool.180 grams pecans
- Grind oats and pecans with flour – Add 100 grams of oats and 80 grams of roasted pecans to a food processor along with flour, baking soda and salt. Blitz until the oats and pecans are finely ground and everything is evenly distributed. Set aside.200 grams old-fashioned rolled oats, 120 grams all-purpose flour, 6 grams baking soda, 6 grams kosher salt
- Cream butter with sugar – When butter is completely cool, add both granulated and brown sugar to the stand mixer bowl, beat with the paddle attachment on medium low to medium speed for at least 2 minutes, until lighter in color.150 grams brown sugar, 100 grams granulated sugar
- Incorporate sourdough starter with remaining wet ingredients – Add the egg yolks, sourdough starter, vanilla extract, and continue beating for at least another 2 minutes until fluffy and creamy.120 grams sourdough starter, 2 large egg yolks, 14 grams pure vanilla extract
- Add dry ingredients – Add the oat-pecan-flour mixture set aside earlier to the wet ingredient mixture in the stand mixer bowl, stir until incorporated. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.
- Add the remaining mix-ins – Roughly chop the remaining 100 grams of roasted pecans. Add chopped pecans, remaining 100 grams of oats, and toffee bits to the cookie dough, stir to distribute evenly. Stop the mixer and use a spatula to scrape the side and bottom of the bowl to ensure good distribution of all the mix-ins.180 grams pecans, 200 grams old-fashioned rolled oats, 226 grams toffee bits
- Scoop and chill – Portion the cookie dough with a 3-tablespoon cookie scoop and place them on a lined baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, and up to 3 days, before baking.
- Preheat the oven – Set the oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F.
- Bake – Place 6 dough balls on a large lined baking sheet, about 2-3 inches apart, and bake 1 batch at a time for 15 minutes, until the cookies are golden but still slightly undercooked in the middle. Shape them with a round cookie cutter or spatula if you want them perfectly round as soon as they come out of the oven.
- Cool – Remove the baking sheet from the oven, but allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet to finish baking from the residual heat for 10-15 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Storing baked cookies: store your pecan oatmeal cookies in an airtight container at room temp for up to 5 days.
- Storing cookie dough: portioned cookie dough can be kept refrigerated for 3-4 days, and frozen for 3-6 months.
- Baking frozen dough: you can bake frozen cookie dough directly without thawing, simply increase baking time by about 1-2 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
