Every evening lately, I have wanted mom’s peanut butter cookies. Sadly I never learned her recipe, but I have one that gets pretty close. However, last night I wanted to take my own #SourdoughChallenge while we practice  #StaySafe #StayHome here at Riverside Lodge—I baked these cookies using sourdough.

I was not sure exactly how to do this since my recipe calls for no liquid. But being the kitchen chemist I am, I just dove in and worked until things looked right. They came out pretty good, just a bit puffier than mom made, but all the better for the thumbprint to fill with raspberry jam because I like my peanut butter cookies with jam. 

Since that little experiment, I spent some time looking for through other recipes and have this suggested one for you:

Sourdough Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

This recipe is adapted from Cultures for Health

Ingredients

Instructions
  • ½ cup (113 g)  sourdough starter
  • ½ cup peanut butter
  • ½ cup softened butter
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • ½ tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 cup  flour, (+1–2 Tbl if needed to firm up the dough)
  • ½ tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. baking soda
  • ¼ tsp. Real salt
  • Jar of jam or jelly

This recipe makes about 24 small cookies or 12 the size I like for a jam filling.

  1. Cream peanut butter, softened butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract.
  2. Mix in the sourdough starter 
  3. Sift in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (or mix in a bowl and whisk together), adding 2-3 Tbl at a time to the creamed mix.
  4. If needed add a little more flour to form balls.
  5. Form dough into small balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
  6. Press each cookie out with a fork for a criss-cross.
  7. Bake at 350°F for 12-15 minutes 
  8. While cookies are hot from the oven, press your thumb into the center of each cookie, then fill the depression with half a teaspoon of your choice of jam or jelly.

For a  guy who is trying to lose weight, these are a truly wicked temptation. I only kept 7 of the two dozen and “rewarded” my daughter with the rest because she delivered groceries to us today. Of course, she also received a hot baguette and country loaf of bread.

Tell us about your experiences with the #SourdoughChallenge in the comment section below.

Author: Darryl Alder lives with his wife in Riverside Lodge, which is their home, along the Provo River in Utah. He is a retired career Scouter and outdoorsman who spent many hours over a campfire using a Dutch oven and loves sharing recipes for the kitchen and the campfire alike. You can read many of his outdoor recipes here and on this site by searching for Sourdough Saturday or Recipes on the top right-hand side of the blog