Sourdough Ladyfingers

I enjoy making sourdough recipes that I don’t think anyone has ever made before, while maybe breaking a few baking rules or conventions along the way! Like my sourdough frosting, these Sourdough Ladyfingers are an unexpected twist on an Italian classic cookie using sourdough discard.

When fresh, homemade ladyfingers are nothing like their store-bought equivalents! They have a spongy interior with a forward vanilla flavor and slightly crisp exterior. They’re perfect for dipping in coffee or tea, like sourdough biscotti, but much lighter melt-in-your-mouth texture.

After a couple of days, the slightly stale cookies harden up and you can use them in desserts like tiramisu, charlotte cake, or trifle (maybe even in place of vanilla wafers in banana pudding).

These come together quite easily, but do require a bit of attention due to the whipped egg whites, which help give them their light and spongy quality.

The recipe guide below walks through every step of the way so you’ll have success with lots of detailed photos to help you.

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👍 Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Spongy interior texture with a slight crunch
• Unexpected way to use sourdough discard in a cookie
• Come together quickly in less than 45 minutes
• After a couple of days, you can use the stale cookies in desserts like tiramisu
• Like my sourdough matcha madeleines, they’re an excellent coffee and tea cookie.

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🔍 Pro Tips for Making Ladyfingers

• Don’t overmix the batter
  • Overmixing will deflate the egg whites and develop more gluten, resulting in tougher and chewier cookies. Carefully fold all of your ingredients together.
• Use room temperature eggs
  • Room temperature egg whites whip more easily than cold eggs.
• Use a clean, dry bowl to whisk your egg whites.
  • Any water or residue of fat can inhibit the egg whites from whipping properly.
• Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks.
  • For the lightest ladyfingers, whip the egg whites until they leave a strong trail in your bowl and if you remove the whisk, they hold stiff peaks.
  • If you don’t beat the egg whites enough, you’ll also get flatter cookies and possibly less than 24 ladyfingers.
• Dust the tops with powdered sugar before baking
  • The cornstarch in powdered sugar helps the cookies rise taller and keeps them from spreading. This is the traditional way to make ladyfingers.

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🛠 Tools Needed:

See below for my tool recommendations and substitutions.

• Baking scale
  • Since the density of flour and sourdough starter may vary among individuals, it’s recommended to weigh your ingredients for accuracy. Weighing your ingredients by weight will make your baking more consistent and accurate.
• Baking sheets
  • This recipe makes about 24 ladyfingers. The amount of batter depends on how much you whip your egg whites and how large you pipe your lady fingers. I bake about 12 of them on each baking sheet.
• Electric Hand Mixer (optional but helpful)
  • I prefer using an electric hand mixer over a stand mixer for this recipe because you’re whipping the egg whites and egg yolk mixture in two separate bowls. It makes switching the two easier, but you can use a stand mixer or whisk by hands (with a muscle workout for the egg whites!).
• Spatula
  • For folding the egg whites and egg yolk mixture together.
• Sift or fine mesh strainer
  • To reduce lumps in your batter and to dust the ladyfingers with powdered sugar.
• Piping bag with a large round piping tip
  • If you don’t have a piping bag, snip the end of a large plastic bag to make a makeshift one.

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🛒 Ingredients Needed:

See below for my ingredient recommendations and possible substitutions.

• All-purpose flour
  • AP flour has enough protein and gluten to help the cookies have a slight chew and rise, but still remain light.
  • To make gluten-free, use a gluten-free sourdough starter and substitute the AP flour with cup for cup/measure for measure or fine almond flour.
• Cornstarch
  • This is a key ingredient in these ladyfingers to help create soft, light cookies that rise and don’t spread too much.
  • Can substitute with another starch, such as tapioca or arrowroot.
• Salt
• Eggs, separated at room temperature
  • Separate your egg yolks and egg whites in separate bowls.
• Granulated sugar
  • I don’t recommend substituting the granulated sugar with another sugar in this recipe, as the coarseness of other sugars can affect how the egg whites whip.
• Vanilla extract
  • Ladyfingers have a prominent vanilla flavor, but another option would be to use ¼ tsp of almond extract for a slight amaretto flavor.
• Sourdough discard (or active starter)
  • Sourdough discard is unfed sourdough starter that you can use in sourdough discard recipes. When I feed my starter, I store the discard in the refrigerator so there’s no waste. Learn how to make sourdough starter from scratch and my top sourdough starter tips.
• Powdered sugar
  • Also known as confectioner’s sugar, sift and dust the ladyfingers with it a generous amount of powdered sugar before baking to reduce spreading.

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How to Make Sourdough Ladyfingers

Follow this visual and detailed recipe guide as you make these sourdough ladyfingers.

1. Mix the Egg Yolk Mixture

Prepare a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC).

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, use an electric hand mixer (or hand whisk) to whisk the egg yolks, sourdough discard, salt, vanilla, and half of the sugar.

Clean and dry the whisk or beaters and set the bowl aside as you beat the egg whites.

2. Beat the Egg Whites

In a clean and dry mixing bowl, beat the egg whites for a couple of minutes until frothy and they start to increase in volume.

As you mix, slowly pour in the other half of the granulated sugar and whip until the egg whites dramatically increase in size and become glossy to stiff peaks. This will take a few minutes of mixing on high speed.

3. Fold the Egg Yolk Mixture into the Egg Whites

Give the egg yolk mixture another few mixes and slowly pour it into the bowl of fluffy egg whites.

Use a spatula to fold it into the beaten egg whites, until mostly incorporated with some streaks of egg whites remaining. Fold gently, but relatively quickly to not deflate the egg whites.

4. Sift and Fold in the Flour and Cornstarch

Sift the flour and cornstarch into the bowl and use a spatula to gently fold it all together.

Fold until the flour is hydrated with any large pockets or lumps of flour mixed in. The batter should be thicker, but still quite light.

5. Pipe the Ladyfingers

Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip.

Pipe the ladyfingers on baking sheets into about 3.5 to 4 inch logs and space them a couple of inches apart. Try to keep them straight with an even width so they’re the same size.

I can usually fit 12 ladyfingers on each large baking sheet at a time.

Generously dust the tops of the ladyfingers with powdered sugar.

6. Bake

Bake one sheet of ladyfingers at a time for about 13-15 minutes, or until the tops are firm and the bottoms just start to turn golden.

Cool completely on a wire rack and repeat with the other sheet of ladyfingers.

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How to Store

There’s nothing quite like homemade ladyfingers and they have a somewhat spongy, light texture that’s difference than typical store-bought ladyfingers! They’re best eaten the day they’re made once completely cooled.

However, as the cookies harden and release moisture over a couple of days, that’s when they become the ideal texture for making other desserts such as tiramisu. It’s sort of like how stale sourdough bread makes the best croutons for panzanella salad.

I found that storing ladyfingers in an airtight container can make them too soft, so I prefer to store them out at room temperature for a couple of days.

After they’ve dried out some, you can store them in an airtight container for a week!

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❓ FAQs:

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Other Sourdough Dessert Recipes You May Enjoy:

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