Ingredients:

For the Cinnamon Toast Crumbs-

2-3 slices of Stale Sourdough Bread, or any other sliced bread 

Vegan Butter, for spreading on the toast

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1/8 cup Granulated Sugar 

For the Miso Cookie Base-

50 grams (3.5 tbsps.) Vegan Butter, Cold and Cubed

80 grams (5.5 tbsps.) Vegan Butter, browned

1.5 tsp. White Miso Paste (optional)

60 grams (1/4 cup, packed) Brown Sugar

165 grams (3/4 cup) Granulated Sugar 

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

40 grams (heaping 1/6 cup) Sourdough Discard, or replace with equal parts Vegan Yogurt or Vegan Sourcream*

16 grams(1 tbsp.) Plant Milk, omit if using plant milk to replace the sourdough discard

28 grams (1 tbsp.) Maple Syrup

250 grams (2 cups spooned and leveled) All Purpose Flour

1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

1/4 tsp. Salt, if not using miso increase Salt to 1/2 tsp.

86 grams (scant 1 cup) Sourdough Cinnamon Toast Crumbs, made above

For the Cinnamon Sugar Swirl:

35 grams (2.5 tbsps.) Vegan Butter, melted

31 grams (1/8 cup packed) Brown Sugar

25 grams (1/8 cup) Granulated Sugar

1 tsp. Cinnamon

30 grams (heaping 1/4 cup, spooned and leveled) Whole Wheat Flour, All Purpose is fine too 

*You want the dough to have a sour taste to go with the cinnamon sugar, so if not using sourdough discard, replace it with a sour wet ingredient.          Alternatively,      You could add 1/4 tsp. Cream of TarTar (putting the baking powder measurement down to 1/4 tsp. instead of 1/2 tsp.) when you mix the butter, or use 1 tsp. Apple Cider Vinegar, and make up the rest of the wet ingredients in plant milk. 

Method: 

(see pictures and video tutorial below the steps)

Step 1: Make the Cinnamon Sugar Swirl:

Combine the melted butter, sugars, and cinnamon in a bowl. Mix until combined. Add the flour and mix again, until a wet dough forms. Portion out the mixture into small balls, then place in the freezer ot set while you make the dough. 

Step 2: Make the toast crumbs:

Carefully slice your stale bread, as it will be hard to slice. Toast the slices in a toaster until just golden brown.

Spread the vegan butter onto your toast slices. Break up the slices so that they can fit in your food processor, then process until bread crumbs form. It's okay to have a little variation in size here, but you don't want any crumbs that are too big.

Pour the processed crumbs into a bowl, and mix in the cinnamon sugar until completely coated. 

Step 3: Brown the butter: In a saucepan, add the vegan butter. Over medium heat, melt the butter. As the butter starts to bubble, put the heat down to medium-low and stir continuously. Eventually, the butter will begin to brown and have a toasty aroma. If you are having trouble seeing how browned your butter is, take it off the heat and wait for the bubbles to die down to check the color of the butter. Once browned, take off the heat and pour into the bowl of a stand mixer. 

Step 4: Make the Dough:

To the bowl of a stand mixer (with the slightly cooled brown butter), fitted with the paddle attachment, or by hand with an electric mixer, add the brown and granulated sugar, as well as the cold cubed butter. Mix on medium speed until pale, light, and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.

Step 5: Add the maple syrup, sourdough discard (if using), vanilla, miso, and plant milk. Mix again until fully combined, scarping down the sides of the bowl as needed. 

Step 6: In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Add the dry mix to the stand mixer, along with the reserved toast crumbs for the dough (86 grams/ scant 1 cup).  Mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, to reduce the amount of dry that will fly out the sides, then go up to medium speed until just mixed. You don't want to overmix the dough. 

Step 7: Add the frozen cinnamon swirl balls to the dough and fold them in using a spatula. Try to get the balls evenly distributed.

Step 8: Portion and Chill the dough: 

Using a small ice cream scoop, scale, or by estimate, roll out 20 even dough balls. Mine came out to about 49-50 grams each, using a roughly 1/4 cup ice cream scoop. Slightly press down the dough balls into a hockey-puck shape before rolling. Roll each dough ball in the remaining toast crumbs, pressing them in lightly to help them stick. Coat both sides

Step 9: Place the coated dough balls on a parchment-lined plate or baking sheet. It's okay to slightly stack them. Place in the fridge for 12 hours, but preferably 24 hours. 

Step 10: 1 hour before baking the cookies, take them out of the fridge to come to room temperature.

Step 11: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fareinheit. 

Step 12: Bake the cookies. Place them about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Place in the oven for 8 minutes, rotate the pan, and bake for another 3-5 minutes. The cookies will have slightly golden brown edges. They won't spread a whole lot, but will have some ripples on top. Allow to cool completely on the pan. 

Notes:

Can I make the components ahead of time? Yes! You may make the toast crumbs a day ahead of time, or the cinnamon sugar swirl, as they take time. The cinnamon sugar should remain in the freezer until ready to use, and the toast crumbs shouldn't be made too far in advance as they don't want to continue to stale. I would recommend storing the toast crumbs in an airtight container until ready to use. 

Do I have to chill the dough in advance? Short answer, probably not. You want the dough to be room temp when you bake, so it's ok if you make the dough the day of. However, I have always found that cookie dough gets better with age, as the flavor really develops with time in the fridge. DO NOT, however, skip the step of freezing the cinnamon swirl component, as we want it to remain in chunks within the dough.