1. 1. Prepare Your Baking Pan: Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C). Lightly grease an 8×8 inch baking pan and line it with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides to easily lift the brownies out later. This simple step makes cleanup and serving much easier.

2. 2. Melt Butter and Combine Sugars: In a large mixing bowl, melt the unsalted butter. Add the granulated sugar to the melted butter and whisk them together until well combined and smooth. This creates the base for our fudgy brownies.

3. 3. Add Wet Ingredients: Whisk in the eggs one at a time, ensuring each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next. Stir in the vanilla extract and then the sourdough discard. Mix until the batter is smooth and uniform; don’t worry if it looks a little thin at this stage.

4. 4. Combine Dry Ingredients: In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Make sure there are no lumps of cocoa powder.

5. 5. Fold Dry into Wet: Gradually add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredient mixture, folding gently with a spatula until just combined. Be careful not to overmix, as this can lead to tougher brownies. A few streaks of flour are okay; they will disappear during the next step.

6. 6. Stir in Chocolate Chips: Fold in the chocolate chips until they are evenly distributed throughout the batter. This ensures every bite has delicious pockets of melted chocolate.

7. 7. Bake the Brownies: Pour the batter into your prepared 8×8 inch baking pan and spread it evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached, but not wet batter. The edges should look set, but the center might still seem slightly soft – this is key for fudginess.

8. 8. Cool Completely: Remove the pan from the oven and let the brownies cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before lifting them out and cutting into squares. Cooling is crucial for the fudgy texture to set properly.