Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
Buttery, chewy, sourdough chocolate chip cookies are the perfect afternoon treat. This bakery-style cookie is made with sourdough discard and is so easy to make at home!
Why you will love this recipe for sourdough chocolate chip cookies
- You only add the discard so you can make them the same day!
- It has a long fermentation option. If you want to enjoy all the benefits of sourdough, you can ferment the dough in the fridge overnight and bake it the next morning!
- Kids love to help bake these cookies.
- You can make it with browned butter!
- To make these sourdough chocolate chip cookies, you don’t have to cream the butter and sugar before you add the rest of the ingredients!
Ingredient notes
Sourdough discard: To give your cookies a tangy flavor, you add the discard. This also adds all the benefits of sourdough without waiting for fermentation. Because the discard isn’t as active as it would be after a feed, you do have to add a rising agent like baking powder.
Flour: bread flour is perfect for these cookies. The higher protein content of bread flour makes these cookies extra soft and chewy! If you want you can use all-purpose flour but your cookies will be a little drier.
Butter: Always use unsalted butter when you make one of our recipes. Using butter without salt gives you more control over your salt intake and the flavor of your bales. If you only have salted butter, you don’t have to add more salt to the dough.
Baking powder: because the discard isn’t strong enough to create the crumbly texture you want, add baking powder.
Chocolate: Always use the best quality chocolate chips you can afford because you will taste the difference. I like to use dark chocolate because it pairs perfectly with the brown sugar, but you can use any chocolate you love as long as it is suitable for baking.
Brown sugar: Using brown sugar gives your sourdough chocolate chip cookies a mild caramel flavor, especially if you use browned butter! If you don’t have brown sugar, caster sugar will also work.
Variations
Chocolate and caramel: If you love the combination of chocolate, caramel, and sea salt, you can replace 1/4 of the chocolate chips with small pieces of caramel and sprinkle a little bit of sea salt on top of your cookies as soon as they come out of the oven.
Browned butter: For an extra-rich, deep flavor, use brown butter for this recipe! Add the butter and two tablespoons of extra butter to a saucepan and let it melt over low heat. Let the butter simmer until fragrant and lightly browned. Let it cool for a few minutes before using it for the recipe.
Long fermentation: If you want your cookies to have as many of the benefits of the sourdough and love the tang sourdough gives the cookies, you can also long ferment the dough. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and let it ferment in the fridge overnight.
Berries and chocolate: Use white chocolate chips and add 1/4 cup chopped strawberries to the dough for sweet, chewy sourdough strawberry white chocolate chip cookies!! If you want to make them extra special, drizzle some melted white chocolate or lemon glaze on top.
Chopped nuts: You can’t go wrong with chocolate and nuts, so if you love Nutella, add 1/4 cup of chopped hazelnuts to the dough! Walnuts, cashews, pecans, and peanuts are also great options.
How to make sourdough chocolate chip cookies
One of the things we LOVE about this recipe is that you don’t have to cream the butter! All you need to do is add the softened butter to a mixing bowl and add the rest of the ingredients except the chocolate. Mix until you have a smooth dough like in the photo, and chop your chocolate into small pieces. If you’re using chocolate chips, you can omit this step.
Add the chocolate to your bowl and fold it into the dough. We like to use a mixture of semisweet and dark chocolate, but you can use any type of chocolate as long as it is suitable for baking.
Scoop small portions of dough onto a lined baking tray and refrigerate for about an hour. For perfectly sized cookies, aim for each cookie to weigh around 50 grams. Bake the cookies in a preheated oven and allow them to cool completely before serving. This step is important, as they will be slightly soft when they first come out of the oven.
Our tips for this recipe
- Use your favorite type of chocolate! I like to make these sourdough chocolate chip cookies with ruby chocolate for Valentine’s Day!
- Scoop your dough onto the baking tray as soon as the dough is ready. This will make shaping your cookies much easier because the dough will become too soft to work with if it gets too warm.
- Always use a kitchen scale for baking recipes.
- Make sure to use room temperature ingredients.
- Freeze the dough always to have some at hand when you crave chocolate!
- Use an ice cream scoop! This will help make every cookie the same size.
- Don’t skip chilling in the fridge. The cookies will spread in the oven if your dough is too warm.
Frequently asked questions
Absolutely! You can store the dough in the fridge for four days or in the freezer. The longer you let the dough rest, the more intense the sourdough flavor will become.
I haven’t tried to make them with gluten-free flour, but I can’t see why it wouldn’t work.
Storage
Homemade sourdough chocolate chip cookies stay fresh for about a week if you store them in an airtight container or cookie jar. Frozen, they last for up to six months!
You can also freeze the raw cookie dough. Wrap it in plastic wrap before loading it in the freezer, and take it out to thaw a few hours before. Give the dough a quick knead and bake as described in the recipe card.
More of our favorite sourdough cookie recipes
Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 200 grams granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sourdough discard
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 stick butter
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 °F (190 °C) and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
- Add the egg, discard, vanilla and softened butter and mix until you have a smooth, sticky dough. We like to use a stand mixer with petal attachment for this step.
- Once your dough is ready, add the chocolate chips and fold them into the dough.
- Scoop small heaps of dough on your lined baking tray and bake your cookies in the center of the oven for 15 minutes or until golden.
- Let them cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely before serving.
Notes
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days, or freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months.
- For soft centers and crisp edges, take them out when the edges are golden and the center looks slightly underdone.
- The dough gets better after 24 hours in the fridge. Chill overnight for a deeper flavor and a thicker cookie.
- Use a mix of dark and semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate for gooey pockets and balanced flavor.
- Freeze the cookie dough in scoops and bake straight from frozen. Just add 1-2 minutes to baking time.
These cookies taste delicious and I love how easy this recipe is to make. Just mix everything together in one bowl. Perfect!
These were so amazing! Could’ve eaten them all in a day HAHA!
These are AMAZING! I love how sourdough can level up baked goods 🙂
Ohh sourdough choc cookies, I can’t wait to make these!
We really have been way too intimidated to work with sourdough starter or discard. But this is making us think about starting💛