Sourdough Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Sourdough oatmeal chocolate chip cookies made with discard are the perfect afternoon treat. If you’re a fan of classic sourdough chocolate chip cookies and sourdough oatmeal cookies, you will fall in love with this recipe because it combines the best of both, plus they are super easy to make!
Why you will love our recipe for sourdough oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
- They are quick and easy to make. We want to make our recipes as simple as possible, so no extra steps like creaming the butter. You make everything in one bowl!
- You don’t need any fancy ingredients. These come together in no time and only use basic ingredients like oats, flour, and chocolate.
- It is a discard recipe! I love recipes that use the part of your starter you normally throw away. This not only adds all the flavor and benefits from sourdough, but it also prevents food waste!
Ingredients
Sourdough discard: To give your cookies a tangy sourdough flavor, we add sourdough discard to the dough. Because we don’t use an active starter, you don’t have to feed your starter and wait for it to become bubbly before you begin. This is also a perfect recipe to use a whole wheat sourdough starter if you have one.
Flour: All-purpose flour is perfect for making these cookies. You don’t want to use a high-protein flour because you don’t want gluten to develop. This recipe also works with gluten-free flour, or use whole wheat flour to give them a more rustic flavor.
Chocolate: We love the combination of dark chocolate and oats, but you can use any chocolate you like. Make sure the chocolate you use is suitable for baking, because otherwise it will burn while baking. If you’re in the mood for more chocolate chip sourdough recipes, check out our chocolate chip sourdough muffins, double chocolate sourdough muffins, and regular sourdough chocolate chip cookies!
Sugar: Another thing we love about this recipe is that you can use any sugar you have. We usually use granulated sugar, but if you want to add a mild caramel flavor, you can make this recipe with brown sugar instead.
Vanilla: For a subtle sweet flavor, you add a little bit of vanilla. For this recipe, we’ve used vanilla extract, but you can substitute vanilla bean paste or vanilla sugar. If you don’t like vanilla, you can leave it out or substitute it with almond extract.
Butter: We always use unsalted butter in our recipes. This way, you have more control over the salt content of your cookies! For the best flavor, use a butter with a high fat content, such as European-style butter. If you want to make this recipe vegan or dairy-free, you can use margarine or a plant-based butter instead.
Variations
Monster cookies for Halloween: Sourdough oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are perfect for creating fun Halloween cookies. Add candy eyes before baking and decorate them with white chocolate to create scary mummy cookies!
Use a mixture of chocolate and caramel: These cookies are amazing, but hear me out. Add 1/4 cup of caramel chips and drizzle some dark caramel sauce on top!
Add nuts or dried fruit: To make the ultimate fall cookie, replace half the chocolate chips with chopped nuts and dried fruit. If you want to go all out, add half a tablespoon of cinnamon or pumpkin spice for an extra-rich fall flavor.
Swab the chocolate for M&M’s: For fun, colorful oatmeal cookies, you can replace the chocolate chips with your favorite M&M’s.
How to make sourdough oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
Combine the dry ingredients, and once they are mixed, you add the dry. This will help to prevent overworking the dough!
Once all the ingredients are mixed, it is time to add your chocolate chips. We like to fold them in, but you can add them to the dry ingredients with step 1 if you want.
To form the cookies, we’ve found that using two spoons works best. If your dough is a little too sticky, you can dip the spoons into cold water to prevent the dough from sticking to the spoons. The cookies will spread in the oven, so leave a little room between the cookies and bake them for about 12 minutes, until golden.
Our tips for the best sourdough oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
- Be careful when removing the cookies from the oven. When you take them out of the oven, they are still soft, but they will crisp as they cool. To prevent them from breaking, you need to let them cool on your baking tray for 5-10 minutes before transferring them to your cooling rack to cool completely.
- Don’t overmix the dough. This will result in tough, dense cookies.
- Use a good-quality chocolate. For the best results, you want to use a chocolate you enjoy eating. We like to use Callebaut when we make these cookies.
- Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature. This will make incorporating your ingredients easier and help to improve the texture of your cookies.
- Measure your ingredients using a kitchen scale. To get the best cookies every time, we highly recommend using a kitchen scale.
Frequently asked questions
Absolutely! This is a great option if you want to make them gluten-free or add an extra nutty flavor. It will affect the texture of the cookie, but they will be just as delicious.
Yes! We made this recipe for discard because you don’t rely on the sourdough as a leavening agent, but you can use an active starter if that’s what you have. Keep in mind that the sourdough flavor might be a little less intense, as it takes time to develop fully after feeding your starter.
Sure. If you want to long-ferment your cookie dough, you can cover it with plastic or a beeswax wrap and place it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake your cookies.
Storage
Freshly baked, these sourdough oatmeal chocolate chip cookies stay fresh for about 3 to 5 days when you store them in a cookie jar or an airtight container. If you have too many to eat within a few days, don’t worry! They are also suitable for freezing. Frozen, they will last about 6 months. Wrap them individually to have a quick snack ready to go, and let them thaw at room temperature when you’re ready to enjoy your cookies.
More of our favorite sourdough cookie recipes
Sourdough Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups oats
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sourdough discard
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 °F (180 °C).
- In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients until completely combined.
- Add the wet ingredients and stir them in until just combined. It is important not to overwork the dough. The dough should be a little sticky.
- Fold in the chocolate chips, and scoop small heaps of dough on a lined baking tray using two spoons. To prevent the dough from sticking to your spoons, you can dip them in cold water.
- Place your tray in the center of the oven and bake your cookies for 15-17 minutes or until golden.
- Let the cookies cool on your tray for at least ten minutes. They are still a soft when they come out of the oven, but they will crisp up when they cool.
butter is not listed in the recipe
should it be 1/2 cup?
Hi Lynn! Thanks for letting us know, i’ve added the butter to the ingredients. It should be 1 stick or 1/2 cup.