Learn how to make sourdough chocolate chip cookies at home with your sourdough discard!
These bakery-style cookies are soft, thick, and chewy. Loaded with chocolate chips in every bite!
Make the dough in advance and keep it in the fridge or freezer. You'll never be more than minutes away from satisfying your sweet tooth!
Sourdough chocolate chip cookies are a thing. A very delicious thing indeed!
Sourdough discard makes a naturally fermented cookie that your family will rave about.
Just like our sourdough peanut butter cookies, sourdough ginger molasses cookies, and sourdough oatmeal cookies, they are perfectly sweetened and stay soft and fresh tasting for days.
They are everything you're looking for when it comes to homemade chocolate chip cookies, but better!
Instructions
In order to create a soft and chewy sourdough chocolate chip cookie, the batter must NOT be over-mixed.
After several test batches, we found that the following method worked best for incorporating the ingredients without overmixing the dough.
To achieve this, use the paddle attachment with a stand mixer to beat cold, cubed butter with the sugars until it starts to come together, 45-60 seconds. The mixture will be thick and uneven looking.
Add the chocolate chips and continue to beat on low speed for 30 seconds. The texture of the chocolate chips will help blend the butter and sugar together evenly. (We are not looking for light and fluffy.)
Whisk the dry ingredients together in a small bowl and add them to the butter mixture and mix on low speed until it has a "crumbly" texture, 20-30 seconds.
Use a fork to beat the egg, sourdough discard, and vanilla in a small bowl. Add it to the batter and mix on low speed until "just incorporated", 20-30 seconds.
Use a spatula to make sure the ingredients are fully combined.
The goal is to avoid over-mixing the batter so that you get a thick, chewy, perfect cookie!
Use a cookie scoop to portion the dough into 12 large balls. Place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and chill in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours. 24 hours is best!
When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C).
Bake the cookies for 15-17 minutes, or until the outside of the cookies are golden brown and the middle still looks slightly under-baked.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
Tips and Tricks
After each addition of ingredients to the stand mixer, mix until "just incorporated". You do not want to add any air to the batter. Adding too much air creates a more "cake-like" cookie.
Bread flour is higher in gluten, which produces a more chewy cookie. If you don't have bread flour, you can use all-purpose flour in its place.
Enhance the flavor of the cookie with flaked sea salt. Add a pinch on top of the dough balls before you place them in the oven. (This is totally optional but highly recommended!)
How to store and freeze
Baked cookies
Store baked sourdough chocolate chip cookies at room temperature in an air-tight container for up to 7 days. (To keep them extra fresh and chewy, place a small piece of white bread in the container.)
Freeze any leftover baked cookies for up to 3 months. After the cookies have cooled completely, individually wrap them in plastic wrap and insert them into a freezer-safe bag.
Unbaked cookie dough
Store unbaked cookie dough in the fridge, covered tightly for up to 7 days. (According to the FDA, unbaked cookie dough is not safe for consumption.)
To Freeze unbaked cookie dough, portion the dough out onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and place it in the freezer. Transfer the frozen dough balls into a freezer-safe container and keep them frozen for up to 3 months.
Bake in a 375°F (190°C) oven for 17-20 minutes, straight from the freezer.
Alternatively, allow the dough to thaw in the fridge overnight and bake according to the original directions.
Other sourdough discard recipes you may like:
- sourdough brownies
- cut out sourdough sugar cookies
- sourdough thumbprint cookies
- sourdough blueberry muffins
- sourdough sugar cookie bars
Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
INGREDIENTS
Dry Ingredients
- ¾ cup + 1 teaspoon (95 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup + 1 teaspoon (125 g) bread flour (all-purpose can be substituted, see notes)
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
Wet Ingredients 1
- 1 large (1) egg
- ½ cup (125 g) sourdough starter discard
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) vanilla extract
Wet Ingredients 2
- 8 tablespoons (113 g) unsalted butter (cold, cubed)
- ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) white granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups (340 g) chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk chocolate)
INSTRUCTIONS
Mix dry ingredients
- Use a whisk or a fork to mix the bread flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
Mix wet ingredients 1
- In a separate small bowl, use a whisk or a fork to beat the egg, vanilla extract and sourdough starter until smooth. Set aside.
Mix wet ingredients 2
- Place the cold, cubed butter, light brown sugar and granulated sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat on low-speed until the mixture forms small crumbles, 45-60 seconds. Add the chocolate chips and mix on low-speed 30-45 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix on low-speed until the batter starts to become a crumbly mixture, 20-30 seconds. Pour in the egg mixture and mix on low-speed until the dough comes together and starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, 20-30 seconds. Use a spatula to stir the batter, ensuring all of the ingredients have been fully incorporated.
- Use a cookie scoop to portion the dough into 12 balls, (2 scoops per cookie) and place them on a parchment-lined baking tray. Cover the dough with a sheet of plastic wrap so they do not dry out. Chill the dough in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours. (24 hours is best!)
- Bake in a preheated, 375°F (190°C) oven for 15-17 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the center still appears slightly under-baked. Remove and allow the cookies to rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
NOTES
- Store baked cookies at room temperature in an air-tight container for up to 7 days. Place a small slice of white bread inside the container to help keep cookies fresh.
- Freeze unbaked dough for up to 3 months.
- Bread flour can be replaced with equal parts all-purpose flour. Using 100% all-purpose flour will produce a less chewy cookie.
Emily Munday says
I totally did not expect these to be the best chocolate chip cookies I had ever made, but they were, and I've tried many many recipes. I was just looking for a way to use sourdough starter, and this was such a fun yummy creative way! The cookies are soft inside, crispy on the outside, just the perfect amount of sweetness (and I'm a sweets lover but not really a SUPER rich sweets lover).
Amy says
Thanks for the 5 stars review! 🙂
Cris says
Just made these for the first time. I am wondering, is it necessary to do the 2 hour chill? Also, do you then allow the dough to come to room temperature prior to baking? These cookies stayed in their scoop form and I am curious if there is anyway to get them flatter? The only thing I did differently was substitute coconut oil for butter since my butter was frozen solid. Thanks for the recipe, looking forward to having it as a guide for future cookie experiments!
Kim says
This is a fantastic recipe. Except that I don’t know in what alternate universe it makes 12 cookies. I easily got 36 regular sized chocolate chip cookies out of this. Good thing I didn’t double it!
Karlie says
These are my absolute favorite cookies! So good!
Natalie DiPaolo says
Wow! These cookies were so so amazing. I will say that mine did not at all look like the ones in the pictures above (they fluffed up pretty huge and kept their volume after cooling) and they had a very cakey texture, but I like them that way so I was happy. Everyone who tried them raved about them as well. The only two changes I made were subbing in Frangelico for vanilla as that's what I had on hand and only did half the chocolate (didn't have enough for the full amount) but they turned out so well. Can't wait to stock my freezer with these.
One note — I didn't see any mention of bringing the refrigerated cookie dough to room temp before baking so I didn't. Not sure if I was supposed to or not.
Faith says
I’ve made this recipe a few times now and it’s turned out great every time! I like that I can work with cold butter- and this recipe makes using up discard very convenient. Cookies freeze well. I usually get a few dozen from this recipe - I can’t imagine how huge and decadent these would be if I only made 12!
Bea says
Just made your sourdough cookie recipe and the cookies came out excellent! However I was wondering, If I wanted to lower the sugar content, what else would I need to modify in the recipe - so as not to affect the chewiness and moisture content? Thank you so much!
Tari says
Great tasting cookie! I did decrease the sugars by 25% & my cookies were a little cakier than I want. (Still plenty sweet though). Next time I’m going to try to add an extra 20gm starter to maybe make up for the decrease in sugar volume. I also may use more brown sugar than regular sugar like one commenter suggested for more chewiness. I did use whole wheat pastry flour for the all purpose flour and part whole wheat bread flour and part white bread flour for the bread flour.
Amy, I’d love your input.
Astrid says
I admit that I chose this recipe initially as it thankfully also contained metric measures, for a European person a real blessing. It also was very easy to follow and with the use of a kneading machine super simple easy. Due to space issues in the fridge I kept the dough cooled over night in a bowl and only used an ice-cream-scoop (spoon?) this morning.
The cookies are awesome and I fear I will have to hide them from my husband - his sweet tooth might take over 😉
I have posted on Instagram, linking to your site.
Summer Yule says
Delicious! I made smaller cookies with white choc chips and baked 10 minutes. They were perfect! Thanks for this super use of starter discard 🙂 They were used as birthday cookies for a cake hater. 😂
Carol says
I’ve made these cookies a handful of times but I feel they always turn out a bit dry. They taste great but just a little dry. Mine also get much taller and more fluffy than the picture shown in the recipe. If I bake less time, they aren’t done. What else can I do to try to make them less dry? More butter? I weigh all ingredients and use a medium 5cm cookie scoop
Jen says
Same, Carol. Mine came out incredibly dry. I'm wondering if my starter is to blame? It's 100% hydration but about 20% rye flour. Maybe more butter to balance it out?
Jane says
Hi
Mine were dry the first time using the cup measurements but next time I used the grams and they are now perfect every time and so delicious