The Best Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies are soft and chewy in the center, slightly crisp around the edges, and packed with plenty of chocolate chips. They’re a great way to use up sourdough discard while making a classic cookie everyone loves.
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If you have extra sourdough starter sitting on your counter that you didn't use this is one of my favorite ways to use it. You don’t need to make a loaf of bread or plan around a long fermentation. Just grab your discard and turn it into a batch of warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies.
The sourdough adds a subtle tang that balances the sweetness of the cookie and makes these taste just a little different from your everyday chocolate chip cookie.
I am telling you this recipe took me so long to develop and I almost didn't want to in the beginning because I thought all sourdough discard chocolate cookies were just cakey, ALWAYS! This perfect ratio does the trick for me, and people love them. I love them, it doesn't have a sourdough taste, but it doesn't have a different tang, and the discard keeps with cookies really moist and soft for a longer time period. It crates those chewy centers with crispy edges, and what I love most is it doesn't require a stand mixer! You just need a large mixing bowl and a whisk.
If you love cookies and are looking for more recipes you will love my brown butter maple oatmeal raisin cookies, small batch chocolate chip cookies.
Why You'll love These Sourdough chocolate Chip Cookies:
- Soft and chewy: The centers stay soft and chewy while the edges get lightly crisp, these cookies stay extra soft with the sourdough discard!
- A great use for sourdough discard: Instead of throwing away your extra starter, use it to make cookies!
- No complicated sourdough process: There’s no feeding, shaping, or long fermentation required for this recipe.
- Easy to make ahead: You can refrigerate or freeze the cookie dough and bake it whenever you’re ready.
Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies Ingredients:
- Sourdough starter: Use unfed sourdough discard straight from the refrigerator or at room temperature. The discard adds moisture and a subtle tang to the cookies.
- For the best results, use a sourdough starter that is at 100% hydration, meaning it is fed with equal weights of flour and water, and try not to use an active starter (cakey cookies)
- Butter: I like using unsalted butter so I can control the amount of salt in the cookies. Melted butter gives these cookies a chewy texture and helps create those crisp edges.
- Brown Sugar/Sugar: Using two different types of sugars helps with moisture, color, flavor, chewiness
- Egg + Egg yolk: The egg helps bind everything together and adds richness to the cookie dough.
- Vanilla Bean Paste/ Vanilla Extract: You can substitute vanilla extract if that's what you have.
- Bread Flour: Don't substitute the bread flour. The bread flour gives the cookies more texture and body. If you substitute with all-purpose flour gives these cookies will still taste amazing but they will spread more and be thinner.
- Baking Soda/ Baking Powder: Baking soda helps the cookies spread and brown while giving them a lighter texture, and just a small bit of baking powder gives these cookies a bit more lift!
- Sea Salt: Salt balances the sweetness and brings out the chocolate and brown sugar flavors.
- Chocolate Chips: Use your favorite chocolate chips. A blend of Dark and Semi-sweet chocolate chips is my favorite. But you can also use milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or a mixture of chocolate chips and chopped chocolate.
- Flaky Salt: I love and use Lange salt flakes!
Full recipe card with measurements below.
How to Make Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies:
Melt the butter and let it cool slightly. You want the butter melted but not piping hot.
In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until well combined.
Add the egg, egg yolk, sourdough discard, and vanilla bean paste. Whisk until smooth.
Into a medium sized bowl add all the dry ingredients bread flour, baking soda, and salt. Use a spatula to mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until the flour is almost incorporated.
Be careful not to overmix the dough. A few streaks of flour are okay at this point.
Add the chocolate chips and gently fold them into the dough until evenly distributed.
The dough should be soft and slightly sticky.
Use a medium cookie scoop (3 tbsp) to portion the dough into balls and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
If time allows refrigerate the dough for 1 hour or overnight. Highly recommend to reduce spreading.
Bake the cookies at 350F for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden brown and the centers still look slightly soft.
Don't wait for the centers to look completely baked. They will continue cooking from the residual heat of the baking sheet as they cool.
As soon as the cookies come out of the oven did a gentle bang on the counter, scoot the cookies with a round cookie cutter and then I let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack. Sprinkle flaky salt if desired.
Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies Tips:
NUMBER ONE TIP! The biggest tip for soft, chewy cookies is to take them out of the oven while the centers still look slightly underbaked. The cookies will continue to set as they cool.
Chill the Dough: Don't skip the chilling step. Cold cookie dough spreads less in the oven and gives you thicker, chewier cookies.
Extra Chocolate: Once you scoop the cookie dough, press a few extra chocolate chips or chopped chocolate pieces into the tops. This gives the cookies that bakery style look we all love.
Sourdough Starter: Use discard and not active, active starter will create a cakey like cookie.
The Best Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 8 ounces Unsalted Butter
- 1 ¼ cup Dark brown Sugar Light Brown Sugar ( Substitute)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 Large Egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla Paste/Extract
- 2 ½ cup Bread Flour (King Arthur)
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
- 2 cups Chocolate Chips Semisweet, Milk, Dark
Instructions
- Melt the butter and let it cool slightly. You want the butter melted but not piping hot.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until well combined.
- Add the egg, egg yolk, sourdough discard, and vanilla bean paste. Whisk until smooth.
- Into a medium sized bowl add all the dry ingredients bread flour, baking soda, and salt. Use a spatula to mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until the flour is almost incorporated.
- Be careful not to overmix the dough. A few streaks of flour are okay at this point.
- Add the chocolate chips and gently fold them into the dough until evenly distributed.
- The dough should be soft and slightly sticky.
- Use a medium cookie scoop (3 tbsp) to portion the dough into balls and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies at 350F for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden brown and the centers still look slightly soft.
- Don't wait for the centers to look completely baked. They will continue cooking from the residual heat of the baking sheet as they cool.
- As soon as the cookies come out of the oven did a gentle bang on the counter, scoot the cookies with a round cookie cutter and then I let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack. Sprinkle flaky salt if desired.
