Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sourdough chocolate chip cookies are gooey, chocolatey, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. With a pinch of salt, dash of vanilla, and hint of sourdough, these cookies merge a medley of flavors into the best chocolate chip cookie you’ll ever taste!

Nobody can resist a warm cookie, fresh from the oven and oozing chocolate at the seams. It’s always a good idea to have a go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies. They seem to fit every occasion, whether it be a playdate for the kids, a church potluck, or a late night chocolate craving.

Although sourdough chocolate chip cookies turn out best when you refrigerate the dough for a bit, they can be whipped up in 25 minutes if necessary, making them great for unexpected guests or spontaneous parties. Your friends probably won’t be able to guess that you used sourdough in this recipe although they will wonder how you managed to create the perfect balance of salty and sweet in your cookies.

In addition to tasting scrumptious, these cookies are the perfect way to use up some of your sourdough discard starter. I don’t know about you, but even after 2 years, I still struggle to throw out even a little bit of starter every week. It can seem like such a waste! That’s why I love sourdough discard recipes like this one, which keeps my starter healthy and my mind at ease.

If adding sourdough starter to a cookie recipe sounds weird to you, please just give these a try. Mixed with chocolate, vanilla, and sugar, the sourdough starter is not overwhelming in these cookies. It adds just the right amount of flavor to keep them from being too sweet, and it also gives the cookies a soft, light texture that is hard to achieve otherwise.

Tips for making Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Although you can use active sourdough starter to make these cookies, they will turn out just as well with discard starter. Don’t be afraid to use older discard. As long as you’ve kept it in the fridge, and it looks and smells healthy, feel free to use your discard starter from the week before if you don’t have any on hand at the moment.
• If you like, you can allow your cookie dough to ferment overnight before baking your cookies the next day. Fermenting helps break down the gluten in flour, making it easier for our stomachs to digest. To do this, mix your sourdough starter, flour, and butter in a bowl at night. The next morning, add the rest of the ingredients, roll into balls, and bake. If you like, you can check out Farmhouse on Boone for more detailed instructions on how to ferment your cookie dough.
• It’s almost always a good idea to refrigerate your cookie dough for at least 1 hour before baking your cookies. This prevents the butter from melting too much, which will give you thin, spread-out puddles of cookie.
• However, if you don’t have the time to refrigerate your dough, make sure to use butter that is not too soft, to prevent your cookies from spreading in the oven. If any of your butter is liquid, it’s probably too warm for making cookies.
• Depending on how you like your cookies, experiment with baking times to find the perfect texture. I personally like my cookies on the slightly underbaked side, which makes them more gooey and soft. However, if you like a crisper cookie, feel free to leave your cookies in for a few more minutes. Just watch them carefully to ensure they don’t burn!

Can I freeze Cookie Dough?

Yes! Freezing cookie dough is a great way be prepared in case of last-minute visitors or when you just really need a cookie at 9:30pm. Make the dough like normal, then roll into balls. Put them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and freeze for 1 hour or so, until they are hard. Then put the balls of cookie dough in a container and into the freezer. You can freeze these cookies for up to 3 months. Past that, they will probably get freezer burn. Although you can freeze baked cookies, I wouldn’t recommend it. When they defrost, they lose their characteristic texture and do not taste nearly as good as when they are freshly baked.

Tools you may need

To make your own sourdough chocolate chip cookies, you will want

• Baking trays
• Parchment paper
• Electric mixer or stand mixer
• Cookie dough scoop (optional, but definitely helpful!)

Ingredients

You will need

• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup sourdough starter
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips

How to make Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. I nearly always use the convection setting on my oven because it ensures that my baked goods are cooked evenly. If you have this setting, I’d highly recommend using it. Line two baking trays with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl, beat together the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy. It will take about 1-2 minutes. One by one, add in the eggs, beating after each one to make sure they are full incorporated into the batter.

Add in the sourdough starter and vanilla and mix well.

Measure out the flour, baking soda, and salt, and stir into the dough. Don’t over mix your dough! While you don’t want streaks of flour in your dough, you also don’t want hard cookies. Stir your dough until everything is just incorporated and then let it be.

Fold in the chocolate chips and then refrigerate your dough for at least 1 hour. (If you don’t have the time, you can skip this step, but it certainly gives the cookies a better texture and flavor.)

Roll or scoop your cookies into balls about 1 Tbsp in size and arrange them on the baking trays. Make sure to leave about 2″ between the cookies as they will expand slightly in the oven.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown. Let them cool just long enough so you won’t burn your tongue, and enjoy!

Looking for other ways to bake with your sourdough starter?

Check out some other easy recipes for sourdough such as

Easy Overnight Sourdough Bread

Sourdough Baguettes

Sourdough Pie Crust

Sourdough Cheese Crackers

Let me know how your sourdough chocolate chip cookies turned out in the comments!