Sourdough chocolate chip cookies are a delicious way to use discarded sourdough starter. Also a great way to reduce kitchen waste!
This post first appeared October 24, 2018, and was last updated January 28, 2022.
photography by Kelly Neil
Have you seen our catalogue of recipes using discarded sourdough starter? If yes, then you know how much we love trying to rescue discard from the compost bin! These sourdough chocolate chip cookies are a great example of how we do this.
This recipe uses discard (flat, unfed starter), however, you can also use active sourdough start if that’s what you have (for more information on sourdough starter, including terminology, visit this post called How To Make Sourdough Starter From Scratch). I tested these chocolate chip sourdough cookies with both discard and freshly fed active starter and didn’t find any real difference between the two.
My starter is two years old, however, I don’t find the added flavour in my sourdough discard chocolate chip cookies overly strong, or even that noticeable. Because every sourdough starter is unique flavour results will vary. I add starter to sourdough cookies more to reduce waste and add fermented bacteria to my gut, rather than for flavour. To create a stronger sourdough flavour, you can try resting your mixed cookie dough in the fridge for up to three days before baking.
Ingredients
- Eggs — I use large eggs for my recipes. They weigh between 50 to 60 grams in the shell.
- Butter — I always use full-fat salted butter for baking.
- Vanilla Extract — I currently have a large bottle of clear imitation vanilla. Use any vanilla you like or have on hand.
- Sourdough Starter — You can use either inactive (discard) or active (freshly fed and bubbly) sourdough starter to make this sourdough cookies recipe.
- Chocolate Chips — I used semi-sweet chocolate chips for this recipe.
Method
Add the dry ingredients to a bowl. Whisk to combine.
Add the butter and sugars to a mixing bowl. Mix on medium-high until smooth and creamy.
Add the eggs to the mixture one at a time. Mix each egg into the butter and sugar.
Add the sourdough starter and vanilla. Mix well to combine.
The wet ingredients will be thick but creamy. Add the dry ingredients.
Switch to a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Mix halfway then add the chocolate chips.
Stir the chocolate chips into the dough. Stop once the flour is mixed in.
Scoop the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake 9 to 11 minutes then cool on a wire rack.
Tips & Notes
- For best results, we recommend using a scale and oven thermometer if at all possible.
- Room temperature eggs mix better than cold eggs. A quick tip to take the chill off is to submerge your eggs in a bowl of hot tap water while you gather the other ingredients.
- You can use dark, semi-sweet, or milk chocolate chips. Chopped chocolate also works well.
- If you don’t have a hand or stand mixer you can make sourdough starter cookies by hand with a wooden spoon. It just takes a bit longer and requires some elbow grease to cream butter by hand.
- Tightly packing the brown sugar means there is a much higher ratio of brown to white sugar. More brown sugar means chewy sourdough cookies.
- Mixing the flour in by hand with a wooden spoon will prevent over-mixing, which can lead to tough cookies. Stop when the flour is just mixed into the wet ingredients.
How To Store Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
Once cooled, store the cookies in an airtight container with a tight-fitting lid, or a large zipper top bag. Cookies will keep stored on the counter for up to three days, in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to two months.
Substitutions
- You can substitute light spelt flour at a 1:1 ratio for all-purpose. You can also try swapping in 40% (80 grams) of whole wheat flour for the all-purpose.
- I haven’t tested this but I think this recipe should be fine with a good quality plant-based / dairy-free butter.
More Sourdough Discard Recipes
Sourdough Morning Glory Muffins
One Bowl Sourdough Banana Bread
Sourdough Crackers With Homemade Za’atar
Peanut Butter Cookies
Blueberry Muffins With Cinnamon Streusel
Recipe
Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
Description
Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons or a digital kitchen scale
- 2 Mixing bowl
- 2 baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Hand or stand mixer
- Wooden spoon or rubber spatula
- Cookie scoop optional
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup brown sugar, tightly packed
- ½ cup sugar, granulated
- ¾ cup butter, soft, room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup sourdough starter
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl until well combined. Set aside.
- Place the brown sugar, white sugar, and butter in a second mixing bowl.
- Use a hand or stand mixer to mix everything together on medium to high speed until thick and creamy, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Crack an egg into the butter and sugar mixture. Continue to mix on medium-high speed until the egg is well mixed in. Repeat with the second egg.
- Add the sourdough starter and vanilla to the bowl. Again, mix until well blended, smooth, and creamy.
- Switch to a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture.
- Mix the cookie dough by hand until the flour is about halfway mixed.
- Add the chocolate chips to the bowl, and continue to mix by hand until the flour is just mixed in.
- Use a medium-cookie scoop to scoop 12 portions of dough onto each prepared baking sheet. The dough portions should be about 2 inches apart from each other and from the sides of the pan.
- Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake the sourdough starter cookies for 9 to 11 minutes, or until the edges are light gold.
- Remove the baking sheets from the oven to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
- Transfer the cookies from the baking sheet to the wire rack to cool completely.
Diana says
I was actually looking for the Lactation Cookies you had previously, but failed to find it! I will be baking these now, with chocolate starter!
Kelly Neil says
Oh my goodness that sounds amazing Diana! And yes, we sent that post to draft to a do a rewrite as it is such an old post and was never tested properly. We hope you love the cookies!🍪🍪🍪