Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies are loaded with chocolate chips and so easy to make when you use your sourdough starter discard. No electric mixer is needed for this recipe (just your muscles), and you can have a soft, cakelike cookie or bake a little less time for a chewier cookie. Try my original Chocolate Chip Cookies recipes for another delicious recipe on this favorite classic cookie.
Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
Once you have a sourdough starter, you might as well use it as often as you can! For these Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies, you will use your sourdough starter that has not been fed for a couple of days or sourdough starter discard. There’s no reason to waste any of your starter when you have recipes like this or my Sourdough Blueberry Pancakes! With all the ingredients mixed in one bowl, it’s so simple to get the dough ready to be baked into a delicious cookie.
Baking Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
Once you have the dough prepared, it’s time to bake the cookies!
But, baker beware…a mere two minutes can be the difference between a softer, fluffier, more cake-like cookie and a chewier, flatter cookie. I made them both ways, as you can see in the next couple of pictures. For all of the cookies, I used a 3-tablespoon scoop of dough.
If you want the more cake-like cookie, bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. For a chewier cookie, bake for only 6-8 minutes. The baking temperature for both is 350°F.
Be sure to bake the cookies to the doneness you prefer, which can VARY depending on the water content in your starter, the size of your eggs, the humidity, and your oven. You will want to bake the cookies and start checking at 6 minutes. Keep adding an additional 2 minutes until you reach the desired doneness.
The Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies you see on the top picture above were baked in that 6-8 minute range. They have a chewier texture and did not ‘puff up’ like the more cake-like cookie below it. The cake-like cookie was baked in the 8-10 minute range. You can see the difference in the picture below as well. The cookies on the left were baked in less time than the cookies on the right.
This may vary in your oven.
How to Freeze Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cookies can be easily stored in the freezer. To freeze the cookies, let them cool completely. Then, lay the cookies flat on a piece of parchment paper, put them in the freezer for a few hours, and then store them in a zipped plastic freezer-safe bag. Remember to label the bag with the date. Cookies will stay fresh for up to 3 months. Let them sit out at room temperature overnight to thaw.
Can I Freeze the Dough Before Baking?
Yes! First, form the dough into the balls as if you were going to bake them. Instead, place the balls of dough in the freezer until solid (about an hour). Then, store the dough balls in freezer-safe containers. When ready to bake, just add a couple of minutes to the baking time.
Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- Mixing bowl I like using these glass mixing bowls
- Baking sheet This pan from Nordic Ware works great!
- Parchment paper I use this brand
- Kitchen scale (optional)
Ingredients
- 14 tablespoons (1 stick + 3/4 stick) unsalted butter, slightly softened
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (100g) brown sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 cup sourdough starter, unfed
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups (16 ounces) large chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the softened butter and sugars. (Make sure the butter is soft enough to mix with the sugar by hand.)
- Add the egg to the mixture, stirring until incorporated.
- Stir in the sourdough starter and vanilla extract.
- Add the flour, salt, and baking soda, careful to not overmix.
- Finally, incorporate the chocolate chips and let the dough refrigerate for 15 minutes or refrigerate up to overnight. (I have made them without refrigeration and they get more cake-like in texture.)
- When ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F. (Let the refrigerated cookies come to room temperature.)
- Drop spoonfuls (2-3 tablespoons) of dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. (I use a 3 tablespoon ice cream scoop.) Bake 8-10 minutes for a cake-like cookie. Bake 6-8 minutes for a chewier cookie. (My recommendation!) The cookie MAY appear a little wet in the center and that is ok. It will continue to bake and be cooked throughout after being out of the oven for a few minutes.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
The temperature is incorrect in this recipe. It calls for 350 degrees for 6-8 min. I cooked two batches of these cookies, the first I followed the directions at 350, I tried at 8 min and they were still completely raw, I had to keep in for 15 min and they never really browned on top and came out cake like. I baked a 2nd batch at 450 for 8 min and they came out perfectly! Browned on top, chewy on the inside and I sprinkling a bit of kosher salt on top before baking… delish! Cook on the upper rack so the bottoms don’t burn.
Thanks for clarifying how it worked best in your oven! Every oven is different and I tested this recipe several times over several days in mine; the times I listed are correct for mine. However, it’s good to know that you were able to determine that a different time/temp worked successfully in yours. That may be beneficial to others. Thanks!
Messed up a little by using regular salt instead of Kosher salt and my discarded starter may have been a bit too active, but the cookies were WONDERFUL. Light, puffy, and cake like with the perfect mix of sour and sweet. Was planning to dump that needy sourdough starter once bakeries started baking again, but it might be worth keeping for this recipe alone!
Do these instructions/ingredients need to be altered for high-ish altitude baking? (I’m at about 5500 ft above sea level.) Thanks!
Hi, Megan! I work with iambaker and am happy to help with questions. There are a few things you can adjust when baking at high altitudes. I recommend making only one modification at a time. You could: decrease the baking soda by 1/8 of a teaspoon; add a little extra flour (2 tablespoons per cup); reduce the sugar by a couple of tablespoons. I hope these suggestions are helpful and have a great day!
This is an amazing recipe. Like lots of us out there…making sourdough at home has left me with so much discard and I don’t want to waste it! This is my favorite application so far. Thank you for the recipe. We are plant-based so I simply used vegan butter and one egg worth of vegan egg replacer as substitutions. Both performed excellently in your recipe. I refrigerated dough for a few hours and baked off while the dough was still slightly chilled. Bake time was 8-9 minutes. The texture is a marriage of cakey, moist, chewy chocolate perfection. My family devoured these cookies. Thanks, again. Next to try…sourdough oatmeal raisin walnut cookies!
I’ve got my first batch chilling in the fridge right now. If the batter is any judge, these will be great. But one quick question: why refrigerate for such a short period if you’re only bringing them back to room temp just before cooking?
Good question! You don’t have to, it is simply easier to scoop out the dough when they are not cold. Refrigeration isn’t necessary at any step, I just prefer a chewier cookie and found that when I was testing the cookies that some chilling helped to achieve cohesion in the ingredients and produce the chewy cookie I was after.
Question rather than comment. How much starter in grams ms? Even a rough approximation is better than a volume measurement as the density of starter can be so variable.
Thanks! They were great and are already nearly gone. Lasted about 20 minutes 🙂
Temperature way off. Leaves them raw if do at 350. Even for 10min. 450 for 8-10 makes them cake like. Not like pics! GL!
Hi, Amy! I work with iambaker and am happy to help with questions. Make sure you refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes before baking. In addition, the dough needs to come to room temperature after the refrigeration. Have a great day!
Yum, these were delicious! Sweet but with a complexity to them thanks to the sourdough starter. I baked mine for about 10 minutes to get that perfect chewy texture – all ovens are different so helpful to keep an eye on these every couple minutes! Thank you for this recipe!
These were the most INCREDIBLE cookies! I added a little flaked sea salt to the top and that made them perfect!
Yay! Love that idea!!