Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ooey, gooey, chewy, buttery, and so irresistible, these Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Cookies will become your new favorite way to use sourdough discard! My easy, no-mixer, no-chill recipe combines the perfect ratio of ingredients to ensure a soft, chewy cookie (no cakey cookies here!) with plenty of melty chocolate puddles.

Recipe Background and Details

I've been wanting to add a cookie to my ever-growing collection of sourdough discard recipes and I finally did it! These sourdough discard chocolate chip cookies are so good! And so easy. A quick mix in a bowl is all you need - no mixers, no chilling, just instant cookie gratification. Isn't that what we all want when we're craving cookies? Yes, I brown the butter but it takes minutes and there is a good reason which I'll explain below. And I will give options if you just can't be bothered with that step.

My issues with most sourdough cookie recipes: they are either big and cakey or they are flatter than pancakes. Also, they almost always require a chilling period. I knew I wanted to create just the right size, thickness, and texture. Yes, a cookie should be gooey, but you should be able to pick it up while warm without it falling apart. And I knew I really wanted to eliminate the need to chill the dough before baking (which was actually pretty easy to do). Now, if you want to chill your dough balls you totally can and should. I'll give some make ahead and freezing instructions below. Now let's make some cookies!

If you love finding ways to use your sourdough starter, be sure to check out these other very popular sourdough discard recipes: Sourdough Discard Soft Pretzels, Sourdough Discard Cinnamon Rolls, Sourdough Discard Pizza Crust, Sourdough Discard Crackers, Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread, and Sourdough Discard Banana Bread.

Ingredients for Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Cookies

browned butter: for delicious flavor but also to evaporate extra moisture from the butter to achieve a chewy cookie. See below under Do I Have to Brown the Butter and What Can I Use Instead of Browned Butter headings.

light brown sugar and white granulated sugar: equal parts of each creates the best texture and flavor.

vanilla extract: and plenty of it. I say a tablespoon but just measure with your heart like I do.

egg yolk: just the yolk to get the perfect texture and eliminate any additional moisture from the egg white.

sourdough starter: this is a discard recipe but you can use your starter in any state. You might get a slightly puffier cookie if your starter is very bubbly and active.

baking powder, baking soda, and salt

all purpose or bread flour: I have used both with great results. The bread flour helps with a chewy texture.

chocolate: chips or chunks or a combo

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make sourdough chocolate chip cookies - step-by-step instructions

• First, brown the butter. Place butter in a skillet and melt over medium heat. Continue cooking, stirring and scraping the bottom often, until the butter foams, the foaming subsides a bit, and the milk solids begin to turn brown. Remove from heat when they are a light golden brown color and quickly pour into your mixing bowl.

• Add both sugars to the browned butter and stir or whisk to combine. This mixture will be like wet sand.
• Next, add egg yolk, vanilla, and sourdough discard. I like to use a whisk at this stage to really combine it very well.
• Then, add baking powder, baking soda, and salt and whisk again to combine thoroughly. I know this is different, but I like adding these at this stage as I fell they combine a lot better than if they are added with the flour.
• Add flour and mix until a shaggy dough begins to form.
• Add chocolate chunks or chips at this stage and mix until combined and no flour is visible.

• Scoop two tablespoons of dough at a time (I love to use my cookie scoop for this) and place on parchment lined tray about an inch apart.
• Flatten the dough balls slightly so they are more like little round patties about ½ an inch thick.
• Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-9 minutes. Allow to cool on trays.

Do I have to Brown the Butter? (and why)

OK, here's the deal with browned butter. Yes, it adds incredible flavor but in this particular recipe, there is some actual science behind it. Sourdough discard contains a good amount of moisture and so does butter. Moisture is the enemy of chewiness in a cookie. So by browning the butter we are evaporating a lot of that moisture out of the butter. This step along with only using the egg yolk takes out enough moisture to avoid a cakey cookie outcome.

What Can I Use Instead of Browned Butter?

If you really, really don't want to use browned butter you can use melted butter and you'll get a little bit of a cakier texture. You can bake the cookies for less time to try to avoid that. Or, you can use oil such as light olive oil, avocado oil, or melted coconut oil in place of the butter. You will of course miss out on the butter flavor this way, but you'll still end up with a chewy, not cakey, texture.

Will My Sourdough Cookies Taste Sour?

No, these cookies will not taste sour and I used my very, very mature starter that I had in the back of my fridge for about a month. So it was super sour but somehow the cookies don't taste sour - they just have a unique and complex flavor both from the sourdough discard and the browned butter. They are SO GOOD!

Substitutions and Variations

Chocolate Chips or Chunks: Use your favorite chocolate here - chips, chunks, milk, dark. I prefer high quality chopped chocolate for a few reasons: it tastes amazing, it melts into luxurious chocolate puddles, and by chopping it myself I get little bits of chocolate shavings and dust which I just love in a cookie.

Nuts: If you love a nutty ccc, feel free to add some chopped nuts. Pecans or hazelnuts would be my choice. Just promise me you'll toast them first. And to make it even easier, you can toast them in the browned butter! Also, be sure to check out my Brown Butter Pecan Cookies.

Browned Butter: See above under Do I Have to Brown the Butter and What Can I Use Instead of Browned Butter headings.

Make Ahead, Freezing, Storage

Now, earlier I explained my desire to eliminate the chilling step that is in so many cookie recipes. But if you want to chill these, you can! I recommend scooping them all, covering, and chilling for up to 24 hours before baking. It's so much easier to do this than to try to scoop rock solid cookie dough.

To freeze the dough balls, scoop onto parchment in a single layer, freeze until solid, and transfer to freezer bags or containers. Having a stash of cookie dough balls in the freezer is one of my favorite things!

Store baked and cooled cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for 2-3 days. Pop them in the microwave or air fryer for a few seconds to get them ooey gooey again.

How to Reheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

The best cookies are warm and gooey. To easily achieve this after the cookies have been baked and cooled, try these methods:

• Oven or Toaster Oven: Bake cookies at 350 degrees F for 3-5 minutes until warmed through.
• Microwave: Heat cookies for 5-10 seconds until warmed through.
• Air Fryer: Preheat air fryer to 350 and heat cookies for 3-5 minutes until warmed and softened.

If cookies are very hard they can be wrapped in foil (not in the microwave!) and they should soften as they reheat. To achieve this in the microwave, wrap them in a very lightly dampened paper towel.

Top tips

The key to the perfect texture is to under-bake these slightly. 8 minutes is perfect in my oven and then I let them cool and finish baking on the cookie sheet once they are removed from the oven. This results in the perfect texture in my opinion.

Make sure to eat a few while they are warm and gooey!

FAQ

Related - cookie recipes

More Sourdough Recipes

Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Cookies

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

Ooey, gooey, chewy, buttery, and so irresistible, these Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Cookies will become your new favorite way to use sourdough discard! My easy, no-mixer, no-chill recipe combines the perfect ratio of ingredients to ensure a soft, chewy cookie (no cakey cookies here!) with plenty of melty chocolate puddles.

• Total Time: about 40 minutes
• Yield: 22 cookies

Ingredients

4 ounces (113 grams) butter, browned

½ cup (110 grams) light brown sugar

½ cup (100 grams) white granulated sugar

1 egg yolk

½ cup (140 grams) sourdough discard

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon kosher salt

2 cups (240 grams) all purpose flour

2 cups (340 grams) chocolate chips or chunks

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a couple cookie sheets with parchment.
2. Next, brown the butter. Place butter in a skillet and melt over medium heat. Continue cooking, stirring and scraping the bottom often, until the butter foams, the foaming subsides a bit, and the milk solids begin to turn brown. Remove from heat when they are a light golden brown color and quickly pour into your mixing bowl to stop the cooking process.
3. Add both sugars to the browned butter and stir or whisk to combine. This mixture will be like wet sand.
4. Next, add egg yolk, vanilla, and sourdough discard. I like to use a whisk at this stage to really combine it very well.
5. Then, add baking powder, baking soda, and salt and whisk again to combine thoroughly. I know this is different, but I like adding these at this stage as I fell they combine a lot better than if they are added with the flour.
6. Add flour and mix with wooden spoon or silicone spatula until a shaggy dough begins to form.
7. Add chocolate chunks or chips at this stage and mix until combined and no flour is visible.

8. Scoop two tablespoons of dough at a time (I love to use my cookie scoop for this) and place on parchment lined tray about an inch apart.
9. Flatten the dough balls slightly so they are more like little round patties about ½ an inch thick.

10. Bake one tray at a time at 350 degrees F for 8-9 minutes. Allow to cool on trays.

• Author: anita | wild thistle kitchen
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 8 minutes per tray
• Category: baking, sourdough, cookies bars and brownies, desserts
• Method: baking, sourdough
• Cuisine: American