Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

These heart, chewy Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies are made with sourdough discard and come together quickly—no chilling required! A delicious twist on a classic favorite.

A Brand New Cookie Recipe!

If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know that I love my cookies. I get a lot of requests for some fan favorites, like my Cut-Out Sugar Cookies, my Golden Girls, and my Snickerdoodles. (I’m personally in love with my Peanut Butter cookies. They have my heart.) 

Today, however, I was on a quest to try something new. I’ve been on a roll with sourdough recipes lately—everything from Homemade Sourdough Bread to Focaccia, to Irish Soda Bread. You name it, I’ve probably added sourdough to it. 

So, adding sourdough starter to a batch of chocolate chip cookies just seemed appropriate. 

Which Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Should I Use? 

I scoured the web to get some ideas, but in the end just made some simple adjustments to my own Ultimate Chocolate Chip cookie recipe. This particular time I didn’t brown the butter, but you can, if you like. Basically, I swapped out one of the eggs for some sourdough starter and added a bit more flour to take up the slack for some of the additional liquid in the starter. More on that in a moment.

I should interrupt this explanation to say that you can use any chips you like. Peanut Butter. Butterscotch. White Chocolate. Mini Chocolate Chips. M&M’s. . .you can add whatever you like in place of semi-sweet. (Honestly? I contemplated adding mint chocolate chips because that’s my favorite. But, I decided the first time out I should go plain Jane (traditional chocolate chips) so that I could get a baseline for future bakes. 

How does Sourdough Starter Change a Cookie Recipe? 

The first change is the introduction of a slight tang. It’s very minimal in this recipe, thanks to the small quantity of starter that you’ll add. But it pairs beautifully with the semi-sweet chocolate chips I added.

The second change is this: Starter tightens the dough and increases gluten. You end up with a slightly stiffer cookie. I wish I'd known this ahead of time before adding so much flour. (I added a full three cups, which turned out to be problematic.) My cookies ended up a bit too thick/bready, so I adjusted the recipe for a slightly looser outcome for you. (You're welcome!)

Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookie Ingredients

You will find a full printable recipe card at the bottom of this post but here’s a peek at what you’ll need. These are simple ingredients you might already have on hand in your kitchen right now. 

1 cup salted butter (room temperature)
1 cup light brown sugar (packed)
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
⅓ cup sourdough starter (100% hydration)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 ¾ cups flour
1 ½ cups chocolate chips

How to Make Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

These come together very easily!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Prep a couple of cookie sheets with parchment paper. 

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. 

Place room temperature butter into a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment. Beat until creamy. 

Add white and brown sugars and mix until it’s light and creamy. 

Now it’s time to add the starter and egg. Work it in slowly. 

Add dry ingredients. Mix well.

Stir in the chocolate chips. 

No need to chill this dough. Go ahead and scoop it out right away. 

I like to press mine down with my palm.

Place tray into preheated oven and bake for 11-12 minutes or until golden brown. 

Remove and place cookie sheet on wire rack to cool .

After a while, move the cookies directly to the rack to continue cooling. 

Serve and enjoy! 

Store leftovers in an airtight container up to three or four days. You can freeze these to eat later. 

In fact, I decided to freeze most of the dough by rolling it into logs. 

This is my usual habit when I bake a recipe for my blog. I just bake up one tray and save the rest in the freezer for when the grandkids or friends come over. They should stay good in the freezer up to two months. 

What to Expect from this Recipe

These are hearty chocolate chip cookies. I mentioned above that mine came out a bit bready, so I adjusted the recipe for you. I happened to be working with a slightly thicker-than-usual starter. Also, my “large” egg was more like a medium one, which caused my dough to be heavier than it needed to be.

No worries, though. They tasted great! For my first time making the recipe, I was very pleased. I know you will be, too. 

Variations to this Recipe

Here are some fun ways to change up this recipe: 

Add pecans to the cookies: I’m a nuts-person. I love pecans in my cookies. Yum!

Turn these into Almond Joy cookies by adding some coconut flakes and slivered almonds. (Yum!) 

Substitute ¼ cup of the flour with cocoa powder for a dark chocolate cookie. (Double dark chocolate cookies? Delicious!)

Add dehydrated cherries along with the chocolate chips to make Black Forest cookies. 

Add orange zest to make a chocolate-orange cookies. (This flavor combination is spectacular!) 

The possibilities are endless, friends. Use your imagination to come up with as many lovely ideas as you like! 

Other Cookies from Out of the Box Baking

There are so many other fun cookie recipes on this blog to try. Here are some favorites: 

• Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies
• French Butter Cookies
• Dolly Parton Coconut Cookies with Lemon Glaze
• Lemon Shortbread Cookies
• Pecan Toffee Cookies with Salted Caramel

That’s it for this post, friends!

I hope you enjoyed this delicious recipe. 

If you make this recipe and love it, don’t forget to leave a review and a comment below. And while you're at it, go ahead and pin some photos to your Pinterest boards!

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About the Author

Janice Thompson is an author, baker, and all-around mischief maker! She has overcome a host of baking catastrophes, including a toppled wedding cake, to learn more about the baking process. Janice has published over 165 books for the Christian market but particularly enjoys writing recipes and baking devotions. To learn more about Janice or to drop her a note, visit her About the Author page.