Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies (Optional Cinnamon Spices)
Say hello to your new favorite sourdough chocolate chip cookie recipe! It’s easy, flexible, and downright delicious. As a unique twist, we love to add optional warm spices to the batter along with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt on top. Can you say, sugar and spice and everything nice? Yet if you prefer classic sourdough chocolate chip cookies, keep it simple and skip the spices. Either way, these soft and chewy cookies are divine.
Looking for more sourdough recipes? Don’t miss our sourdough ginger molasses cookies, easy sourdough pancakes, or sourdough crackers recipe!
Note: This post was originally published in December 2020.
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Same Day vs Overnight
The timing for this sourdough chocolate chip cookie recipe is very flexible. You can bake the cookies an hour after you mix the dough, several hours later, or the next day. The longer the dough is allowed to rest and thereby ferment, the more gut-healthy and easy to digest the cookies will be!
You could probably even refrigerate the dough for two to three days before baking – though we’ve never waited quite that long, so I can’t personally vouch for how it may impact the texture. See tips for freezing cookies and dough at the end of this post.
Using Active vs Discard Starter
You can make sourdough chocolate chip cookies using discard or active starter. Since the recipe also calls for baking soda, the starter won’t play a huge role in the rise.
However, keep in mind that using very old, neglected starter will make the cookies exceptionally sour-tasting, and could also impact the final texture. Therefore, I recommend using discard that was fed within the last few weeks – not months ago.
RELATED: Looking for more sourdough discard recipes? Don’t miss our easy sourdough discard crackers or this delicious chunky sourdough granola.
Ingredients
This recipe makes approximately 30 sourdough chocolate chip cookies (2 to 3 dozen) depending on the size cookie balls you make.
- 1 ¾ cup flour (all-purpose or bread flour, see flour notes below)
- ¾ cup sourdough starter, discard or active (100% hydration)
- ½ cup granulated white cane sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar. We love to use dark brown sugar for its deeper, robust molasses flavor! If you use light brown sugar instead, add an additional tsp of vanilla extract (use 1 Tbsp instead of 2 tsp vanilla)
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 13 Tbsp butter, unsalted and softened
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp kosher salt or sea salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 cups (16 ounces) of chocolate chips. We’re huge dark chocolate lovers, and like to use organic dark chocolate chips in the 63-75% cocoa content range.
Optional ingredients to make spiced sourdough chocolate chip cookies:
- 1.5 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 to 1 tsp ground ginger (sliding scale based on your affinity for ginger)
- A pinch of nutmeg
- Coarse sea salt to sprinkle on top
All Purpose Vs Bread Flour
You can use either all-purpose flour or bread flour to make sourdough chocolate chip cookies. If you happen to have both, I suggest using 1 cup all-purpose and ¾ cup bread flour. Comparison baking trials show that using all-purpose flour will result in a slightly flatter cookie with a soft, chewy center and crisp outer edges. Higher in protein, bread flour creates a taller, fluffier, more cake-like cookie with less spread and crunch.
Instructions
1) Mix Wet Ingredients
- First combine both types of sugar and the softened butter in a bowl. For the best results, use butter that has softened at room temperature or is otherwise barely melted, but not liquid. Mix well.
- In a small separate bowl, whisk the egg. Then add the egg and vanilla to the butter and sugar mixture. Beat until thoroughly combined.
- Finally, add the sourdough starter to the wet ingredients and mix well.
2) Dry Ingredients
- In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients: the flour, salt, baking soda, and optional spices. Mix well.
- Next, add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredient bowl. Fold and stir until everything is just incorporated, but do not over mix!
- Last but not least, mix in the chocolate chips.
3) Chill Dough
Now, chill your sourdough chocolate chip cookie dough in the refrigerator for at least one hour, or until the next day. If you plan to let it chill for more than an hour, cover the bowl to prevent the dough from drying out – such as with a damp tea towel, DIY beeswax wrap, or plastic wrap.
4) Portion on Cookie Sheet
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Scoop or pinch about 2 to 3 tablespoons of cookie dough and roughly form into balls. I don’t measure, but shoot for ping pong ball to golf ball size.
- Place them about 3 inches apart on an un-greased baking sheet, or one lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat (one dozen per sheet). Do not grease your baking sheet!
- Optional: Sprinkle a pinch of coarse flaky sea salt on the top of each raw cookie before they go into the oven. The salt will spread out as the cookie does too.
5) Bake
- Bake for approximately 10 to 12 minutes, or until the top has set and they turn golden brown around the edges.
- You could also bake for a shorter time (8-9 minutes) for extra soft, gooey sourdough chocolate chip cookies. The longer they bake, the more fluffy and cake-like they will become. If the cookies look a tad gooey right out of the oven, keep in mind they will continue to set up and cook slightly on the pan after baking.
- Allow the cookies to cool for several minutes on the baking pan, and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack.
Now dig in and enjoy your delicious fresh sourdough chocolate chip cookies!
Storage and Freezing
Store leftover cookies at room temperature in an airtight container, such as a glass food storage container with lid. They’ll have the best texture if consumed within 4 to 5 days. Otherwise, you could also freeze excess cookies to enjoy within a few months. The Kitchn shares some great tips on freezing whole baked cookies.
Absolutely! Raw sourdough cookie dough will last for about 3 months in the freezer when wrapped in a sealed, air-tight package or container. Before baking, simply allow the dough to sit at room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes before portioning it onto cookie sheets to bake.
I hope you love this spiced sourdough chocolate chip cookie recipe as much we do, and I can’t wait to see y’all make your own! Please come back to leave a review, and tag me on Instagram (@deannacat3) to share your creations. Let me know if you have any questions, and feel free to spread the cookie love by sharing or pinning this article. Thanks for tuning in!
Don’t miss these related recipes:
- Simple Sourdough Focaccia Bread
- Sourdough Cornbread Recipe (vegan and GF options)
- Healthy Sourdough Spiced Pumpkin Bread (or muffins)
- Delicious Sourdough Zucchini Bread (or muffins) with optional nuts, seeds, chocolate or dried fruit
- Simple No-Knead Sourdough Bread Recipe
- Cast Iron Whole Wheat Sourdough Pizza Crust
Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies (Optional Cinnamon Spices)
Equipment
- Mixing bowls
- Baking sheets
- Optional: parchment paper or silicone cookie sheet liner
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups flour (all-purpose or bread flour, or a combination – see notes below*)
- 1/2 cup white granulated cane sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (dark preferred, if using light brown sugar add 1 extra tsp of vanilla)
- 3/4 cup 100% hydration sourdough starter, discard or active
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 13 Tbsp unsalted butter, soft at room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract (3 if using light brown sugar)
- 1 tsp kosher salt or sea salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 cups chocolate chips, dark chocolate preferred (16 ounces)
Optional "Spiced" Ingredients
- 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
- .5 tsp ground ginger (up to 1 tsp)
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- coarse flaky sea salt, to top cookies before baking
Instructions
- First combine both sugars and the slightly softened butter. Mix well in a bowl.
- In a small separate bowl, whisk the egg. Then add the egg and vanilla to the butter and sugar mixture. Beat until thoroughly combined.
- Add the sourdough starter to the wet ingredients and mix well.
- In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients: the flour, salt, baking soda, and optional spices.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredient bowl. Fold and stir until everything is just incorporated, but do not over mix!
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Chill dough in the refrigerator for at least one hour, or until the next day. Cove the bowl to prevent the dough from drying out.
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Scoop or pinch about 2 tablespoons of cookie dough and roughly form into balls (about golf ball size). Place them 2 to 3 inches apart on an un-greased baking sheet, or one lined with parchment paper.
- Sprinkle a pinch of flaky sea salt on the top of each raw cookie before they go into the oven.
- Bake for approximately 10 to 12 minutes*, or until the top has set and they turn golden brown. (See "bake time" notes below)
- Allow the cookies to cool for several minutes on the baking pan, and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack.
- Enjoy!
- Store leftovers at room temperature in an air-tight container for several days (up to a week) or freeze extras.
Notes
71 Comments
Bill
I had a bunch of pistachios from Costco that I wanted something to do with. I found your recipe and I will keep you posted on cookies with my 3 favorite things: chocolate, pistachios and sourdough. Thanks, Bill
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Sounds delicious Bill, hope you enjoy them!
Melinda Mergelsberg
These are amazing. So light and fluffy.
Liz
I made these as a bar cookie and they turned out great!!
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Liz, turning them into bars is a great idea, so glad you enjoyed them!
Jane
These cookies are the BEST! I am a newbie at chocolate chip cookies, and all my pre-sourdough recipes failed horribly!
Also, my hubby does not like chocolate chip cookies, AT ALL! He also has a fatty liver, a gallstone and some gluten issues. I baked these a few times, picked out the chips from a few before baking them, and he LOVES them! And no issues with his fatty liver, or gallstone (butter would regularly put him in a ton of discomfort) I score these cookies a solid 10/10! Hubby does too!
Jasmine
I recently got sourdough going again and wanted to try something new with it. I normally like crispier cookies but boy, these are good!! I halved the recipe (still used one whole egg) and might have used a little extra sourdough (I might have spilled a little, whoops), they remind me of a really tender cake type cookie, or maybe even a muffin top.
They’re also not suuper sweet like some cookies can be, it’s just the right balance of indulgent without the sugar overdose.
Definitely a win with this recipe!
Susan Hipgrave
So I made these cookies with chopped dates instead of chocolate chips and halved the sugar using just brown sugar. Sooooo tasty!
Andrea
Love your advice and recipes, I use them often.
If I could make a suggestion, I would love it if I could get your recipes with grams.
Jezz
I second this. Grams would be amazing!! <3
Kristen
I’m excited to try this recipe! Would it work to add oatmeal to make more of an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie?
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Kristen, yes you can add oats to the recipe but you may want to hold back around 1/2- 1 cup of flour and see what the texture is like, you can always add in more flour if the batter is too wet or needs to be “tightened” up a bit. Hope that helps and good luck!
Vivian
I had made some sourdough starter a month ago and tried my hands at foccacia and sourdough bread with no luck and even thought to chuck it out. But I had spent so much time feeding and caring for it that I wanted to see if here was another way of using it. So when I found this recipe of chocolate chip cookies using sourdough starter in it, I had to give it a go. Well I have to say it sure turned out good, and now I have a reason to keep my sourdough starter mix.
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Vivian, please don’t give up baking with sourdough. It is something that can take a little practice to get used to, our first loaves of bread were nowhere near the bread we bake now, give yourself a little more time to get used to the process. We couldn’t imaging not making delicious loaves of sourdough bread. Glad you enjoyed the cookies and have fun baking.
Kristen
Thanks! I’ll give it a shot! 🤞🏼
Kelley
Delicious! Followed the bread flour/ap flour mix and as promised it was fluffy, soft, and gooey (I also took the recommendation of pulling them out while they still looked slightly shiney. Great use of sourdough discard, and the spices really brighten it up. I pre-rolled the cookies after the hour in the refrigerator, baked off some and put the rest in the freezer for an as needed snack. Thank you for the recipe!
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
So glad to hear you enjoyed the cookies Kelley!
Carrie Lee Council
I purchased a dehydrated starter from y’all and it reactivated quickly and I was excited to start baking! This cookie was the first recipe I tried with my discard. My cookies turned out very dense and then I made a loaf of sourdough bread with your no-knead recipe and it is also very dense, like eating a sponge. Any ideas what I am doing wrong? The sourdough pancakes I made were delicious!
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Carrie, first, thank you for your order! Our first loaf or two of sourdough bread was likely smaller and more dense than the bread we can now make, baking with sourdough just takes a little time to learn the intricacies of what the activated starter looks like, as well as the look and feel of your bread dough. It will become easier with experience, for your next loaf of bread, try our focaccia recipe as it is easier and more forgiving to make than the regular loaf of sourdough. Again, with time and experience, your bread will improve all the way around. Hope that helps and have fun baking!
Carrie
Thanks Aaron! I will keep at it and try the focaccia in the meantime. So glad y’all and your home are safe after the vehicle fire! Take care.
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Thank you so much!