This is the only sourdough chocolate chip cookie recipe you will ever need. They're chewy, gooey, and the perfect blend of vanilla and chopped chocolate. So easy to make with just a whisk and bowl. No stand mixer needed! Brown butter gives these sourdough discard cookies a rich and nutty flavor, paired with extra vanilla extract. It's the most delicious way to use up leftover sourdough starter!
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What Makes an Amazing Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookie?
There are a lot of sourdough chocolate chip cookies on the internet. But none were the flavor and texture I wanted, nor the ease to make. Most of them were too cakey, bland, and required a stand mixer.
So I set out to make the best chewy, gooey sourdough chocolate chip cookie that I could. And after many rounds of testing, here she is in all her glory.
These Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies hav the chewy, gooey middle you dream of, with buttery crisp edges and beautiful cracks through the surface. There’s loads of nutty, rich flavor from using browned butter, extra vanilla, and being kissed with perfect amount of salt. Each bite has a good amount of dark chocolate; just look at those delicious pools of decadence! And they stay chewy for a few days rather than turning dry.
I can’t wait for you to fall in love with these.
They come together with just a bowl and a whisk, no stand mixer needed! That was a very important factor when I was developing this recipe, as I wanted everyone to be able to make them.
Key Ingredients to My Sourdough Dough Chocolate Chip Cookies:
Brown Butter
To enhance the chew and give these cookies the most amazing toasty flavor, you’ll brown unsalted butter. This is a simple process that means melting regular butter on the stovetop and simmering for a few minutes, which cooks some of the water out and the milk solids fall to the bottom and turn into brown toasty bits. That’s where all the flavor is! I have included a video in the recipe card so you can see just how easy it is to do.
Sourdough Discard
Use room temperature discard so that it easily incorporates into the wet ingredients.
Dark or Semisweet Chocolate in bar form
Pure Vanilla Extract
I do not hold back on using vanilla! You’ll use 3/4 tablespoon to impart incredible flavor, just like a bakery.
Both Granulated and Brown Sugars
Both Baking Soda and Baking Powder
Using Chocolate Chips versus Chopped Chocolate in Cookies
I tested these cookies with both chopped chocolate from a bar and chocolate chips to demonstrate how it affects the texture of the cookies. You can use either, but I highly recommend chopped chocolate for the very best cookie.
Chocolate chips are made with emulsifiers so they hold their shape. This means they do not melt well; cookies spread less when they are used. Chocolate chips = thicker cookies and less overall chocolate distribution.
Instead, chopped chocolate melts into gooey pockets, creating a more melty and decadent texture in the finished cookie. The irregular shapes and sizes of the chocolate pieces give you some bites with tons of chocolate and others with just a hint. And the cookies have so much more visual interest and texture.
Does Sourdough Discard Make Cookies Sour?
Nope! Sourdough discard provides moisture and adds a developed flavor to the cookies. Since it is fermented, the gluten structure is weakened so baking soda and baking powder are used here as leaveners.
As a sourdough starter rises and falls it expresses acids and alcohol, that if not used or left in the jar, can negatively affect the balance of your starter. So, before feeding your starter, you remove and discard a portion of it each time to refresh the acidity levels. “Discard is not bad”, it just can’t make a loaf of bread rise anymore because it doesn’t have any energy left to produce CO2.
How Long Does Sourdough Discard Last in the Fridge?
You can keep sourdough discard in your refrigerator for about 10 days. The discard will become more sour the longer it stays in the fridge. For that reason, when I’m making something sweet like these cookies, pumpkin scones or sourdough discard cake, where I don’t want the sourness to come through, I use discard that is less than 5 days old.
Can I Freeze this Sourdough Cookie Dough?
Yes, the dough freezes well for about a month! I prefer to scoop the dough into balls and freeze them that way, instead of big chunk of dough. Take the frozen dough out of the freezer and let it come to room temperature before you bake the cookies.
This is the only sourdough chocolate chip cookie recipe you will ever need. They're chewy, gooey, and the perfect blend of vanilla and chopped chocolate. So easy to make with just a whisk and bowl. Brown butter gives them a rich and nutty flavor, paired with extra vanilla extract. It's the most delicious way to use up leftover sourdough starter!
In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Cook for several minutes to brown the butter. It will go from simmering to bubbling to foaming, and you will begin to see brown flecks on the edges of the pan and the bottom. It will smell nutty and delicious. Once you can see a good amount of brown specks, remove from heat and pour butter and scrape all the bits into your mixing bowl that you will use for the cookies.
Add sugars and stir to coat. Then add sourdough discard and stir to incorporate a bit. Then add egg and switch to a whisk, whisking mixture until and cohesive. Add vanilla and whisk again.
In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add half the flour mixture to the wet mixture, and stir with a spatula, about 15 times. Then add remaining flour and stir gently to incorporate, until almost all the flour is absorbed, but not quite. We want to avoid overworking the dough, so add the chopped chocolate now, and finish mixing the dough.
Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes*. When 30 minutes is up, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare a sheet pan with parchment paper, and scoop 55 gram dough balls. I usually bake 7 cookies at a time.
Bake for about 13 minutes, until edges are a little bit brown and middles are just set. Do not overbake. Remove from oven and tap the pan on the counter firmly two times, this deflates the cookie a bit and gives you the gooeyness. Let cookies cool on pan for 5 minutes. They will finish baking here. Then move cookies to a wire rack to cool. Top with a light sprinkle of flaky salt.
Notes
You can refrigerate the dough for up to 36 hours. The longer they are in the fridge, the more you will be REWARDED with a more intensified the flavor and goodness. :)
If you don’t want to brown the butter, you don’t absolutely have to – you can just melt it. But I really really urge you to, as it is easy and makes these cookies absolutely wonderful.
I highly recommend using an inexpensive oven thermometer when you are baking, as no oven is calibrated exactly precise, even one that is brand new. Your other likely runs hotter or cooler than it actually reads, and this can determine how much your cookies spread or do not spread and if they will look and taste like the recipe was written for. Using an oven thermometer allows you to slightly adjust the temperature to make it correct.
I tested these cookies with both chopped chocolate from a bar and chocolate chips to demonstrate how it affects the texture of the cookies. You can use either, but I highly recommend chopped chocolate for the very best cookie.
Chocolate chips are made with emulsifiers so they hold their shape. This means they do not melt well; cookies spread less when they are used. Chocolate chips = thicker cookies and less overall chocolate distribution. Instead, chopped chocolate melts into gooey pockets, creating a more melty and decadent texture in the finished cookie. The irregular shapes and sizes of the chocolate pieces give you some bites with tons of chocolate and others with just a hint.
Every time I make these, at least once person exclaims, “These are the best cookies I have ever had!” Perfect mix of crunchy and gooey, salty and sweet. Just perfect!
I made this with a gf starter and King Arthur 1:1 gluten free flour, and it came out perfect!! My husband has celiacs so we have to be a completely gf household to avoid cross contamination. Thank you for the amazing recipe!
BEST cookie recipe! They did not last long in our home. This was the first time I baked with sourdough discard and it turned out amazing! Can’t wait to make these a regular rotation in our home!
AMAZING!! These are seriously the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had. They’re so flavorful with the brown butter, pockets or melted chocolate and flakey salt. And they are perfectly chewy with crispier edges. Will never make another chocolate chip cookie again!
Jamie
April 18, 2024
I found out about you from the Allsorts Podcast episode you did. These cookies were the first recipe of yours I made and wow, so good!
Amanda Paa
April 18, 2024
Yay, so glad to hear you enjoyed these! And welcome!
Lauren
April 7, 2024
Every time I make these, at least once person exclaims, “These are the best cookies I have ever had!” Perfect mix of crunchy and gooey, salty and sweet. Just perfect!
Amanda Paa
April 8, 2024
So great to hear this, Lauren! They are a favorite in our house too. Thanks for making the recipe!
Sarah
April 7, 2024
I made this with a gf starter and King Arthur 1:1 gluten free flour, and it came out perfect!! My husband has celiacs so we have to be a completely gf household to avoid cross contamination. Thank you for the amazing recipe!
Amanda Paa
April 7, 2024
Oh yay! So glad to know these worked well with the gf flour! Thanks so much for making the recipe.
Rebekah
April 6, 2024
I’m making these are they baking on convection or regular bake setting at 375 degrees???
Amanda Paa
April 6, 2024
Hi! Regular bake.
Greta Golfis
March 28, 2024
These cookies are the perfect mix of crunch and softness. So delicious!! They are to die for!!
Andrea Atherton
March 21, 2024
BEST cookie recipe! They did not last long in our home. This was the first time I baked with sourdough discard and it turned out amazing! Can’t wait to make these a regular rotation in our home!
Amanda Paa
March 21, 2024
So glad your family enjoyed them, Andrea!
Nicki
March 20, 2024
AMAZING!! These are seriously the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had. They’re so flavorful with the brown butter, pockets or melted chocolate and flakey salt. And they are perfectly chewy with crispier edges. Will never make another chocolate chip cookie again!
Amanda Paa
March 20, 2024
Yay, I am so glad to hear that Nicki! I love them too. Thank you for making the recipe!