Easy, make-ahead friendly, and reliably soft and chewy, my sourdough chocolate chip cookie recipe delivers homestyle results with leftover sourdough discard or active sourdough starter. The dough chills beautifully and bakes straight from the fridge- fresh cookies, no extra effort! Makes 50 cookies.
If you need a break from sourdough bread, bake cookies. Sourdough cookies. Made with either sourdough discard or active sourdough starter (for extra puffiness), they bake up soft and chewy with a consistent texture every time.
And here’s the kicker: they actually stay soft and chewy beyond the first 5 minutes out of the oven!
My version is adapted from The Cookie Book by Rebecca Firth. It’s a fantastic resource packed with over 75 cookie recipes and really beautiful pictures (I think I gained 5 lbs. just looking at it).
My Testing Notes:
You can’t just add brown sugar or an extra egg yolk to the dough and hope for the best. Texture comes from a specific combination of ingredients and technique, working together to create that soft and chewy element. Let’s break it down.
The Texture Formula:
- Brown Sugar: Retains more moisture during baking. When used in a higher proportion than granulated sugar, it creates a softer, more tender cookie.
- Sunflower Oil: Neutral flavor and excellent moisture retention. It’s common in muffins and quick breads, but not to much in cookies. Here, it makes a noticeable difference!
- Milk: According to King Arthur Flour, the fat and natural sugars add extra “tenderness and richness.”
- Flour Blend: A mix of bread flour and all purpose flour creates the ideal texture. Bread flour (higher in protein) adds chew, while all purpose flour keeps the crumb balances.
- Lots of Chocolate Chunks: The dough bakes up puffier around the rugged edges of chopped chocolate chunks. Good old chocolate chips from the bag will work too, but the cookies won’t have the same look.
- Sourdough Starter: My addition to the original recipe. Active starter adds lift and lightness, while leftover sourdough discard works just as well for convenience. And no, the cookies do not taste sour. They are wonderfully sweet and delicious.
Tip: For best results, use a 100% hydration starter. This type of starter is fed with equal parts flour and water by weight and has a consistency similar to thick pancake batter. If you need a sourdough starter, follow my Beginner Sourdough Starter Recipe (it takes about 7 days and up to two weeks to become active).
How To Bake Them Right
After mixing, chill the dough for at least 1 hr. for best texture. You can leave it overnight, but the flavor will change slightly. They’re taste nuttier and less sweet after 24 hrs.
When ready to bake, roll the dough by hand (meatball-sized) and bake in the top third of the oven.
Tip: Baking higher up helps bronze the tops while keeping the centers soft. The exterior sets faster, which is key to that soft, chewy texture. Who knew? I’ve always been a center rack baker!
Bottom Line
These sourdough chocolate chip cookies are rich and, with a balanced salty-sweet taste. Serve warm or at room temperature.
And if you don’t already have The Cookie Book, it’s worth it for the lemon madeleines alone!
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Soft & Chewy Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 50 Cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Easy, make-ahead friendly, and reliably soft and chewy, my sourdough chocolate chip cookie recipe delivers homestyle results with leftover sourdough discard or active sourdough starter. The dough chills beautifully and bakes straight from the fridge- fresh cookies, no extra effort! Recipe adapted from The Cookie Book, by Rebecca Firth. I’ve also included the original non-sourdough version in the recipe notes below.
Ingredients
- 8 tbsp. (115 g) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (210 g) light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup (96 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2/3 cup (158 ml) sunflower seed oil or other neutral oil
- 1/2 cup (100 g) bubbly, active sourdough starter OR leftover sourdough discard (100% hydration)
- 1 tbsp. milk, room temperature
- 1 tbsp. real vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups (238 g) all purpose flour (see notes below)
- 1 1/2 cups (204 g) bread flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
- 2 1/2 cups (300 g) chopped dark, semi sweet, or milk chocolate (or a combination)
Notes & Substitutions
This recipe can be made without sourdough stater. Simply decrease the amount of all purpose flour to 1 1/2 cups (204 g) total.
Instead of chopped chocolate chunks, you can go the traditional route and use (1x) 340 g bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips instead. My kids prefer the chips to chunks because the latter is too rich for them (they’ll learn one day).
Rebecca’s original recipe calls for only 1 tsp of salt with the optional dusting of flaky sea salt, such as Maldon, to sprinkle on top of the cookies. I didn’t have any flaky salt when I made this recipe. So, I increased the total amount of salt to 1 1/4 tsp instead. Delicious!
I used King Arthur Flour for this recipe. Their bread flour contains 12.7% protein and their all purpose flour is about 11.7%. If you’re using another brand with a lower protein content, or you choose to make these cookies with all purpose flour only, the dough might be too sticky. Please add additional flour (not too much!) if necessary.
Instructions
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the oil, sourdough starter, milk and vanilla. Mix well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, bread flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add this to the wet mixture (in batches) and mix on low speed until just combined.
Fold in the the chocolate chunks with a wooden spoon. Check the bottom of the bowl to make sure the ingredients are fully blended. The dough should be soft and not stick to your hands.
Cover and chill the dough for 1 hr. The dough can be baked cold.
Preheat your oven to 350 F. Set the oven rack to the top third, about 6 inches from the heat source. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
Portion the dough into 2 heaping tbsp. balls (about 30 g each). Then gently roll by hand like a meatball. Place onto the baking sheets 3 across and 4 down, about 2 inches apart. Bake 1 pan at a time.
Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes. They will be light golden brown when ready. Cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes to set up, and then transfer to a wire rack.
Notes
Do not over bake these cookies. They will become more crisp but still fantastic to eat!
Comments
Marsha says
These are the most delicious chocolate chip cookies I have ever had! Can you make the balls and freeze them? I swear I read it somewhere, but just re looked and don’t see anything about that.
Katie Blackburn says
Can you leave the dough in the fridge overnight?
Emilie Raffa says
Yes! You can absolutely do this. Cookies will taste great.
Catherine Murcia says
Does it matter if I only have olive oil?
Kelly says
Not to be dramatic but these are actually the best cookies I have ever made/had. And I’m not even a good baker!
Sany says
Hi Emilie! Amazing recipe 🍪
I have a question. Can I replace the oil for mashed banana? And turn them in a banana chocolate chip cookie?
Kelly Karambelas says
My cookie batter seems overly oily.. I’m afraid they won’t come out right?
Debra Lee Peterson says
Great balance of chewy and sweet..I added 1 cup of oatmeal, 1/4 whole wheat and a little less flour
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Debra! I’m so curious, did you mean dried oats or cooked oatmeal? Sounds good! 🙌🏻 FYI: I have a recipe for sourdough oatmeal raisin cookies too (linked here).
Tara says
Could you let this dough ferment for several hours, to make them more tolerant for people with gluten sensitivities? Or do you know of a chocolate chip cookie recipe where the dough does have time to ferment?
Charlene Whitman says
Can the dough be frozen?
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Charlene! I haven’t experimented with this so I’m unable to advise. However, baked and frozen cookies are very good.
Jennifer says
Wow! This recipe yields the ideal chocolate chip cookie. Soft, puffy, with slightly crisp edges. I have made a few recipes over many years, and this one tops them all! Thank you, Emilie, for sharing Rebecca’s recipe and tweaking it to include sourdough. A great use for discard—my family and co-workers will reap the benefits! 😂 This is the third recipe I have made from your site—all delicious!
Christina Elaine Roberts says
I have this cookbook, and it is very good!! I used this book to start my sourdough starter from scratch. It is a wonderful book filled with clear instructions.
Amy says
Trying different recipes with sourdough discard. Made the cookies last night- putting oil into the batter seemed odd to me. Usually I have a hard time keeping my family from eating the dough but not this time. Cookies are GOOD and I have plenty to share.
Christina L Whitten says
Love these cookies. Have shared your recipe a number of times. I did this time exchanged the sunflower oil for peanutbutter. Not heavy peanutbutter taste but with the brown sugar texture and taste very yummy. So thanks so much for this recipe.
Beth says
tried these, delicious! thank you for the all the details. quick Q: can you freeze the dough and will the starter still be as effective? (probably a basic question, I’m a newbie)
Sherry says
I always make a double batch, one to cook right away and one to freeze (portioned out with my cookie scoop). When I bake from frozen, I put the cookie dough on the baking sheet, then preheat the oven and cook as normal.
Kaitlin says
Followed the recipe almost perfectly. I swapped the oil for what I had on hand. However, I think I over mixed the dough and it got too much air. After the hour chill, the dough was so puffy and fluffy. The cookies spread and were very airy. Still very yummy, but will mix it a little less next time!