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
Janet says
These cookies are phenomenal! A far cry from your average chocolate chip cookie. Just one word of caution though. You suggested portioning the cookies into “2 heaping tbsp or 30 gram balls”. Did you mean tsp? Two heaping tbsp balls are much larger than 30 grams.
My first dozen were huge! I took out the scale and weighed the remaining portions. The 30 gram cookies were a much more manageable size.
June says
Hello, I just made the cookies and my family really likes it. Soft and chewy as described. Good way to use the sourdough starter. I just want to ask, would it be possible let to omit/reduce the oil and replace/increase it with the butter? I am not sure but it seems to less buttery-smelling as I’d hoped. Many thanks!
Anita says
I just bought your cookbook! It is fantastic! I have recommended your website to several of my friends. Your sandwich bread has made sourdough work at our house! Carrot cake is fantastic! Cranberry pecan bread was a huge win and the chocolate chip cookies/banana bread were so yummy!!!!! Thank you so much!!! Your website has made sourdough easy…!
Genita Alexander says
Love this recipe. I used coconut oil in the recipe and it turned out wonderful. This is my go to recipe for chocolate cookies. I also only did the cookies with one tablespoon with the hopes they will last longer than a day. My teen and husband love these
Amy Murphy says
I just made these and they are yummy! I added about a half cup of macadamia nuts in place of the last half cup of chocolate. I altered the recipe for high altitude and it worked out perfectly! The dough is so yummy too with that tablespoon of vanilla and brown sugar in it. It is the most interesting cookie dough texture and was surprised that it wasn’t sticky at all as you said to expect that texture. I increased oven temp to 360 degrees for 10 minutes baking and decreased the sugar and baking soda content just a tad bc I am at 7,680 elevation. Thanks for the unique sourdough cookie recipe! Loving all your sourdough recipes, as I m new to baking with the mother!
Karla says
I made this using only the weight measurements. 158 ml of canola oil is 144 grams – WAY too much oil, the batter was not usable. for the oil I would go by measure not be weight.
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Karla! Thanks for your feedback. You raise a good point. Weight and volume measurements are not equivalent (only approximate).Additionally, the standard US cup(s) vary in size. This is most likely why the batter took on a different texture. Apologies that it didn’t work out!
Julie says
I also made the same mistake. While I baked the cookies longer, and they did have decent texture, the oil was overpowering. Suggest updating the recipe to make it clear the oil is by volume, not weight. I’ll try the recipe again knowing not to make this mistake again. Thanks for all of your recipes and notes.
Brenda Olson says
I made these this weekend did times 5 I added 2 12 tsp cinnamon they are so good and soft used only ap flour did 1c unsalted butter 1/2 c rag and 1 cup butter flavored crisco used a #50 scoop and got about 33 1/2 dozen I also added chopped nuts to half of the dough the starter I used had been in the refrigerator for 4 days and was good
Jabeen says
Hi Emilie,
I made them today . The only difference was i used canola oil and since my butter was salted i didnt add salt. It was delicious but didnt come our chewy. I made only half the quanitty carefully measuring everything on a scale. I love chewy texture and thats one of the reason i tried this recipe seeing “Chewy” :) Let me know what would have gone wrong. What makes the cookie chewy where i went wrong.
Emilie Raffa says
Hi there! It’s most likely because the recipe was halved, not because of the canola oil or the salted butter. This can happen sometimes in baking because most recipes are formulated to work with specific amounts that may or may not be successful when halved or doubled.
spoon says
thank you x infinity! i came for the beginner sourdough bread tutorial, i stayed for the buttermilk blueberry muffin recipe(i added lemon zest and juice), and now THIS!? my family and coworkers thank you!
Pat Stephens says
Hey there. Quick question regarding the 100% hydration starter. I have your sourdough starter that I feed with 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup water. I want to take this to use for my cookies but don’t know how to make it a 100% hydration starter. Can I just add extra water to it and let it sit for a bit to get bubbly?
Barb says
Pat Stephens that is 100% hydration starter.
Gemma says
I have baked soooo many choc chip cookies recipes over the past 10 weeks of iso life and they’ve all been average. Very average. I made these yesterday and they are phenomenal!!!!! Seriously the best choc chip cookies I’ve ever made.
I used olive oil 😱 as that’s all I had. The raw dough smelt and tasted so strongly of olive oil I was stressed I’d ruined them. But once they were cooked and properly cooled I couldn’t even tell there was olive oil in them.
Not sure I can ever make them again….I literally can’t stop eating them!!!!
Karen says
I made the Everyday Sourdough bread from your book tonight and used the discard for these cookies. The bread is bulk rising and the batter is in the fridge overnight.
When I bake chocolate chip cookies or oatmeal cookies, I usually bake one dozen cookies and then shape and freeze the dough balls for baking at another time. Will that work with this recipe? I’m uncertain since there is sourdough starter in the batter.
Thanks for your delicious recipes!
Karen
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Karen! Great question. You can totally do that. I’ve done this many times and it’s fine. Alternatively, baked frozen cookies work too.
TL says
If baking frozen dough, how long in the oven?
Elle says
I made these over the weekend and they were SO good! Perfect recipe for using sourdough starter. Will definitely make again, thank you!!!
Jutta Schneider says
This is definitely a keeper, great recipe! Just thought I’d point out that this recipe makes a lot more than 30 30g cookies. It made 49 plus all the raw dough I ate lol!!
Justine says
These were so good!! Didn’t even last a full day in my house!
Georgina says
Do you think the dough would freeze well? If I make a batch I’d probably want to freeze half of it for another time (don’t trust myself not to eat them all!!!)
Emilie Raffa says
Hi there! Yes, I do. Freeze the dough in portioned balls. The cookies also freeze well after baked and stored in a tiptop bag. I put them (frozen) in my kids’ lunch boxes and they defrost at room temp beautifully. Although, they do like to eat them frozen too, lol.
Rina says
If baking from frozen, do they need to thaw? Or can they go straight in to the oven? How long would you recommend in the oven then if they were still frozen?
Thank you!!! I baked one half and froze the other. They’re SO GOOD!!!!!!!
-R
Trina says
Thanks for the yummy recipe. Can’t wait to try it. Also, what is the best size Dutch oven to use for baking ny bread. I can’t afford the Le Creuset. I would like to purchase a less expensive one though. Thanks. I love your recipes and your instructions which are so helpful.
Trina
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Trina! 5 1/2 – 6 qt round is best. There are tons of affordable options out there. Enjoy!
Lorelei says
So I made this recipe tonight and I have a question are the oil measurements correct? I have a very oily dough, the chocolate bits are falling out of the dough because it seems so oilly. I also made sure I weighted everything out to make sure I have correct measurements. I have literal oil slicks on my cookie sheet after I put the balls on the cookie sheet. My raw cookie balls don’t look like your photo. For my second batch I added more flour and still very oily and the dough doesn’t seem very firm. The only thing I can think is maybe you have the oil measurements incorrect.
Emilie Raffa says
Hi there! Oh no! The amount of oil is correct; the quantity comes from the original recipe and was tested several times. Did you use a combo of bread flour AND ap flour? It could be an absorption issue. It could also be the brand of flour used (I used KAF for both with an 11.7% & 12.7% protein content respectively). Nevertheless, try reducing the oil to 1/2 cup next time.
Jennifer says
This happened to me too. I’m using AP and bread flour from a local bakery and have no idea what the protein content is so maybe that is the issue. I will try reducing the oil next time.
Brenna says
I’m just making these and realized 2 1/2 cups of chocolate does not equal 300g, but I’m leaning toward the 2 1/2 cups…as your photo looks sooooooo chocolatey and delicious!
I have been loving many of your recipes!
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Brenna! Volume and weight measurements are not equivalent; only approximate. It all depends on how fine/rough you chopped the chocolate! But always go with your gut…more chocolate is NEVER a bad thing. Glad you’re enjoying the recipes! :)
Lisa says
Hi Emilie. Definitely going to try these right away! Is it ok to use all-purpose flour? And for future (my husband doesn’t like chocolate chips) what about raisins instead of chocolate chips and a bit of quick oats for oatmeal cookies? Thank you!
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Lisa! Bread flour adds more chewiness to the cookie and absorbs more liquid in the dough. But using only all purpose should be ok (texture might change slightly). Might want to reduce the oil a bit, perhaps to 1/2 cup to make up for it. Use the same amount of raisins by weight. Reduce the total amount of flour and sub with oats for oatmeal raisin cookies. Yum!
Carly says
These look amazing. Do you use the discarded starter straight from the fridge? I’m new to this :)
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Carly! It depends on the condition it’s in. If your starter has been sitting in the fridge for a while with brown liquid on top, I wouldn’t use it. Too acidic. I typically use recently fed sourdough discard (basically, fed and collapsed starter) for best flavor. When in doubt, just smell it. It shouldn’t be used for sweet baked goods if it smells like vinegar.
Megan says
Is the type of milk specific? Can I use almond milk in this recipe?
Emilie Raffa says
I use dairy milk. Plant milk should be fine, unsweetened.
Rachel R says
Wow! These photos make me want to make the batter right now, bake tonight and binge on Netflix and cookies! Thanks for including the non-sourdough version. I have’nt had the courage to try that yet.
Emilie Raffa says
Enjoy, Rachel! They’re so yummy! xx
Courtney says
I am so happy for the quarantine because I have discovered “The Clever Carrot” and I am not one to read blogs. My family and I have tried many of your recipes and they will become new traditions. One question about this chocolate chip cookie recipe, what should I use if I do not have bread flour?
Samantha says
Same question, I hope to hear a recommendation soon! I’ve got everything else and am dying to make these :)
Emilie Raffa says
See below! xx
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Courtney! Thank you SO much! Using all propose flour only should be fine. The final texture might change slightly because higher protein bread flour will make the cookie chewier and it absorbs more liquid in the dough. Try reducing the oil to 1/2 cup to make up for the difference. Hope this helps!
Nina says
Hi, could I use Canola oil in this recipe?
Love your posts , your recipes are amazing, thank you!
Nina
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Nina! Thank you! Yes, absolutely. Canola oil would work.
Betsy says
I imported this recipe into Plan to Eat for future noshing. The software decided it was a Main Course. Smart software, eh? LOL
Emilie Raffa says
Haha… this is hilarious. And smart!