Description

These soft, homemade sourdough oatmeal raisin cookies are made with tangy sourdough starter, rolled oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins. The secret is to chill the dough for 1 hour (or more) for crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside, bakery-style cookies.

This recipe was inspired by Love & Lemons perfect oatmeal cookie recipe, which is delightful. To their base recipe, I added sourdough starter, more cinnamon, and increased the quantities of flour and sugar to compensate for the tang and texture naturally found in sourdough.

Notes & tips:

Be sure to chill the dough for a minimum of 1 hour. The batter needs time to set up, or more specifically: the flour needs time to absorb the liquid to create sturdy (not flat) cookies.
The longer you chill the dough, the puffier the baked cookies will be. The maximum chill test that I did was 12 hours; the cookies retained their rustic shape nicely without looking like domed muffin tops. This tip is just an FYI, should you find yourself doing a lengthier chill time in the fridge and wondering why your cookies don’t look like mine.
Please weigh your ingredients. It makes all the difference in the world: cakey vs. flat and crispy cookie. You can purchase an inexpensive, reliable kitchen scale here.
Substitutions: If you don’t like raisins, use dried cranberries. You can also do 50/50 dried fruit and chocolate chips.

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

180 g all purpose flour
120 g old fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. fine sea salt

Wet Ingredients:

113 g butter, melted and cooled
170 g packed brown sugar
50 g granulated sugar
50 g sourdough starter (active or discard)
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix Ins:

1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts

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Instructions

Melt the butter: 1 minute in the microwave or in a pan, on the stove top. Transfer to a bowl; cool completely before using.
Add the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and fine sea salt to a large bowl; whisk to combine.
In a separate small bowl: whisk the cooled melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, sourdough starter, egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients; mix well to combine.
Fold in the oats, raisins and walnuts (if using). Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. The dough will be sticky.
Cover the bowl and chill the dough for a minimum of 1 hour (or overnight). Please refer to Notes & Tips in the top section of this recipe for additional understanding.
Before you are ready to bake, check the texture of the cookie batter. Roll a small portion of dough in-between your palms; it should hold together with a tacky (not sticky) texture. If the dough feels too wet and sticks to your hands, add a tablespoon of flour, mix well, and chill for another 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Scoop the dough in heaping tablespoon-sized portions onto your lined sheet pan. Use a cookie scoop or a regular tablespoon.
Bake for 10-11 minutes or light golden brown.
Remove from the oven. Cool the cookies on the tray for approximately 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.