Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

This sourdough chocolate chip cookie recipe will have everyone you share them with telling you to open a bakery! These cookies are easy to make and fun to customise with any additions that you wish. Some favorite flavors are the original, sourdough chocolate chip, chocolate chunk, s’mores, toffee chip, and many others!

Sourdough has recently become a popular trend. Lots of people love the idea of baking their own bread and keeping a sourdough starter but some have never even tasted the properties of an active sourdough starter.

These cookies are the perfect way to become introduced to the flavor of sourdough. It is also a good way for experienced sourdough bakers to learn how to control the intensity of the tangy taste. Read this Guide for Raising a Sourdough Starter if you are new to sourdough or for extra tips if you already have a starter.

Sourdough is a natural form of fermentation and leavening. In fact, it is the oldest method of creating leavening in baked goods! There are many health benefits of sourdough. It yields a high nutritional value, aids in healthy digestion, and is low cost considering how versatile it is for recipes.

Rhetorical Question:

Should sourdough cookies be considered healthy since sourdough has endless health benefits and a single batch of cookies calls for over 100g of sourdough starter?

Kidding! I know the answer to this but sourdough does add at least some benefits to the cookies besides a unique taste and an excellent way to use extra sourdough discard.

The Original vs Inclusions

The ingredients and instructions for sourdough cookies listed in this blog post make the original (plain) sourdough cookie. It is fantastic and flavorful on its own, but nothing is more fun than adding a little bit extra! I have played around with many flavors and tested them for feedback.

You are welcome to try any ideas you may have on your own but here are the top favorites from my list:

• The Original
• Chocolate Chip
• Chocolate Chunk
• Toffee Chip
• S’mores
• Hot Cocoa Bomb

Another fun way to play with this cookie recipe is to color the dough! There are natural ways to dye food without using harmful food coloring dyes and chemicals. When you pick up a bag of flour at the grocery store if you do not mill your own, look through the powders that are for acai bowls and smoothies. Matcha powder, beet root powder, and many more are a great source to use for coloring cookies!

This was a Valentine’s Day batch I made for my youngest sister-in-law who loves pink! I used beet root powder to achieve the shade I wanted before baking in the oven. These also had chocolate chunks instead of the chocolate chip morsels.

Ingredients:

Butter: Using unsalted butter works best because you are able to more precisely control the amount of salt in the cookie dough by adding it later. Allow the butter to sit out at room temperature so you can cream it easily in the mixer.

Sourdough Starter: Either active starter or sourdough discard can be used for this recipe. It depends on which flavor you prefer. Use discard for a slight hint of sourdough. Use starter that is at its peak for a more tangy taste. You can also make the cookie dough and let it ferment in the refrigerator overnight to enhance the strength of the sourdough taste and benefits.

Sugar: Two cups of sugar might sound like a bit much but this recipe typically yields over three dozen cookies. The white granulated sugar and the brown sugar balance each other out by allowing the cookies to crisp yet stay soft and chewy.

Eggs: The eggs act as a binder. Egg allergies are super common and are present among my family and friends. The cookies are just fine on their own without egg acting as a binder. It is safe to leave egg or egg products out of this recipe for those who can not be exposed.

Vanilla Extract: All delicious baked goods have vanilla! I make my own vanilla (vodka + vanilla beans) and have even made it using bourbon instead of vodka. Play around with this idea and see how a slight change yields great differences in cookies. Since I make my own vanilla extract, I tend to have a heavy hand when pouring homemade vanilla from the storage bottle!

Flour: I use the same all purpose flour that I use to feed my sourdough starter. I would imagine any all purpose flour would do but I tend to be loyal to the brand I trust to keep my starter healthy and active.

Salt: I prefer to use a high quality of salt. You can find a link to a naturally mined salt that has more minerals than regular table salt by clicking here.

Other: Baking soda and baking powder will help the cookies spread evenly and rise on the cookie sheet.