These Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies are made with brown butter, semisweet chocolate, and a sprinkle of sea salt. They have an incredible flavor and are perfect for using up sourdough discard! Recipe includes a how-to video!
Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Cookies
Never did I ever think this internet space of mine would host a recipe as… interesting… as sourdough chocolate chip cookies. However, after falling headfirst into the world of sourdough baking, I’ve become obsessed with finding new ways to use up my discard, and it wasn’t long before my love of desserts and my love of sourdough merged.
Today’s recipe blends these two worlds beautifully, and it surprised me how quickly I fell head over heels for this recipe. In fact, it’s my new favorite chocolate chip cookie, yes, even more than my go-to best chocolate chip cookies–and I never thought I’d find a cookie that topped those. If you love that recipe, just wait until you try this one.
The flavor is unparalleled, rich and deep, intense and chocolatey. Top everything off with a sprinkle of sea salt and it’s true cookie bliss.
It’s not as simple as just adding discard to any old cookie recipe
When developing this recipe I knew that simply adding sourdough discard to a standard chocolate chip cookie dough wouldn’t work. At least, it wouldn’t yield the chewy, flavorful cookie I was seeking. Adding that much liquid was bound to result in too-thick, cakey cookies, which I definitely didn’t want.
I took a few notes from my experience with developing other high-liquid recipes (like my pumpkin cookies) and creatively reduced the liquid and water content in a few ways. We use only egg yolks (no whites) and brown the butter (to cook out the excess water), which takes the cookie to even higher heights. The end result is oft and chewy cookies that aren’t at all cakey and stay soft for days!
What makes these cookies so amazing?
- Sourdough discard adds unique depth and wonderful flavor (it’s not at all sour here) that’s hard to put your finger on, but so good. Like… so good.
- Browned butter imparts a rich, nutty taste that is unparalleled.
- Chopped chocolate and sea salt accents the other flavors perfectly.
What You Need
Here are the key ingredients in these sourdough discard chocolate chip cookies:
- Sourdough discard. If you use my sourdough starter recipe, the amount you will discard there is the exact same amount needed here today. Saving sourdough discard for other recipes (like my sourdough pancakes!) is a wonderful way to reduce food waste (and a great excuse to eat more cookies)!
- Butter. To compensate for the discard and reduce the water content in the dough, we’ll brown our butter. This extra step creates an AMAZING flavor as well, so it’s worth it. If you’ve never browned butter before, I have a post on how to brown butter that might be helpful for you.
- Egg yolks. Discarding the egg whites and just using the yolks also helps to reduce the water in our cookie dough.
- Chocolate. Semisweet or 60% cacao chocolate baking bars are my preference in this recipe. You can use whatever type of chocolate you prefer though, such as semisweet, milk, or dark chocolate. Despite these being sourdough discard chocolate chip cookies, I recommend buying bars and chopping them yourself. This allows the chocolate to distribute beautifully through the cookies and melt more than regular chocolate chips would. It just also adds to that gourmet feel! Yes, of course actual chips will work instead, but I do recommend you try them with chopped chocolate at least once.
- Vanilla extract. This also adds depth of flavor to the cookies. If you have homemade vanilla, now is the time to whip it out.
- Sea salt. Adding a sprinkle of flaky sea salt on top of the baked cookies enhances the sweet and savory flavors, creating a delightful contrast.
SAM’S TIP: I think these sourdough discard chocolate chip cookies taste best when the dough has had quite a bit of time to chill; in fact, I like to let mine sit overnight before scooping and baking. Technically the dough will be firm enough that you can bake it right away (the cookies would just be a smidge flatter), but if you have the patience to let the flavor develop, you will be rewarded with amazing cookies!
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Brown the butter – Cook the butter over medium low heat until it melts, then increase the heat to medium. Stir constantly as the butter bubbles and pops (it’s the most pleasant sound in the world). Once the popping slows, look for golden brown specks forming in the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat, pour into a heatproof bowl, and let cool completely.
- Add the wet ingredients – Add the sugars, egg yolks, and vanilla to the cooled butter, then stir in the sourdough discard.
- Add the dry ingredients – Whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then gradually stir them into the wet ingredients.
- Chocolate and chill – Add the chopped chocolate and fold it into the dough until incorporated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes (I like to let mine chill overnight for the best flavor).
- Scoop and bake – Roll 1 ½ tablespoon sized cookie dough balls between your palms before placing on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 350F for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges start to turn golden brown.
- Salt and enjoy! Sprinkle the warm cookies with sea salt and let them cool completely on their baking sheets before enjoying.
SAM’S TIP: Never put cookie dough on a hot cookie sheet! Doing this can cause your dough to spread and result in super thin cookies. If you don’t have multiple cookie sheets, let your dough chill in the fridge in between batches while your cookie sheets cool down.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! In fact, I think these sourdough chocolate chip cookies tastes best after chilling the dough overnight. You can make this dough up to 4 days in advance, just note that if you do chill it longer than 60 minutes, it will be a bit tough to scoop at first (just let it sit at room temperature until scoopable).
I developed these sourdough discard chocolate chip cookies as a way to 1) use my sourdough discard instead of discarding it and 2) create an incredibly flavored cookie that’s a bit different from the norm.
No matter the recipe type, sourdough discard imparts flavor and also has some nutritional benefits too. That’s not to say these cookies should be considered health food though!
Yes! Follow the chilling step first, then freeze according to the instructions for drop cookies in my how to freeze cookie dough post.
I seriously can’t wait for you to try these!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar firmly packed
- ⅔ cup (133 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large egg yolks room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup (140 g) sourdough discard
- 2 ¾ cup (340 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups (255 g) semisweet chocolate chips or 6 oz chopped semisweet or dark chocolate bar
- Flaky sea salt for sprinkling
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Brown the butter. In a saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Increase heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly. Butter will sizzle and pop. Once popping slows or stops and you notice the butter is beginning to turn golden brown (there will be brown flecks on the bottom of your pan) immediately remove from heat. Pour into a large heatproof mixing bowl and allow to cool until no longer warm to the touch before proceeding.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter
- Once butter has cooled, add sugars, eggs yolks, and vanilla extract and stir until well-combined.1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar, ⅔ cup (133 g) granulated sugar, 2 large egg yolks, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- Add sourdough discard and mix well, until fully incorporated.⅔ cup (140 g) sourdough discard
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.2 ¾ cup (340 g) all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon salt
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring until thoroughly combined.
- Use a spatula to fold in chopped chocolate until well incorporated.1 ½ cups (255 g) semisweet chocolate chips or 6 oz chopped semisweet or dark chocolate bar
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30-60 minutes (or, my preference, overnight).
- Once dough is ready to bake, preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Scoop chilled dough into 1 ½ Tablespoon-sized balls, for neat, uniform cookies roll between your palms to make them round. Place on prepared baking sheet, spacing cookies at least 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges are beginning to turn golden brown (centers will still be soft and may appear slightly underdone).
- Within several minutes of removing cookies from oven, sprinkle all over with flaky sea salt.Flaky sea salt
- Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet before removing and enjoying.
Notes
Storing
Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Sabrina Perry
I made this recipe exactly by the steps and even used the comment about salted butter and decreasing the salt.
I was happy to see you prefer to rest overnight in the fridge because I like baking at night but sometimes hate staying up too late.
This morning I pulled the dough out to cook and it is rock solid. What did I do wrong or is this normal? I am letting it rest on my counter to see if it softens and will still attempt to bake them in hopes they aren’t a total lose.
Sam
Hi Sabrina! It’s not abnormal for a dough to harden overnight in the refrigerator. You are correct in just letting it rest on the counter until it is scoop-able. This normally takes about 15 minutes or so. 🙂
Charee
Hi Im so excited to bake this cookie recipe! It sounds amazing! But I wanted to ask, if I only have salted butter on hand, can I use that or will it be too salty?
Sam
Hi Charee! Just reduce the salt in the recipe to 1/4 teaspoon and you’ll be good to go. Enjoy! 🙂
Whitney Dern
This is my all time FAVORITE recipe!! I now have it memorized lol
Just made ANOTHER batch to give out to friends and family….substituted with almond extract & nutmeg. No chips. They roll out and make the PERFECT sugar cookies too! Thank you!!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Whitney! 🙂
Bonni Brennan
Can I use the same recipe but bake it in bar form? Just pour it into my pan and bake a little longer?
Sam
Hi Bonni! I have never tried it, but I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work. It would definitely need to bake longer but I can’t say for sure how long.
Hayleigh
Probably the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Hayleigh! 🙂
Irina
One word….amazing! question, can I bake these straight from the freezer?
Sam
Hi Irina! So glad you enjoyed them! Yes you can, note that the cookies may not spread quite as much and will take longer to bake than is indicated in the recipe from frozen. I hope that helps!
Allie
These are SCRUMPTIOUS – I am going to make again for Thanksgiving but would like to add oatmeal. How would you suggest adjusting ingredients?
Sam
Hi Allie! Unfortunately, I haven’t tried adding oats to them so I can’t say how it would go. There would likely need to be big alterations as it’s an extra dry ingredient.
Carol
The cookies turned out soft and chewy, The flavor was good, but I wasn’t crazy about the added salt. (I did make some without the salt.)
They also came out darker than yours. I think I may have overcooked the butter. It was the first time I had browned butter, and all the foam threw me off. I couldn’t see the golden brown butter until the browned bits at the bottom were dark brown.
Also, I ended up with 51 cookies, all about 2-1/2″ in diameter. I used a #40 scoop, and leveled it, either on the side of the bowl or with my fingers. I weighed everything, so I can’t figure out why I got double the number of cookies. Were they supposed to be bigger?
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Carol! I’m not sure why you got so many cookies, but what’s better than extra cookies?!
Meghan
Typically you reduce the amount of flour for how much oats you want to use. I.e you could reduce the dough to 2 cups and use 3/4 (the remainder) cup oats. Good luck!
Melissa
can you freeze the dough to bake the cookies later?
Sam
Hi Melissa! That should work just fine. 🙂
Amanda
I made this recipe using the gluten free 1:1 king Arthur flour and my GF starter and it worked out perfect! We love these cookies!
Sam
Thank you so much for the feedback, Amanda! I’m glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Marietta Redondo
can this recipe be doubled ?
Sam
Sure thing! 🙂
Sheree
Love the taste of these and they came out perfect !
Sam
Hi Sheree! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Julie
I followed everything except I reduced the sugar to 1c total. Do you think that would explain why my cookies didn’t spread at all?
(they taste great though!)
Sam
Hi Julie! Reducing the sugar that much will definitely cause issues. Sugar is considered a liquid ingredient and helps the cookies spread, while also contributing to the moisture of the cookie. 🙁
TRB
This is a great chocolate chip cookie discard recipe! FYI my discard is 100% dark rye flour and it taste great! I have just started making sourdough bread and sometimes have discard, so yes I would love more recipes using sourdough discard.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Diana Fleury
The best sourdough chocolate chip cookies ever. I have tried many recipes and this is THE ONE! Your recipe is written beautifully. I so appreciate the ingredients written in with the steps…no constant scrolling up.
Thank you so much!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Diana! 🙂
Lora
Just pulled some out of the oven. SO delicious. The flavor has depth and is very satisfying. Thank you for creating a solid and simple recipe. I substituted all purpose flour for gluten free and coconut sugar for the granulated. Perfection
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Lora! 🙂
Sue
LOVE this recipe! My whole family couldn’t stop eating these!
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Sue! 🙂
Dr. Sica Bishop
These are quite literally the Best. Cookies. I have ever eaten (let alone made) and I’m telling everyone! I was impatient and only let them stay in the fridge for 30-60 minutes… I can’t wait to let the flavors meld longer! Thanks for a great recipe!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Melissa
These were the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had! My family now asks for them weekly 🙂
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Melissa! 🙂
Cristina Mullins
These cookies are amazingly delicious! I always divide my starter before feeding it so I can double the batch when I am going to make these! My sister-in-law made homemade toffee to throw in while they were visiting and that took them up to a whole new level! Thanks for this recipe!
Sam
You’re very welcome, Cristina, thank you so much for trying my recipe, I really appreciate it! 🙂
Misty Gordon
Hey Sam, I’m new to sourdough and want to make these today. I fed my sourdough starter about 16 hours ago & never got to use it while it was active so I put it in the fridge.
I’m assuming it is considered discard now. To use the discard in this recipie do I need to bring the discard back to room temp?
Sam
Hi Misty! It’s always best for all of your ingredients are the same temperature so I would recommend bringing it out of the refrigerator for a bit before using. 🙂
Elyshia Warden
Do you know how I would adapt this to potato flake sourdough discard? They look so yummy and I am dying to find ways to use my discard. Thank you 😊
Sam
Hi Elyshia! Honestly I have never used a potato flake sourdough so I can’t say for sure how it differs from traditional sourdough. I understand that the potato flake sourdough is a bit sweeter in taste so it may change the flavor of the cookies a bit. If you do try it, I would love to know how it goes. 🙂
Sarah
Looks amazing! Would you make any changes to the recipe for making it into a cookie cake?
Sam
Hi Sarah! I honestly haven’t tried it to say for sure how it would be done. There’s potential it could be done without any changes. Let me know how it goes if you try it. 🙂