How to Make Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’ve got an active sourdough starter that’s been around for about two years now, and who has recently been named Louie. (Naming your starter is a tradition, and one I’ve held off on until recently.) Louie spends most of the summer in the fridge, getting fed every couple weeks, because garden season is just a little too overwhelming to be thinking about making bread. But once the snow falls and the garden is done, I inevitably bring the starter out of the fridge, feed it a bit more regularly, and start getting the itch to bake—as evidenced by the recent posts on making sourdough bread and making sourdough focaccia.

Maintaining a sourdough starter means discarding a lot of the starter every time you feed it, which can feel wasteful. Thankfully, there are hundreds of recipes that use up this starter, making good stuff out of the waste. For this post, we’re going to learn how to make sourdough chocolate chip cookies.

What makes these sourdough chocolate chip cookies good?

I love cookies. Like, all kinds. There isn’t such a thing as a bad cookie.

But what sticks out about this particular cookie that I really enjoy is that it isn’t overly sweet. When I dumped in a half cup of white sugar and a half cup of brown sugar, I was expecting the same standard cookie taste that we’re all used to (and love). Instead, it’s only mildly sweet.

I also chose to add some coffee flavoured sea salt on top right after baking and it gave it a wonderful salty-sweet flavour and the coffee paired perfectly with the chocolate.

To top it off, the texture is wonderfully soft and it’s a pleasure to eat.

How to make sourdough chocolate chip cookies

For the full instructions and exact measurements, refer to the recipe card at the end of this post.

Make your dough

This recipe is mixed by hand, because over-mixing with an electric mixer could lead to less desirable results. It’s a bit of an arm workout at times, but it’s well worth the effort.

Start by combining butter and sugars in a large bowl.

Then mix in the sourdough discard and vanilla.

Once that’s combined, add the dry ingredients—flour, salt, and baking soda. I’ve learned to weigh my flour for recipes because how much flour fits in the one-cup measure can vary considerably. While the recipe calls for two cups, if you have a scale, measure out 250 grams instead.

Mix until the dry ingredients are just incorporated, but don’t over-mix.

Stir in the chocolate chips, again avoiding over-mixing.

Throw the bowl in the fridge for about 15 minutes, and then pull it out and let it return to room temperature. While it’s warming up again, preheat the oven to 350 F.

Bake your cookies

Using a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet, drop on scoops of about 2-3 tablespoons in size. Bake in the oven for 6-8 minutes for a chewier, flatter cookie, or 8-10 minutes for a cakier, softer cookie. I baked mine for 7 minutes and they turned out perfectly.

When you pull the cookies out of the oven, transfer them to a wire rack to cool. If desired, sprinkle with a little bit of flaky sea salt. I used some coffee flavoured sea salt for a little bit of an extra kick.