Easy Homemade Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

Nothing beats a warm homemade chocolate chip cookie! It’s one of those treats that brings you right back to childhood. These sourdough chocolate chip cookies do just that! They are sweet and simple, yet complex in flavor due to the added sourdough discard. You can either bake them right away for a quick and easy treat or long ferment them for better digestion. This is definitely a recipe you want to keep on hand for a quick and easy homemade dessert!

Benefits Of Adding Sourdough To Baked Goods?

Adding sourdough discard to your baked goods is a great way to help aid in digestion. Gluten can be very harsh on the gut microbiome due to how it is grown and processed nowadays. It is oftentimes genetically modified, sprayed with harsh pesticides, stripped of its natural fibers, and bleached. This is also why it is important to make sure that you are sourcing quality flour when baking and cooking. I recommend purchasing non-GMO, unbleached flour from a quality company such as King Arthur or Bob’s Red Mill. This is also why sourdough is a great option for baking. Sourdough helps aid in the digestion of gluten by fermenting the grains. This is an ancient practice, in which the grains are fed both flour and water continually over time, souring the grains and producing a concoction of good bacteria and wild yeast, also known as sourdough. When sourdough is added to bread, or any baked goods, it begins to feed off of the wheat glutens/carbohydrates. Sourdough instills healthy bacteria into the gut microbiome and breaks down the glutens into a more digestible form. This is why many people who are gluten sensitive can oftentimes consume sourdough, as the harsh glutens in the wheat have been broken down through the probiotics produced in the sourdough.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe:

• Sourdough discard: This is a great way to use up some of that extra sourdough discard instead of throwing it away.
• Sourdough health benefits: Adding sourdough to your baked goods is a great way aid in the breakdown of gluten and help with digestion.
• Can be made in advance: If you are short on time day or, no worries! These sourdough chocolate chip cookies can be made up to 3 days in advance. Not only is this great for prep but also digestion. The longer the fermentation process, the easier the cookies will be to digest later on.
• Complex flavor: Adding sourdough to chocolate chip cookies creates a perfect combination of sweet with a slight sour tang that compliments the overall cookie very nicely. It takes your traditional cookie and gives it a revamp!

Tips For Making Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies:

1. Sourdough discard: Make sure that you are using a freshly fed sourdough discard. You want it to be fed within the past 24 hours. If you are new to sourdough and want to make your own discard, check out my blog, “How To Make A Sourdough Discard From Scratch” where I lay out step by step how to cultivate your very own sourdough starter.
2. Do not over-mix: Be careful not to over-mix the batter, overworking the glutens. This will create a “cake-like”cookie, which we do not want!
3. Chill the dough: Chilling the dough for an hour prior to baking helps solidify the butter again and gives the cookie a more even bake and helps prevent the cookies baking into flat, hard disks. This will help to also add additional flavor into your cookies as the flavors have had time to blend and infuse into one another.
4. Dark or bittersweet chocolate: I recommend using either dark or bittersweet chocolate chunks or chips. The darker, more bitter chocolate is a nice compliment to the sweet cookie.
5. Vanilla paste: I like using vanilla paste for a stronger vanilla flavor; however, you can always sub this out for vanilla extract if you do not have vanilla paste.

How To Long Ferment Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies:

In order to long ferment, make the chocolate chip cookie dough as instructed below and then place it in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap for 12-24 hours or up to 3 days. Long fermenting the cookies will give the sourdough time to break down the glutens in the flour, making for easier digestion. Long fermentation will also add a stronger sour tang to the cookies creating a more complex and robust flavor.

How to Make Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together 2 sticks of room temperature butter, 3/4 cup of granulated sugar, and 1 cup of brown sugar on medium speed until combined.

Next, add in 2 eggs, 1/2 cup sourdough discard, 2 tsp. vanilla paste and mix together until combined on medium-slow speed.

Add in 2 1/2 cups of flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, and 1 tsp. salt. Mix together on low speed just until combined. Do not over-mix.

Add in 2 cups of dark or bittersweet chocolate chips. Mix just until combined.

Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour minimum. If you are long-fermenting the dough, allow the dough to rest for a minimum of 12 hours up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Scoop out 2-3 tablespoons of cookie dough and place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Make sure to space the cookies 2 inches apart as the dough spreads when it bakes.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden.

Allow the cookies to set on the pan for 1 minute prior to transferring them to a cooling rack.

Allow the cookies to fully cool prior to serving.

My Favorite Sourdough Recipes:

• Cinnamon Roll Star Bread
• Sourdough Pumpkin Muffin
• Healthy Sourdough Pumpkin Bread
• Best Beginners Sourdough Bread
• How to Make Sourdough Starter

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