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A sourdough chocolate chunk cookie broken in half with a hand reaching out to grab it, with a couple of cookies on a wire cooling rack.
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Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

These rich and complex flavored chewy chocolate chip cookies has a slight tang to it because of the sourdough starter discard used in the dough. Don’t skip the step where you rest the dough in the refrigerator for 2 days. It’s required to let the sourdough flavor to develop as well as let the rolled oats absorb the extra liquid from the starter discard, leading to a chewy cookie and not a cakey one.
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Keyword chocolate, cookies, sourdough
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Resting Time 2 days
Servings 22
Calories 290kcal
Author Irvin

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks or 230 g
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar 220 g
  • 1/2 cup white sugar 100 g
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg optional but recommended
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup sourdough starter discard 125 g (see section above)
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour 280 g
  • 1 1/2 cups thick cut rolled oats 170 g
  • 2 cups chopped chocolate or chocolate chips, 380 g

To finish

  • 1/2 cup chopped chocolate optional
  • 1 tablespoon flaky salt like Maldon, Sel de Gris or Diamond Crystal Kosher, optional

Instructions

  • Cut the butter into 1/2-inch chunks and place it in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Mix the ingredients together until they become a creamy paste that clings to the side of the bowl.
    Cream the butter, sugars, vanilla, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg together until a paste forms.
  • Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg. Mix to incorporate. The mixture might look a little “broken” but don’t worry about it. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again and add the sourdough starter discard.
    Add the egg, mix to incorporate and add the sourdough discard and repeat.
  • At this point the mixture will definitely look broken, but again, that’s normal.
    The dough will look "broken" but that is normal.
  • Add the flour and mix together, turning the mixer on and off again in bursts, until the dry ingredient is absorbed. Repeat with the oats. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl between additions.
    Add the flour, then the oats and mix until absorbed.
  • Add the chopped chocolate and mix together with a wooden spoon or spatula by hand. You can also use the mixer, but I like to use a wood spoon or spatula because I have more control over making sure the chocolate is mixed and evenly distributed in the dough.
    Hand mix in the chopped chocolate.
  • Place a large piece of plastic wrap on your table or counter and scrape the dough onto it. The dough will be very sticky. This is normal! Once all the dough is on the plastic wrap, place another piece of plastic wrap over it, and press down all over, until it is a uniform 1-inch thick piece. Tightly seal and wrap around the edges with the overhanging plastic wrap, and then put on a baking sheet or cutting board and store in the refrigerate for 48 hours (2 days). This allows for the sourdough discard to grow a little in strength, as well as the oats to absorb the excess liquid from the discard.
    Wrap the dough in a plastic wrap and chill for 2 days in the fridge.
  • Once the dough has chilled in the fridge for 2 days, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with silicon baking sheets or parchment paper. Break off a piece of dough and form a 1/2-inch thick disk that is about 1-inch in diameter with your hands. You can also form balls, then press down, but I like to do thick disks as this encourages a thick round cookie shape. If you have a scale, it should be about 2 1/2 ounces or 70 grams. Place on the prepared baking sheet.
    Using your hands to form thick round disks of dough.
  • Repeat this process until you have about 5 or 6 dough disks on both baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. Push a couple of pieces of chocolate chunks on top of the disks, then sprinkle a pinch of the flaky salt over the disk.
    Press chocolate into the dough, then sprinkle salt over it.
  • Bake in the oven 13 to 15 minutes, or until the edges of the cookie are golden brown. Rotate the pans front to back and top to bottom if your oven has hot spots. You want the center of the cookie to be slightly underbaked, as they will set up as they cool. If you are baking with parchment paper, start checking the cookies around 11 minutes, as they bake faster.
    Bake cookies until slightly underbaked in the center.
  • Repeat with the remaining dough. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then move them to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling completely.

Nutrition

Calories: 290kcal