Gooey, chewy, sweet, & salty- these are the best sourdough chocolate chip cookies you will find! They hold all the benefits of naturally-leavened dessert, but have the taste and texture of your classic childhood treat. The toasty flavor of the browned butter and the slight tang of the starter- wow. You’re gonna love it.
Looking for a quick grain-free treat to satisfy your craving NOW? Try my Cassava Chocolate Chip Cookies! Cassava is one of my favorite flours to use when I don’t have the time for sourdough.
My search for the perfect sourdough chocolate chip cookie
Trust me when I say that I have tried all of the sourdough cookie recipes. All of them. I’ll admit, they were all delicious to some degree. Most sourdough recipes are, but none of them met my expectations for a dang good chocolate chip cookie. I’ve been spoiled by my mom. She makes the chewiest, most delicious cookies ever. I wanted to create a cookie that had all the benefits of a long-fermented baked good without compromising on the glory of that amazing childhood treat. The recipes that I experimented with until this one just. didn’t. cut it. They were too sourdough-ey, too sweet, or not sweet enough. The ones that tasted the best were either crunchy or cakey– not what I was going for. A proper chocolate chip cookie must be chewy and gooey and stay that way well past the point it comes out of the oven. Well, this is it. After much trial & error, I’ve found the trick to achieving this with sourdough, and I can guarantee that your search for the perfect sourdough chocolate chip cookies is over at last.
How to get the cookie gooey & chewy
There’s two factors, actually. First of all, a good 100% hydration sourdough starter is half water by weight. Most chocolate chip cookie recipes do not call for any liquid. The only liquid in the cookie is that which is present in the butter. In order to eliminate most of the liquid in the butter so that a starter may be used in place, we must brown the butter. This is where this cookie becomes even more delicious. Browning the butter evaporates a good portion of the water, leaving you with the oil and toasted milk fats. It’s brilliant.
Secondly, the trick to making ANY cookie chewy and soft rather than crunchy is to slightly under-bake them. It’s easy to dry out a cookie. Even some that come out of the oven soft will turn crunchy in a hurry if they are fully baked through. The goal is to toast the tops and edges of the cookie, while just barely warming the center. This is how you get the perfect texture in a sourdough chocolate chip cookie.
How to brown butter
Don’t let this extra step turn you away from trying these cookies. It’s really simple, I promise. Like anything heavenly delicious, this recipe calls for a good chunk of butter. Here’s how you do it…
- Cut the butter into cubes and put them in a pan on med/high heat
- Melt the butter and let it foam. The foam will subside.
- Stir occasionally to make sure it is heating through evenly.
- This is where you’ve got to watch it like a hawk, because it can easily overheat and burn.
- Once you see little brown specks forming at the bottom of the pan, remove it from the heat. This means that enough water has left the butter.
The easiest way to tell when your butter has browned besides the color, is the the smell. Before it has browned, it will smell like movie theater popcorn, but when it has browned. Holy cow. You will know. And you may cry. It’s beautiful.
How to maximize the wholesomeness of these cookies
- Use all organic ingredients, particularly unbleached, non-fortified, organic wheat flour
- I prefer organic unrefined cane sugar or coconut sugar
- There are some great organic chocolate chips on the market with very few ingredients. I like these.
- Raw or cultured grass-fed butter is ideal
- Pasture-raised eggs are more nutritious than conventional by a landslide
- I try to use aluminum free baking powder
- Bake with non-toxic bakeware. I like this parchment paper for cookies
Want more tips and healthy baking swaps? See my other post on the topic. This is how I prefer to eat, but don’t stress it. Do what you can with what you have and enjoy your dang cookie!
A Few Notes…
- While I’ve had success using discard, my best results have been achieved using a fed and active starter. The flavor and texture is best in the end.
- The dough must ferment in the fridge for 20-24 hours. This is proper grain preparation. Mix your dough a day before you plan on enjoying them.
- Store the cookies in an airtight container in the fridge of on the counter to maintain the texture.
- Sourdough can be unpredictable, so don’t sweat it if these don’t turn out perfect on the first try. Though, it’s highly likely they will;)
That’s it! You are now adequately prepared to give these sourdough chocolate chip cookies a shot. You will not regret it.
Lastly, if you make this recipe, be sure and let me know in the comments & give it a rating! I’d love to hear what you think. Don’t forget to snap a photo and tag me on Instagram! I’m so excited to see what you make!
Be sure to Pin this recipe for later!
Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter grass fed, unsalted
- 3 cups all-purpose flour organic
- 1 tsp baking powder aluminum-free
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt real unrefined
- 1 cup unrefined sugar organic
- 1 cup light brown sugar organic
- 3 large egg yolks pasture raised
- 1 cup sourdough starter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract organic
- 1 cup chocolate chips or chunks preference
Instructions
Mixing
- Cut the butter into cubes and brown in a regular saucepan on med/high heat
- Let it chill for about 30 min.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, then set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, cream the sugars and butter until light and fluffy (2ish minutes)
- Add the egg yolks and mix for a couple more minutes
- Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally
- Add the sourdough starter and the vanilla. Mix until fully combined
- Add the dry ingredients one cup at a time. Scrape down the sides after each addition is incorporated.
- Mix in your desired amount of chocolate chunks
- Cover the bowl in something like plastic wrap and rest it in the fridge for 20-24 hours
Baking
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare your baking sheets
- Scoop the cold dough and roll into 70g balls with your hands. Place them on the sheet about 2in apart.
- Bake for about 15 minutes. The edges of the cookies should be lightly browned and the middle should be soft and puffed still
- Let them cool for a few minutes, then finish cooling them on a wire rack