Bakery-Style Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Cookies
Summer Edition — A Year of Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
Sourdough discard chocolate chip cookies that are soft, bakery-style, and chocolate-studded—with a long-fermented option for deeper flavor.


These sourdough discard cookies have been a longtime favorite in my kitchen—a slightly more nourishing, low-effort twist on the classic chocolate chip cookie I adore. They were born during my first pregnancy, when I had an unstoppable 10:30 a.m. cookie craving every single day, without fail. If I was going to build a baby on cookies, I figured they should at least offer something a little better.
Using sourdough discard instead of bubbly starter makes this recipe extra practical (and zero waste!). The long, slow ferment adds a gentle tang and depth of flavor that sets these apart from your everyday chocolate chip. I always use vanilla sugar in place of extract—a little nod to my German kitchen roots—which gives the cookies a warm, familiar aroma that feels like sunshine in every bite.
Whether you’re baking with classic all-purpose flour or freshly milled soft wheat, this cookie dough comes together easily and only gets better after a few days of resting in the fridge. Perfect for a summer afternoon—tender, chocolatey, and just the right amount of tang—these cookies have been my go-to indulgence for years, and I hope they’ll become yours, too.
P.S.: They’re still my go-to for 10:30.
Why This is My All-Time Favorite Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Rest assured: if I’m asking you to wait three days before you get your hands on a chocolate chip cookie, I made double sure that you walk away with a truly awesome cookie experience. Slow cold fermentation delivers a deeply flavorful, tangy cookie. Semi-sweet chocolate comes in both chunks and tiny flecks, for extra texture. Plus: you get to decide how sweet or tangy you want them to be. The longer they ferment in the fridge, the more time the bacteria in your starter have to consume the sugar and develop flavor — it’s up to you!
That, the added health benefits of sourdough fermentation, and the tender and cakey, bakery-style texture make these a treat to remember. High impact on your taste buds — low impact on your gut!


Tools You May Need
Stand mixer or hand mixer: For creaming butter, sugar and eggs.
Bowl with a tight fitting lid (optional): A tight lid will keep out unwanted flavors during the 3-day cold ferment.
Cookie scoop (optional): For portioning out even amounts of fridge cold dough.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
My Favorite Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe (Step-by-Step)



01
Combine dry ingredients
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir until well combined.
02
Cream butter and sugar
In a medium large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla sugar until pale and fluffy (around 2 minutes).
03
Add sourdough discard and egg
Add the sourdough discard and mix until combined. Add the egg and beat on low until fully incorporated.
04
Mix and add chopped chocolate
Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix on low until well combined. Add the chopped chocolate and mix until just incorporated (or fold them in by hand).
05
Cold-ferment for one to three days
Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate for one to three days, depending on how sweet or tangy you like your cookies.
06
Scoop and bake
Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Use a cookie scoop to portion out even balls of cookie dough. Place them on a lined baking sheet and press the dough balls flat ust a little, so that they don’t have a dome on top. Bake for 14-18 minutes, just until the edges turn golden brown. Wait until thoroughly cooled before removing them from the parchment paper.


Tips
- For cookies with a cakier texture, beat the egg into the creamed butter and sugar until the mixture is pale and fluffy. For a flatter, crispier cookie, add the egg and mix just until well combined.
- Mix chopped chocolate evenly into the dough before refrigerating. Once the dough is firm, it’s impossible to redistribute the chocolate pieces.
- Chill the dough in a bowl with a tight-fitting lid or wrap it really well to prevent it from absorbing any unwanted fridge odors or flavors.
- Use a cookie scoop to portion out evenly sized cookies for uniform baking. If you don’t have a scoop at hand, try something similar – like a coffee scoop. Any kind of deep spoon that can be leveled off will do nicely!
Variations


How to Store and Freeze Chocolate Chip Cookies
More from the Grains & Greens Kitchen
If you make these Sourdough discard Chocolate Chip Cookies…
I’d love to hear how they turned out!
P.S. If you’re into tangy sourdough cookies, you might want to check out the whole A Year of Chocolate Chip Cookies Series!
Bakery-Style Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Cookies (Long-Fermented Option)

Equipment
- Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer
- Cookie Scoop - (optional)
Ingredients
- 225 g butter - 1 cup
- 150 g raw cane or plain sugar - ¾ cup
- 100 g brown sugar - ½ cup
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla sugar - or 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 120 g cup sourdough discard - ½ cup
- 1 large egg
- 345 g all-purpose flour - 2⅔ cup
- ½ tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. fine salt
- 100-150 g chopped dark chocolate - ¾ – 1 cup (I used 100g / ¾ cup)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined.
- In a separate large bowl, cream the butter with the sugars until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the sourdough discard to the butter mixture and mix until incorporated, then beat in the egg until fully combined (see Notes for texture variations).
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing on low speed until just combined. Fold in the chopped chocolate pieces.
- Cover the dough tightly and refrigerate for 1 to 3 days, depending on how tangy and developed you want the flavor.
- When ready, preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Scoop even portions of dough onto a lined baking sheet, gently flattening each ball. Bake for 14 to 18 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Allow cookies to cool completely before removing from the baking paper.
Notes
Tips
- For a cakier cookie, beat the egg into the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. If you prefer a thinner, crispier cookie, just mix the egg in until combined—no extra beating needed.
- Make sure to mix the chopped chocolate evenly into the dough before chilling, since once it’s cold, the chocolate pieces won’t move around much.
- Store the dough in a bowl with a tight-fitting lid or wrap it well to keep fridge odors out during the long rest.
- Using a cookie scoop helps portion the dough evenly so your cookies bake uniformly. No scoop? A level coffee scoop or spoon works just fine, too!
Variations
- Whole Wheat Cookies: Swap in whole wheat flour for a nuttier, more nutritious cookie. Freshly milled soft wheat flour works beautifully here, though the dough may feel a bit stiffer — if so, add an extra tablespoon or two of sourdough discard to loosen it up.
- Sweeter Cookies: Since fermentation eats up some of the sugar, cookies fermented for 3 days taste less sweet than usual. If you want them sweeter, try baking the dough after 1 or 2 days instead.
- Less Tang: To keep the sourdough flavor mild, use fresher discard (less than 24 hours old) or even active starter. The longer you ferment, the tangier the cookies get, so feel free to experiment!
Recipe FAQs

You got my attention with this recipe! Love everything about it and can’t wait to try it. Great ingredients and easy to follow instructions too! Awesome!❤️
Ohh this looks delicious. I’m a fan of cookies haha
I used vegan butter because baking on a Sunday comes with restrictions 😅 otherwise I followed the recipe, using freshly milled flour, and left them in the fridge for two days. I tested them on various people and they were a success! People tasted a difference but nobody could pinpoint what the secret ingredient was. They were however uniformly of the opinion that these are good cookies 😊 So, another great recipe for using up discard (I actually fed my discard to have enough for this recipe…)
That’s the kind of kitchen ingenuity we’re here for 👏🏻😋
I’m glad people loved them (they never last long around here either)!
Whenever I feed my starter these days, I feed it a little extra extra. You never know what’ll come up and if I don’t get to use it elsewhere.. well, there’s always cookies! 😀