Double Chocolate Sourdough Cookies
Calling all chocolate lovers! These are the best double chocolate sourdough cookies! Indulge in the rich chocolate flavor of these double chocolate cookies with lightly crispy edges, a soft chewy center, a hint of sourdough tang, and plenty of melted chocolate chips in each delicious bite. They’re so good you’ll find yourself reaching for another!
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How to make double chocolate cookies at home is easier than you think. With just a few pantry staples, you can indulge in a freshly baked rich, chocolatey treat anytime you want! There’s nothing quite like a warm cookie, fresh from the oven.
A delicious natural by-product of keeping a sourdough starter is having plenty of sourdough discard. So naturally, having some tried-and-true sourdough discard recipes just makes sense. Adding it to baked goods like scones, quick breads, and granola is a useful way to incorporate sourdough discard so it doesn’t go to waste. Although I must admit, I think sourdough discard cookies are my favorite way to use it!
Why You’ll Love Sourdough Double Chocolate Cookies
- Easy – This no-fuss cookie dough is easy to mix up and work with.
- Sourdough Goodness – Elevate your sourdough cookies with sourdough starter discard and enjoy the added health benefits. A long ferment works to break down the phytic acid and makes the grains easier to digest.
- Satisfies Any Chocolate Craving – There are times when the cravings hit and you find yourself in need of some chocolate. This cookie recipe won’t disappoint! The rich, sweet, chocolate cookie dough is packed with plenty of chocolate chips for a chocolatey explosion in your mouth. I like to keep cookies in my freezer so I can grab one for a quick and easy afternoon snack or after dinner dessert.
- Doubles easily – I like to double cookie recipes every time I bake. This way I have some cookies for fresh eating, and the rest go into the freezer. If I’m taking the time and effort to make cookies (which is very little) I figure I might as well make the mess once and get the most bang for my efforts. This way I get to enjoy cookies now and in the days to come.
Ingredients
You’ll use mainly pantry staples to whip up a batch of these delicious chocolate cookies. With these 11 ingredients and a little love Double chocolate sourdough cookies
- Butter – All soft cookies begin with butter. Use unsalted butter that’s softened to room temperature for easy creaming.
- Brown sugar – The molasses in brown sugar add depth and dimension that pair well with chocolate for delicious double chocolate cookies.
- Egg – Let the egg warm to room temperature for easy mixing. Pull the egg out of the fridge one hour before you plan to mix up the cookie dough.
- Sourdough starter – Discard cookie recipes generally use sourdough discard, or the portion of the sourdough starter that’s removed, or discarded, before feeding the starter. However, you can use active sourdough starter but it won’t impart as much sourdough tang unless you long ferment the dough. This gives the bacteria and yeast time to break down the sugars, which produces more acid that gives the classic sourdough flavor.
- Vanilla extract – Another layer of flavor. Use homemade or store-bought vanilla extract.
- Flour – I always use all-purpose flour for cookies. With a lower protein content that bread flour, all-purpose flour gives cookies the perfect amount of chew while still being tender.
- Cocoa powder – Use unsweetened cocoa powder, sometimes referred to as natural cocoa powder, since the recipe contains baking soda. Don’t confuse Dutch cocoa powder or cacao powder
- Baking soda – Leavens the cookies for a soft, puffy cookie.
- Sea salt – Flavors baked goods.
- Espresso powder – I love adding a bit of coffee to anything chocolate because the bitter notes in coffee balances the sweetness in chocolate, creating a balanced, complex flavor. Cakes and quick breads can handle the moisture in coffee, but cookie recipes generally don’t call for that much liquid. Which is why espresso powder is the perfect solution to get all of the flavor without throwing off the baking ratios.
- Chocolate chips – Chocolate chips melt to create soft, gooey pops of chocolate that are the star of these soft, fudgy chocolate cookies. Which type of chocolate you use is really up to personal choice, but my general rule of thumb is to use is using what you enjoy eating. I almost always use semi-sweet chips or dark chocolate chips.
How To Make Double Chocolate Cookies
Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.
Line a sheet pan with a sheet of parchment paper.
Cream 113 g (1/2 cup/1 stick) butter and 200 g (1 cup) brown sugar in a large bowl with a hand mixer on low speed, gradually increasing to medium speed for 2 minutes until it’s light and fluffy.
Add the remaining wet ingredients to the butter mixture, 1 egg, 125 g (1/2 cup) sourdough starter, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Mix until combined.
Whisk 125 g (1 cup) all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tbsp espresso powder, and 50 g (1/2 cup) cocoa powder in a separate bowl.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
Fold in 160 g (1/2 cup) chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
Long Ferment Option: Cover the bowl of cookie dough and refrigerate for up to 24 hours to give the bacteria and yeast in the sourdough a chance break down the phytic acid. The longer the cookie dough sits, the more tangy flavor develops in the cookie. Add a minute or two to your bake time when using cold cookie dough.
Scoop cookie dough with a 2 ounce cookie scoop and place on the prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart.
Bake the cookies at 350°F/175°C for 11-12 minutes until the edges are set and the centers are still soft.
Rest the cookies on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.
How to Store Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Allow cookies to cool completely. Place them in an airtight container and store them at room temperature for up to 5 days.
FAQs
Yes! Freezing chewy sourdough chocolate chip cookies is an easy hack to have cookies anytime you want.
To freeze cookie dough, scoop cookies onto a parchment-lined baking sheet close together. Place the pan in the freezer for an hour to freeze the cookie dough balls. Remove the frozen cookie dough and place them into a freezer-safe bag, squeezing out as much air as possible, and label it with the date and name of the cookie. Store cookie dough for up to 3 months.
Allow baked cookies to cool completely before placing them into a freezer-safe bag, squeezing out as much air as possible, before placing them into the freezer.
Since chocolate cookies don’t brown like other cookies, it can be difficult to know when they’re done baking. Double chocolate chip cookies puff up and look soft in the center when they’re done.
Tap the edge of the cookie with your finger, and if it feels like it’s set, then it’s done. If it’s soft, let it bake for 1-2 more minutes and check again. They usually take 11-12 minutes.
They type of chocolate chips you use comes down to personal preference. The majority of cookies call for semi-sweet chocolate chips. Made of 50-60% cacao, semi-sweet chips have bittersweet notes that give the chocolate more complexity while also having some sweetness. Dark chocolate chips bring a nice balance to the sweet cookie dough, while milk chocolate is the sweetest of the bunch and perfect for those with a sweet tooth.
Most discard recipes are made quickly without additional rising time or proofing. However, letting the dough or batter long ferment gives the bacteria and yeast a chance to break down the grain’s phytic acid and gluten, making the final product easier to digest. So while I wouldn’t consider cookies a health food, adding sourdough discard adds healthy benefits to this sweet treat.
Tips
- Underbake – I’m a sucker for a soft and chewy cookie and this cookie fits the bill. Take the cookies out of the oven when they’re still soft in the center so that they cool to a fudgy cookie with chewy edges.
- Kitchen scale – Measuring ingredients by volume instead of weight can give you inconsistent results each time you make a recipe. I suggest investing in a kitchen scale so you have the same ingredient amount to achieve consistent results with your baking recipes.
- Don’t over mix – For soft and chewy cookies be sure to mix the dough until just combined with no streaks of dry ingredients left. Too much mixing increases the gluten, which leads to tougher, bread-like cookies.
- Chill the cookie dough – The dough is a bit sticky compared to other cookie dough but comes together with no problem . Chill the dough for an hour and use a cookie scoop for easy scooping.
Double Chocolate Sourdough Cookies
Equipment
- mixing bowls
- sheet pan
- parchment paper optional
- hand mixer
- kitchen scale
- measuring spoons
Ingredients
- 113 g unsalted butter ½ cup, 1 stick
- 200 g brown sugar 1 cup, packed
- 1 large egg
- 125 g sourdough starter discard ½ cup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 125 g all-purpose flour 1 cup
- 50 g unsweetened cocoa powder ½ cup
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp espresso powder
- 160 g semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 cup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.
- Line a sheet pan with a sheet of parchment paper.
- Cream 113 g (½ cup/1 stick) butter and 200 g (1 cup) brown sugar in a large bowl with a hand mixer on low speed, gradually increasing to medium speed for 2 minutes until it's light and fluffy.
- Add the remaining wet ingredients to the butter mixture, 1 egg, 125 g (1/2 cup) sourdough starter, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Mix until combined.
- Whisk 125 g (1 cup) all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tbsp espresso powder, and 50 g (1/2 cup) cocoa powder in a separate bowl. Add 160 g (1/2 cup) chocolate chips to the bowl with the dry ingredients, tossing to coat the chips with flour.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Scoop cookie dough with a 2 ounce cookie scoop and place on the prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart.
- Bake the cookies at 350°F/175°C for 11-12 minutes until the edges are set and the centers are still soft.
- Rest the cookies on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.
Long Ferment Option
- Cover the bowl of cookie dough and refrigerate for up to 24 hours to give the bacteria and yeast in the sourdough a chance break down the phytic acid. The longer the cookie dough sits, the more tangy flavor develops in the cookie. Add a minute or two to your bake time when using cold cookie dough.
