Soft and fudgy, these Sourdough Chocolate Cookies are made with three types of chocolate. Sourdough discard adds a delicious tang that perfectly balances the rich flavor of chocolate. This easy one bowl recipe is ready is less than an hour!
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What I love about this recipe
- All mixed by hand - no stand mixer needed!
- Extra rich chocolate flavor with 3 types of chocolate in the dough.
- Sourdough discard adds a tangy flavor that compliments the richness of chocolate.
- No chilling required! Recipe takes 30 minutes from start to finish!
If you like chocolate as much as I do, you’d love my Sourdough Crinkle Cookies, Sourdough Brownies, Sourdough Chocolate Shortbread Cookies, Sourdough Chocolate Muffins, Sourdough Chocolate Zucchini Muffins, and Sourdough Chocolate Cake.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Espresso or strong brewed coffee: brings out the flavor of chocolate, sub an equal amount of water, Earl Gray or black tea, if you don't drink coffee.
Sourdough discard: Both active sourdough starter and sourdough discard will work for this recipe. If you don't have sourdough, simply add 28 g water and 28 g all-purpose flour into your recipe.
All purpose flour: Don't substitute whole wheat flour or your cookies will be dry and crumbly.
Cocoa powder: Use Dutch-processed cocoa powder, not natural cocoa powder which is acidic and will make your cookies too puffy.
See the recipe card for full ingredient details.
Invest in High Quality Chocolate
These Sourdough Chocolate Cookies are all about chocolate so make sure you invest in the best quality you can find. I linked the specific chocolate brands I used in the ingredients list below.
Baking with sourdough discard
Sourdough discard adds a great tangy flavor to these cookies. Since you are not using it to make bread, your sourdough starter does not need to be activated or fed for it to work in this cookie recipe. Feel free to use your discard directly from the fridge.
Older discard will have a tangier, acidic flavor than freshly-fed sourdough starter. Both will work for this recipe, you’ll get a slightly different result but your cookies will still be delicious!
Love cookies made with sourdough discard? Check out my recipes for Sourdough Peanut Butter Cookies and Sourdough Sugar Cookies. Need more ideas? Check out my Top Sourdough Cookie Recipes.
Step-by-step Instructions
STEP 1. Melt chocolate in hot melted butter and strong brewed coffee
STEP 2. Whisk sugars into cooled chocolate, butter mixture
Tip
Let your butter cool completely. Hot butter will melt sugars and may cause your cookies to spread as they bake.
STEP 3. Fold in the sourdough discard, egg, vanilla, flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa powder
STEP 4. Stir in the chocolate chips until well distributed throughout the dough
Tip
Double-check your baking powder! Its leavening power fades over time which will affect the texture of your cookies.
To check if it still works, combine a pinch with a drop of vinegar. If the mixture fizzes it will work!
STEP 5. Portion out the dough and arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet with room to spread
STEP 6. Bake at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes
Baker's Tips
- Weigh your ingredients. Measuring with a scale is much more accurate than using tablespoons and cups. This helps guarantee the success of your bake.
- Both active starter and sourdough discard will work for this recipe.
- Don't crowd your baking sheet. The cookie dough will spread a bit as they bake, arrange them at least 2 inches apart.
- Use a light-colored baking sheet. A dark colored baking sheet will absorb too much heat and burn the bottoms of your cookies.
- Don't over bake your cookies! They will turn out bland, chalky and dry.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. These cookies depend on residual heat for gentle baking, keeping them soft and delicious.
Make ahead instructions
Prep ahead: You can make this cookie dough up to a week in advance, giving the flavors time to deepen and develop. Simply cover the bowl with plastic wrap and store in the fridge. Then portion the cookies out and bake according to instructions when ready.
Unfortunately, this cookie dough doesn’t freeze well.
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! Simply use the same proportion of freshly fed sourdough starter in the recipe. Your starter won’t add a strong tangy flavor to your cookies, but will still work.
If you don’t have a starter, but still want to try out this recipe, simply add 28 grams of all-purpose flour and 28 grams of water to your cookie dough.
Your cookies are over baked. Chocolate cookies have a tendency to taste chalky and have a dull flavor when they are baked for too long. These cookies need to be baked for 8 to 10 minutes at 375 F. Your cookies won’t be totally set after you take them out of the oven, let them fully cool on the baking sheet (about 30 minutes) before moving them.
These cookies last about 7 days stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
More sourdough cookies you may like
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Sourdough Chocolate Cookie Recipe
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Ingredients
- 113 grams unsalted butter
- 28 grams espresso or strong brewed coffee
- 50 grams dark chocolate chopped
- 150 grams brown sugar
- 50 grams white sugar
- 56 grams sourdough discard
- 1 egg
- 14 grams vanilla
- 180 grams all purpose flour
- 10 grams baking powder
- 6 grams salt
- 25 grams cocoa powder
- 172 grams chocolate chips
Click US Customary to view volume measurements
Instructions
- Melt the butter and chocolate: Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Place chopped dark chocolate in a large mixing bowl. Pour hot butter and espresso (or strong brewed coffee) over the chocolate, stir using a spatula until completely melted. Set aside and let the mixture cool for 5 minutes.113 grams unsalted butter, 28 grams espresso, 50 grams dark chocolate
- Whisk in sugars: Whisk the brown sugar and granulated sugar into the cooled chocolate and butter until the sugars are dissolved and the mixture looks smooth and thickened.150 grams brown sugar, 50 grams white sugar
- Make the dough:Add the sourdough discard, egg, vanilla, all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder in that order into the mixing bowl. Stir until no traces of discard or egg and no dry bits of flour remain.56 grams sourdough discard, 1 egg, 14 grams vanilla, 180 grams all purpose flour, 10 grams baking powder, 6 grams salt, 25 grams cocoa powder
- Stir in chocolate chips: Stir the chocolate chips in until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes to allow the dough to firm up and become a little less sticky.172 grams chocolate chips
- Prep: While your dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 375 F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Portion out cookie dough: Take the cookie dough out of the refrigerator and portion them out using a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoon or 50 gram portions). Roll the dough out into rounds and flatten the top lightly. Arrange the cookie dough on your prepared baking sheets at least 2 inches apart.
- Bake: Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes or until the cookies have flattened out, the tops look dry and the edges look set. Take the cookies out of the oven and let them cool completely on the baking sheets. Your cookies will not be completely set at this point, so do not move them.
- Enjoy and store: These cookies are best enjoyed once they have completely cooled and set, they are even better the next day! Store any leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days.
Tips
These recipes were developed and tested using grams for precise measurements. To increase your chances of success, I recommend investing in a kitchen scale. I've included rough volume estimates (in tablespoons and cups), but they might not be totally accurate.
Remember all ovens are unique, these recipes were tested in my oven which runs cooler than others. You might need to lower the temperature if your bake appears to be browning too quickly. Monitor your bake closely and make adjustments if needed.
Notes
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist or dietitian, any nutrition information provided is an estimate.
Cherish says
Great recipe but I was wondering if it’s normal for the dough to be extra sticky? I weighed everything and let it sit in fridge for 24 hours and even straight out of fridge when I try to roll it in a ball my hands are covered with sticky dough.
Hannah Dela Cruz says
Hi Cherish! Yes - the dough is very sticky almost brownie like.
L Walker says
This is one of the best cookies I have ever eaten. Definitely better with the flake salt. I do not normally love cookies to the point that I just want to keep eating them, but that is not the case with this cookie. Soooooo good.
Hannah Dela Cruz says
I am so happy these helped you discover a love for cookies!
deborah says
When you say 28 grams of espresso, does that mean espresso coffee in 28 grams of water ?
Hannah Dela Cruz says
Hi Deborah - this would be a 28 gram (ml) espresso shot. So the liquid should measure 28 grams.
Thea says
Worked a treat, most delicious cookies I’ve ever made-didn’t have Dutch processed cocoa, just used regular
Hannah Dela Cruz says
I'm so glad you love them!
Raelyn F. says
I absolutely love this recipe! I have a cottage bakery and am making a few dozen for my customers for Valentine’s Day! The cookies turn out amazing, but mine do not flatten as much as yours. Do you know what could be causing this?
Hannah Dela Cruz says
Did you use Dutch-processed cocoa powder? You can always flatten the cookie dough for a little bit before baking.