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!
If I could only have 1 sweet thing for the rest of my life it would definitely be chocolate, so this triple chocolate cookie recipe was a no-brainer. These come highly recommended, with my boyfriend (who is my biggest critic) saying they are the best I’ve ever made!
If you like chocolate as much as I do, you’d love my Sourdough Crinkle Cookies and Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies.
All About Chocolate
These cookies are made with three different types of chocolate. Starting with dark chocolate melted into the dough which gives these cookies a great chewy and fudgy texture. Cocoa powder imparts a really rich chocolate flavor. Finally, chocolate chips add a rich texture and pockets of chocolate throughout the cookies.
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.
A little bit of espresso accentuates the flavor of chocolate, if you can’t pull an espresso shot use strongly brewed coffee. If you don’t want to use coffee in these cookies, you can use black tea, Earl Gray or water. Lots of vanilla serves to enhance the flavor of chocolate.
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. So, you can 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 sourdough cookies? Check out my My Top 5 Sourdough Cookie Recipes.
Here’s what you need
Aside from high-quality chocolate, these Sourdough Chocolate Cookies are made up of pantry basics. These come together easily in one bowl with no special equipment required!
Ingredients
Butter: imparts richness and tenderness to these cookies
Espresso or strong brewed coffee: brings out the flavor of chocolate, sub an equal amount of water, Earl Gray or black tea
Dark chocolate: a little bit of melted dark chocolate give these an extra fudgy flavor
Brown sugar: adds richness and keeps these cookies soft
White sugar: imparts sweetness and gives these cookies structure
Sourdough discard: adds a delicious tang that balances the bitter richness of dark chocolate
Egg: binds the ingredients
Vanilla: lots and lots of vanilla brings out the flavor of chocolate
All purpose flour: the low protein content of all-purpose flour imparts a balance of tenderness and structure for these cookies
Baking powder: the main raising agent, helps these cookies rise and remain tender
Cocoa powder: imparts a rich chocolate flavor without making these cookies too bitter
Salt: brings out the flavor of the other ingredients
Chocolate chips: takes these cookies to the next level with pockets of chocolate throughout
Equipment
Small saucepan
Mixing bowls
Silicone spatula
Parchment paper
2 large baking sheets
Large cookie scoop
Step-by-step Instructions
1 - Melt chocolate in hot melted butter and strong brewed coffee
2 - Whisk sugars into cooled chocolate, butter mixture
3 - Fold in the sourdough discard, egg, vanilla, flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa powder
4 - Stir in the chocolate chips until well distributed throughout the dough
5 - Portion out the dough and arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet with room to spread
6 - Bake at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes
FAQ
Absolutely! You can make the cookie dough up to 1 week in advance. Portion out your cookie dough and refrigerate them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet covered with plastic wrap.
Unfortunately, this cookie dough doesn’t freeze well.
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.
Sourdough Chocolate Cookies
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
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Notes
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe? Do you have questions? Let me know!