Chocolate Sourdough Cookies are one of my favorite ways to bake with sourdough discard. Instead of tossing out excess starter, you can turn it into a rich, chocolatey treat. The starter adds a gentle tang that balances the intensity of three types of chocolate, making each cookie taste complex without being overly sweet.
Cookies were actually where my baking started-the very first recipe I ever made was oatmeal cookies. Since then I've shared everything from classics like sourdough chocolate chip cookies to iced red velvet sourdough cookies, and these chocolate-loaded cookies have quickly become a staple right alongside them.
This recipe is simple to put together, no stand mixer, no chilling, and just 30 minutes from start to finish. Readers have called these some of the best cookies they've baked, and if you're craving more chocolate bakes, try my sourdough crinkles or sourdough chocolate biscotti next.
5-Star Review ★
These cookies are absolutely fantastic 😋 Triple chocolate, espresso and sourdough! Are you kidding me, so amazing! Thank you for a great recipe!
Jen
Ingredients and Substitutions
Espresso or strong brewed coffee: brings out the flavor of chocolate, if you don't like coffee, water, Earl Gray or black tea instead.
Sourdough discard: 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. 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.
Baking with sourdough discard
Sourdough discard adds a great tangy flavor to these cookies.
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
Make the cookie dough
STEP 1. Melt chocolate in hot melted butter and strong brewed coffee
STEP 2. Whisk sugars into cooled chocolate, butter mixture
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
Bake the cookies
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
Notes from Hannah's Test Kitchen
- These Sourdough Chocolate Cookies are all about chocolate so make sure you invest in the best quality you can find, I usually reach for Lindt, Ghirardelli or Guittard.
- Let the melted butter cool completely. Hot butter will melt sugars and may cause your cookies to spread as they bake.
- 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
Letting this dough rest in the fridge isn't just convenient, it also works like a long ferment. The dough has more time to develop, which brings out a deeper chocolate flavor in the baked cookies.
- Mix the cookie dough up to 1 week in advance.
- Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap (or transfer to an airtight container).
- Refrigerate until ready to bake.
- Portion and bake straight from the fridge-no need to bring the dough to room temperature.
Note: This dough does not freeze well, so refrigeration is the best option for making it ahead.
Did this recipe rise to the occasion?
★★★★★
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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.
Sarah says
Can I make these without the espresso? I don’t have any on hand and don’t really want to buy any just for the recipe
Hannah Dela Cruz says
Absolutely! You can substitute strong brewed black tea, coffee or just water.
Sherri says
I get instant espresso powder in a small jar and frequently use it in chocolate recipes such as cake, brownies, etc. Hydrated it with water and used as directed, it's a great chocolate enhancer!
Meri says
Been making this cookie recipe for almost ten times now, always comes out very good! My man would literally drop all other deserts for this. Thank you!
Hannah Dela Cruz says
Wow such a great compliment! Thank you!
Jackie says
LOVE this recipe! I have made them a few times and with the following tweaks and they turn out amazing:
:
coconut oil instead of butter
150g coconut sugar and no white sugar
raw cacao powder
GF flour
add walnuts
We are dark chocolate lovers and with the dark chocolate chips and walnuts, and even cutting the sugar, they are freakishly delicious! My husband thanks you for the recipe! 🙂
Hannah Dela Cruz says
I'm so glad these substitutions worked and thank you for sharing them!
Briana says
So good! Happy to finally have an official go to recipe to use up my sourdough discard.
Hannah Dela Cruz says
Thank you for the feedback Briana! So happy you loved the cookies!
Rose says
Hey
My whole family and I really enjoyed your sourdough fudge cookies! I am new to sourdough, even at the age of 68, but I was a baker all my life in union bakeries. Cookies are our favorite of our family, and I thank you very much for sharing this recipe.🥳
Hannah Dela Cruz says
I'm so excited for you! Glad you discovered sourdough, you are going to love this wonderful world. So happy you and your family enjoyed the cookies.
Rachael says
okay, so they're yum! but mine look and taste more like brownies than cookies, other than being round. My dough also doesn't seem to be like a cookie dough texture either. What'd I do wrong?! 😔
Hannah Dela Cruz says
These have a bit of a softer texture rather than chewy and dense like a chocolate chip cookie, so that might be what you're picking up on!
Angela says
SO GOOD!
I didn’t have dark chocolate on hand so I used semisweet morsels in both places chocolate was called for …
And I didn’t read ahead to see the need to let them cool completely or that they were “better the next day” …
We let them cool slightly - and there’s a FEW left to test this “better the next day” claim. Hahaha.
SO GOOD tho - thanks for sharing.
georgia says
These were incredible! I was dubious about the coffee (can’t stand the stuff), but decided to bite the bullet and not use a substitute because they were for my mom’s birthday. They came out awesome, I couldn’t taste the coffee at all!
Hannah Dela Cruz says
Glad you enjoyed the recipe! Coffee brings out the flavor of chocolate and is so good in this recipe. I'm so happy you took the chance and included it in your cookie dough.
Jane says
They came out soooo yummy! The only problem is that, they were a little flat.. Not sure what I did wrong..
Paulene says
These were so easy and delicious! I would probably put less salt in the batter next time. Would go so well with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to cut the richness of the chocolate! So yummy !
Kourtney says
All of your cookie recipes are the best I have ever found! I call these brownie cookies. lol. I frozen a couple and then baked them from frozen and they are just as good. Just a little bit longer cooking time.
I didn't have dark chocolate so I used semi sweet. I halved the salt as I use salted butter in all of my baking. For the chocolate chips, I used half semi sweet and half milk chocolate. Thank you for creating and sharing your talents with us. I am so grateful.
Sig says
Also, when you say vanilla. You mean vanilla extract? That’s what I used but it wasn’t clear in the instructions.
Hannah Dela Cruz says
Yes! I'll make that clarification. Thanks for your note!
Sigourney Gruenther says
So, when you say espresso, do you mean espresso liquid or can I use 1 or 2 teaspoons of espresso powder instead? That’s all I have. If I do add the powder, I probably still need to add the 28 grams of water as well? Thanks!
Hannah Dela Cruz says
I'm not sure how much espresso powder you'd need to use to make a strong shot of espresso. But it will probably work just fine. You can even use strong brewed coffee, black tea or just water in a pinch!
Sarah says
Can I emit the coffee and alternate with something else, like a vanilla powder or extract if I don’t like the espresso/coffee aspect? Thanks!
Hannah Dela Cruz says
Hi! Absolutely, I always give substitution suggestions in the "what you need" section of each blog post. You can sub black tea, Early Grey tea, Chai or just use water.
Megan says
Do you use unsweetened dark chocolate? Any examples?
Hannah Dela Cruz says
Hi! I don't normally use unsweetened dark chocolate for any of my recipes. If you're subbing it for the chocolate chips or melted chocolate in the dough, I don't think it would work as it would be too bitter.
Lindsey says
Can the baked cooked be frozen?
Hannah Dela Cruz says
I don't see why not. However, I've never tried so I can't confirm how they would freeze. If you do try this out please let me know!
Cindy says
Made these last week for my co-workers. Walked away with a handful of compliments and only got to try one cookie. Great recipe,! Just made up another double batch for our lunch boxes.
Hannah Dela Cruz says
So happy you loved it. Thank you for sharing my recipe with your coworkers!
Monique says
Easy recipe and good texture but it was too salty.
Pamela says
If you are using salted butter instead of the recommended unsalted then definitely reduce the amount of salt you add.