You may have heard me mentioned before that I was not a fan of oatmeal cookies in my younger and unwise years. But if I would have met these sourdough chocolate chip oatmeal cookies early on, I may have changed my mind a lot sooner. They are your ideal chocolate chip cookies with chewy centers, crispy edges, and pockets of melty chocolate, just with extra hearty oats added to the dough.
These cookies are almost exactly the same as my chewy sourdough oatmeal raisin cookies, but I swapped out the raisin and walnuts for bittersweet chocolate chips instead. Of course, you still have the sourdough discard bringing a subtle tanginess along with nutty brown butter adding richness and depth of flavor. This one is for all my friends who are not a fan of raisins like my younger self.
Key ingredients
🍪 Just like any good sourdough chocolate chip cookies, you’ll want to go for good quality chocolate chips. The brands I typically get from the grocery stores are Ghirardelli or Guittard, they are on the pricey end but I do think they are worth the splurge for a special batch of cookies.
Other key ingredients:
- For next level flavor, brown your butter – this will not only remove water in the butter to make room for the extra moisture you’ll add in the form of sourdough discard, but also add nutty toffee-like notes making these cookies even more amazing.
- Sourdough discard or active sourdough starter will add that subtle tang to your cookies, as well as moisture.
- For an incredibly chewy texture, use only egg yolk instead of whole egg, along with brown sugar and just baking soda, skip the baking powder. An added benefit of using egg yolks is that you’ll minimize water in the cookie dough by removing the egg whites, allowing you to add more sourdough discard instead.
- Don’t forget your ground cinnamon, it is not a typical flavor for chocolate chip cookies, but just 1 teaspoon adds a warm cozy flavor to these sourdough oatmeal cookies.
How to make sourdough chocolate chip oatmeal cookies
Follow along visually as we make these chocolate chip oatmeal cookies with sourdough starter. Or you can skip ahead, detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.
1. Make brown butter
Make brown butter and let it cool in your stand mixer bowl ahead of time. It’s okay if it resolidifies.
2. Cream butter with sugar
Beat cooled brown butter with brown sugar for 2 minutes until thoroughly incorporated and lightened in color.
3. Add remaining wet ingredients
Beat egg yolk, sourdough discard and vanilla with the butter/sugar mixture for another 2 minutes until creamy and fluffy. Don’t be afraid to beat this for a long time to emulsify the mixture well.
4. Incorporate dry ingredients
Mix the dry ingredients together in a small bowl first and then add it to the wet mixture. I didn’t use my “lazy girl method” here (this is where I save a bowl by sifting and adding all the dry ingredients directly on top the wet ingredients) because I wanted the cinnamon to distribute more evenly. Stir until just combined is good enough.
5. Stir in oats and chocolate chips
This step will further mix the dough, that’s why it’s not necessary to mix super thoroughly in step 4. Also, you don’t want to over-mix cookie dough to keep them softer.
6. Divide the dough and chill
I like using my 3-tablespoon cookie scoop to divide the dough right away while it is still soft, then chill them for at least an hour.
7. Bake and cool
Bake 6 cookies to a tray. These spread more than my oatmeal raisin cookies but not as much as my pecan and toffee sourdough oatmeal cookies, but if you want perfectly round cookies, you can reshape them using a spatula or a large round cookie cutter, right when the cookies come out of the oven and are still soft. Cool on the baking sheet for 15 mins to allow them to set further before moving them to a wire rack.
Enjoy, non-oatmeal-raisin fans!
Sourdough Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies Recipe
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- Light Color Saucepan
- Baking Sheet
- 3 Tbsp Cookie Scoop
Ingredients
- 170 grams (6 oz) unsalted butter brown
- 250 grams (1 ¼ cup) brown sugar light or dark brown
- 1 large egg yolk
- 10 grams (2 teaspoon) pure vanilla extract
- 80 grams sourdough starter discard 100% hydration
- 135 grams (1 cup) all-purpose flour
- 3 grams (½ teaspoon) baking soda
- 2 grams (1 teaspoon) cinnamon
- 4 grams (¾ teaspoon) kosher salt Morton brand
- 100 grams (1 cup) old-fashioned rolled oats don’t sub instant oats
- 174 grams (1 cup) bittersweet chocolate chip
Instructions
- Brown the butter – Heat unsalted butter in a light colored saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter melts, it will become foamy. When the foam subsides, you will see clear bubbles, start whisking continuously at this point to keep the milk solids from burning. When the butter is caramel in color and smells nutty – about 8 to 9 minutes – take it off the heat and immediately pour it into the stand mixer bowl and allow to cool.170 grams unsalted butter
- Beat in sugar – Once the butter has cooled down, add brown sugar and beat with the paddle attachment for at least 2 minutes until lightened in color.250 grams brown sugar
- Incorporate sourdough starter – Add the egg yolk, vanilla extract, sourdough starter and continue beating for at least another 2 minutes until fluffy and creamy.1 large egg yolk, 10 grams pure vanilla extract, 80 grams sourdough starter discard
- Add dry ingredients – Sift the flour, cinnamon and baking soda into a small mixing bowl, stir in the kosher salt until evenly distributed. Add the dry ingredient mixture into the wet ingredient mixture in the stand mixer bowl and stir until incorporated. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.135 grams all-purpose flour, 3 grams baking soda, 2 grams cinnamon, 4 grams kosher salt
- Add mix-ins – Add the oats and chocolate chips, stir to distribute evenly. Stop the mixer and use a spatula to scrape the side and bottom of the bowl to ensure good distribution of everything throughout the cookie dough.100 grams old-fashioned rolled oats, 174 grams bittersweet chocolate chip
- Scoop and chill – Portion the cookie dough with a 3-tablespoon cookie scoop and place them on a lined baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, and up to 3 days, before baking. Chilling the dough is essential to allow the butter to re-solidify, the flour to hydrate and the flavor to develop.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake – Place 6 dough balls on a baking sheet, and bake 1 batch at a time for about 14 minutes, until the cookies start to turn golden but the middle is still slightly underbaked.
- Cool – Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet to finish baking from the residual heat for 10-15 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Storing baked cookies: store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temp for up to 5 days or freeze them for up to 6 months.
- Storing cookie dough: portioned cookie dough can be kept refrigerated for 3-4 days, and frozen for 3-6 months.
- Baking frozen dough: you can bake frozen cookie dough balls directly from the freezer without thawing, simply increase baking time by about a minute or so.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
