Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Sourdough Cookies

4.97 from 29 votes
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Chewy oatmeal chocolate chip sourdough cookies get an upgrade by adding some sourdough discard into the dough. I love the texture from the oats, the rich chocolate in these cookies and the slight tang of sourdough – if desired. Ooey, gooey and filled with chocolate and oats, this is a cookie you’ll be filling your cookie jar (or freezer) with again and again!

Why You’ll Love Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Sourdough Cookies

Important Ingredients

  • Sourdough Discard: In order to avoid a stronger sourdough flavor, use sourdough discard that is fresh or no more than a day or two old. If you want to play up the tang in these oatmeal cookies, use discard that is a couple days old. I always use 100% hydration sourdough discard. If your discard is very runny, you may need a little extra flour in this recipe.
  • Unsalted Butter: I bake a lot of cookies and always use unsalted butter. You can control the flavor much better when you use unsalted butter. Salt content varies between brands of salted butter, and your baked goods may come out too salty using salted butter. If you choose to use salted butter, decrease the salt a little bit in the recipe. Use softened butter for best results.
  • Brown Sugar & Granulated Sugar: A combination of brown sugar and granulated white sugar are used in this recipe for flavor and texture.
  • Egg: An egg adds richness and structure to the cookie dough
  • All-Purpose Flour: These cookies are perfect with all-purpose flour. Use flour with an 11.5% protein content, not bread flour.
  • Rolled Oats: Give these oats a quick pulse in the blender to break them up just a bit which gives the perfect texture to these cookies.
  • Chocolate Chips: I love semi-sweet in this recipe.
  • Vanilla Extract: Vanilla extract adds great flavor to these cookies.
  • Baking Soda & Baking Powder: These are rising agents in these cookies.
  • Salt: Salt balances the flavors in these cookies.

How to Make Chocolate Chip Sourdough Cookies

Mix the Dough

Wet Ingredients: Mix the softened butter in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar. Cream together until fluffy and smooth. Add the egg and whip together until fully incorporated. Add the sourdough discard and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth and combined.

Dry Ingredients: Pulse rolled oats in a blender until coarse. In a separate bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the oats and mix together with a fork to combine.

Mix Together: Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until combined. Add the chocolate chips and mix together.

Baking Cookies on Convection Setting

My favorite way of baking cookies is on the convection setting in my oven. These cookies bake at 375ºF for about 7-8 minutes. Cooking on convection causes the perfect crispy edges while keeping the center gooey and delicious. Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for a few minutes as they set up before removing to a counter top or coolin rack.

Note: If you don’t have convection setting on your oven, it’s okay! Pre-heat your oven to 400ºF for about 20 minutes before baking your first batch of cookies.

Scoop and Bake

Use a dough Scoop to scoop the dough into balls and place onto a parchment lined baking sheet (my favorite linked here, affiliate link), about 12 cookies per baking sheet.

Bake cookies at 375ºF convection for 7-8 minutes (see my notes about using a convection oven) until cookies are puffed up and the edges are a little crispy. Let the cookies sit for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet to set up before removing.

Amy’s Recipe Tip

Let the cookies cool almost completely before enjoying. The cooling time is important for these cookies because of how they are baked. You can still eat them warm, but they should be allowed to cool most of the way to let them set up before you enjoy them.

Substitutions

  • Rolled Oats: Quick oats can be substituted, though they may not need a pulse in the blender like the rolled oats do.
  • Chocolate Chips: Choose whatever favorite chocolate chips you like. I like semi-sweet but a combination of milk and semi-sweet would be delicious too.
  • Sourdough Discard: Bubbly sourdough starter can be substituted for the discard in this recipe.

How to Store Leftover Cookies

Let them sit out until cooled completely and then freeze them! I put them in an airtight container or ziplock bag and freeze. I actually love eating these frozen (or chilled), but they defrost quickly and are delicious either way.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can oatmeal cookies be long-fermented for more sourdough benefits and flavor?

Yes. Scoop the cookie dough into balls. Place the dough balls in the refrigerator after mixing and let sit in the refrigerator overnight for up to a couple days. This fermentation time will affect the flavor of the cookies – they will taste more sour but will have the benefits of sourdough.

Can I freeze oatmeal chocolate chip sourdough cookie dough?

Yes! This cookie dough freezes very well. Scoop your cookie dough into balls and freeze on a baking sheet. Once the balls are frozen you can put them in a ziplock bag or airtight container. When you want to bake them, either add a few extra minutes to the bake time or stick them in the refrigerator the night before to thaw and bake the next day.

Are these cookies thin and crispy or thick and chewy?

These are definitely on the thick and chewy side of cookies. If you want a thinner/crispier cookie, flatten the cookie with your hand before baking them. Bake at the same 375º convection and add a minute or two to the bake time.

4.97 from 29 votes

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Sourdough Cookies

Soft and chewy oatmeal chocolate chip sourdough cookies with crispy edges are the perfect sweet treat. The texture from the oatmeal, little tang from the sourdough and a whole lot of chocolate chips make this an incredibly delicious sourdough cookie.
Prep: 22 minutes
Cook: 8 minutes
Total: 30 minutes
Servings: 32 3 inch cookies

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Ingredients 

  • 170 grams unsalted butter, about 3/4 cup
  • 170 grams brown sugar, 3/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon
  • 75 grams granulated sugar, about 1/3 cup
  • 1 large egg, about 50 grams
  • 100 grams sourdough discard, see recipe notes, scant 1/2 cup
  • 6 grams vanilla extract, about 1.5 teaspoons
  • 300 grams all-purpose flour, about 2 cups
  • 5 grams baking powder, about 1 teaspoon
  • 5 grams baking soda, about 1 teaspoon
  • 6 grams salt, about 1 teaspoon
  • 110 grams rolled oats, pulsed in the blender, about 1 cup
  • 360 grams semi-sweet chocolate chips, about 2 cups

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 375ºF convection and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. See recipe notes for non-convection.
  • To the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer), beat the softened butter until light and fluffy for about a minute. Add brown sugar and granulated sugar. Cream together until fluffy and smooth.
  • Crack the egg and add to the butter/sugar mixture. Whip together with the beaters until the eggs are fully incorporated. Add the sourdough discard and vanilla extract. Mix again with the mixer until smooth and combined.
  • To a medium-sized bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pulse the rolled oats in a blender until coarse. Add the oats to the flour mixture and fluff together with a fork to combine.
  • Add the flour to the butter mixture and mix until combined. Add the chocolate chips and mix together.
  • Scoop the dough into balls and place onto a parchment lined baking sheet (my favorite linked here, affiliate link), about 12 cookies per baking sheet.
  • Bake cookies at 375ºF convection for 7-8 minutes until cookies are puffed up and the edges are a little crispy. Let the cookies sit for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet to set up before removing. If your oven doesn't have a convection setting, preheat oven for 20 minutes and bake cookies at 400 degrees for about 8 minutes.
  • Repeat with the remaining cookie dough and enjoy!

Notes

Convection: I always bake my cookies using the convection feature on my oven. This is what gives the crispy edges but a gooey center. If you don’t want a gooey middle, press the cookies down with your hand before baking them. They will spread a little more and bake up as a thin and crispy cookie. If your oven doesn’t have convection bake, use 400ºF as the temperature and preheat your oven about 20 minutes before baking your first batch of cookies.
Sourdough Discard: I feed my sourdough starter with equal weights of water and flour for a 100% hydration starter. If your starter is fed differently, you will want to adjust the amount of flour called for in the recipe; adding more flour for a starter that is fed with a higher percentage of water and less flour for a lower hydration starter. The longer your discard sits in the fridge, the more “tang” it will have. I prefer using a younger discard in this recipe to balance with the other flavors.
 
All-Purpose Flour: These cookies bake up chewy with crispy edges. If you prefer a flatter cookie, use 250 or 275 grams of flour instead of 300.

Nutrition

Calories: 185kcal, Carbohydrates: 24g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 9g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 18mg, Sodium: 138mg, Potassium: 97mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 12g, Vitamin A: 147IU, Calcium: 26mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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About Amy Coyne

Hi! I'm Amy. Sourdough lover and Kentucky based mama, sharing my best recipes and tips, one bake at a time. So glad you're here!

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77 Comments

  1. Kristi Jo says:

    5 stars
    So good they are dangerous!! Even my daughter who usually thinks chocolate chip cookies are just okay thought they were fabulous. Thank you so much for this recipe. I can’t wait to try some of your others!

  2. Michelle S says:

    5 stars
    I love this recipe and these cookies. Can these be made into bars? If so what adjustments do you suggest.

  3. Jude Sullivan says:

    5 stars
    These cookies are a regular request from my grandchildren. So so delicious 😋

  4. Trudy Jones says:

    5 stars
    These are delicious!

  5. Rob says:

    5 stars
    Excellent recipe! This is the new go to for chocolate chip cookies!

  6. Terri Abel says:

    I love all your recipes, thank you for putting in all the work to make it easy for me. Question iv been seeing a lot about adding corn starch to cookie recipes, makes them fluffier…would be interested in your thoughts on this. I’m going to bake your oatmeal chocolate chip cookies today may try adding a tab of corn starch. Not that they need improvement… just curious have a blessed day

    1. Corn starch can give cookies a fluffier rise. I’ve also seen recipes that use bread flour instead of all-purpose flour (the corn starch with all-purpose flour has a similar result). Happy baking!

  7. Kathryn Young says:

    5 stars
    I just found this recipe looking for something to do with my discard. I’m new at this sour dough starter life! I haven’t tried the recipe yet but I’m super impressed with it. I am pretty good at finding great recipes. Maybe I’ll remember to come back after I’ve baked a batch!

  8. Shelli says:

    5 stars
    I love this recipe! I used 2 t. vanilla and added 1 c. toasted pecans. I will definitely make these again. The flavor is outstanding!

  9. Cyndi says:

    Just curious. How are these without the chocolate chip? I want a plain oatmeal raisin but I wasn’t sure how much the chocolate in this recipe made a difference.

    1. I think it depends on your taste – you can try oatmeal raisin and see if you like that flavor profile better!

  10. ur mama says:

    5 stars
    love