Yes – you can make sourdough cookies that even the kids will enjoy. (They don’t taste too sour – honest.) The ones I make generally include chocolate, but you can make them as oatmeal raisin cookies, spice cookies, peanut butter cookies or whatever flavor you like.
This recipe is adapted from the GNOWFGLINS Sourdough from A to Z e-book, my sourdough bible. I can’t recommend this book strongly enough. I share a couple of variations of the cookies here, the e-book includes several others such as peanut butter chocolate chip and molasses ginger. The book also includes how to start your own sourdough starter, dozens of recipes, gluten free sourdough and so much more. Tortillas, cakes, breads, muffins, cinnamon tolls, crackers, pizza, pasta (yes – sourdough pasta), donuts, biscuits, scones – you name it, they probably have a sourdough version in this book.
You’ll want to prep this at night to bake the next morning, or prep first thing in the morning to bake later in the day, to allow the sourdough to work it’s magic fermenting power on the flour.
Basic Sourdough Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 to 1-1/3 cups whole wheat flour (more or less)
- 2/3 cup organic cane sugar, rapidura or sucanat
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- chocolate chunks, dried fruit, or crispy nuts (optional)
Directions
In a medium sized bowl (I like to use my Pyrex 8-Cup Measuring Cup, Read from Above Graphics
Add one cup of flour. Mix well. Continue adding flour a little at a time, mixing well after each addition, until you get a very stiff dough. Cover and allow to sour at room temperature for 8 or more hours. Remember, the longer it sits, the more sour it will get.
The photos below show the basic dough before and after souring. It gets a little puffy, but doesn’t raise like bread.
Cookie dough before souring (top), after souring (bottom)
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F and get your pans ready. These will be a little sticky, so you should either grease or use parchment paper.
Oatmeal soured dough, wet mix, dried cherries
Mix egg, sugar, vanilla, sea salt and baking powder in a small bowl. (Hold the baking soda for a bit.) Pour this mixture over the top of your soured dough. Blend well (I use my hands). When dough is well mixed, add chocolate, fruit, etc, blend thoroughly. Lastly, sprinkle the baking soda over the top and mix well.
Drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly brown and tops are soft set. Cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container with wax paper between layers. Makes around 2-3 dozen cookies, depending on the size.
A double batch of oatmeal chocolate cherry cookies
Cherry-chocolate-oatmeal or Oatmeal-Raisin Sourdough Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
- 1 cup wheat wheat flour (more if needed to make a stiff dough)
- 2/3 cup organic cane sugar, rapidura or sucanat
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup dried cherries or raisins
- 1/2 cup chocolate chunks or crispy nuts (optional)
Directions
Proceed as above, but add in oats along with the flour before souring.
The boys plow through these just like regular cookies. I usually make a double batch to make sure we have enough. The cookies turn out moist and tender, although if you make a thinner dough they will spread more and be a little crispier hen they first come out of the oven. You could pop them in the dehydrator for a bit if you must have a crisp cookie. 🙂
I purchased my sourdough starter from Cultures for Health. (I have the Alaska starter.) You may also catch/grow your own starter, but I’ve heard mixed results from friends who have tried it. Either way, using sourdough is a great way to get more nutrition out of your baked goods.
If you’ve enjoyed this post, don’t forget to share. 🙂
P.S. – Don’t forget to check out Wardeh’s book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Fermenting Foods.
