These delicious, chewy sourdough sugar cookies are a perfect blend of tangy sourdough flavor and classic buttery flavor. These cookies are soft on the inside with perfectly crisp edges on the outside. Every year before Christmas, my kids make these into cut-out cookies with frosting on them. They are also delicious without frosting and are good for any occasion or gathering.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Easy – these sourdough cookies are easy to mix up, let them sit in the refrigerator for a few hours, and then bake up into chewy sourdough discard sugar cookies. They are delicious plain, or you can add some cream cheese frosting or royal icing to make them beautiful and even more delicious!
Delicious – I love the subtle tang from the sourdough in these sugar cookies paired with the sweet flavor of the cookies. To give them even more delicious flavor, you can add lemon or almond extracts.
A great way to use up extra sourdough discard in your refrigerator.

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Ingredients

Butter- I like to use my homemade butter, but use whatever you have
Vanilla- You can make your own homemade vanilla extract really simply. I keep it stored in my homestead pantry so I always have it on hand.
Lemon or almond extract, optional
Eggs – best if they are at room temperature.
Sour cream
Sourdough Starter Discard – I usually use discard straight out of the refrigerator
Flour-I like to buy unbleached all-purpose flour from Azure Standard. If you want to use whole wheat flour, I suggest making these with half whole wheat and half all-purpose flour so they don’t get too dense.
Baking powder
Baking soda- Since we are using sourdough discard for these muffins, we have to add some kind of leavening agent to help them rise.
Salt – Redmond salt is the healthiest because it contains a lot of natural minerals. Salt actually brings out the sweet, rich flavor in baked goods. You can purchase this from Redmond Salt.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here

Tools

Stand mixer or a large mixing bowl – my absolute favorite stand mixer is a bosch mixer. I’ve used one almost everyday for years and it has served me so well
Cookie Paddles – if you get the bosch mixer, I highly recommend you get the cookie paddles, which is what I use for mixing up these easy cookies. You will need the metal top for the cookie
paddles. I also highly recommend getting the cake paddles as well. I use them all the time. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you could use a large bowl and a hand mixer.
Parchment Paper
Baking Sheet
Rolling Pin for Cut-Out Cookies, optional
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Cookie Cutters, optional

Favorite Sourdough Recipes:

What are the health benefits of sourdough?

Anytime you add a fermented element like sourdough to a recipe, it becomes more nutritious because it contains live probiotics and good bacteria that help with gut health and digestion. Gluten and phytic acid are naturally present in wheat, and are usually what is to blame for people not being able to digest gluten well. When the grain is fermented through the sourdough process, the gluten and phytic acid are broken down, making it easier to digest. A lot of people that struggle with gluten intolerance (not people with celiac), can digest food made with sourdough without any issue, especially if the recipe is allowed to sit out for a few hours and “long ferment”.

In addition, phytic acid is an anti-nutrient that blocks absorption of the nutrients found in wheat. During the sourdough fermentation process, the phytic acid gets broken down and the nutrients are more bio-available to the body. This is why baking with sourdough is so important for our health.

How to Make Soft Sourdough Discard Sugar Cookies

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar, vanilla, sourdough discard and lemon extract.

Add the egg and beat until fluffy.

Add the sour cream and beat in the dry ingredients.

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Place the cookie dough in plastic wrap or an airtight container and chill the dough in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight

For Cutout Cookies:

Roll the dough 1/4 inch thick and use cookie cutters to cut into desired shapes.

Place on a prepared baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until the edges are slightly brown. Do not overbake.

For Drop Cookies:

Using a small ice cream scoop, drop tablespoon-sized cookie dough balls on a prepared baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Do not overbake.

Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack.

Frosting, Optional:

Frost with cream cheese or buttercream frosting if desired (recipe below).

Mix up frosting ingredients in a small bowl with a hand mixer.

Divide into smaller bowls and color with food coloring if desired.

Spread over cooled cookies with a small spatula, or pipe on designs using cake decorating equipment.

Enjoy with a warm cup of hot chocolate, tea, or your favorite coffee. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Tips

To gain all of the health benefits from making these with long-fermented sourdough, be sure to allow the cookies to bulk ferment at room temperature overnight. This will ensure that most of the phytic acid and gluten in the flour are consumed by the sourdough starter, making these much easier to digest, especially if you are gluten-intolerant.
Using room temperature butter gives the best results for soft, chewy cookies.
To make cut-out cookies, chill the dough for several hours before rolling it out with a rolling pin, and then cutting into shapes with your favorite cookie cutters.

FAQ

Yes, especially if you let the dough ferment in the refrigerator for a few hours. This allows the sourdough to break down the gluten and phytic acid in the flour that was added to the recipe.

The sourdough gives these cookies only a slight tang unless you leave it in the refrigerator for several days, and then the tang will get stronger.

No, these cookies can be baked right away, but they won’t have the long fermented health benefits unless you allow the dough to ferment for a few hours. You can ferment them in the refrigerator or at room temperature. The fermentation happens much more quickly on the counter, and is much slower in the refrigerator. For best results, chill the dough before baking.

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