Save your sourdough discard and make these soft and chewy sourdough oatmeal cookies! They are infused with nutty brown butter and can be made plain or with raisins or chocolate chips.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Flavor: These sourdough oatmeal cookies are PACKED with flavor! We’ve got nutty brown butter, rich brown sugar, a touch of cinnamon and vanilla, and a lovely depth of flavor from the sourdough starter.
- Ease: This is a beginner-friendly recipe. Browning the butter is the hardest part, and while it may seem intimidating, I promise it is simple! I have a post (and video!) on how to brown butter if you want a full tutorial.
- Texture: While these are hearty cookies with plenty of oats, they still have a soft and chewy texture. I was very careful to design this recipe to not be too cakey, which can sometimes happen when you incorporate liquids like sourdough starter or pumpkin.
- Time: The dough needs to chill before you can bake it, so this recipe is great for making in advance. Or, simply make the dough and use the chilling time to clean up your kitchen and prep your cookie sheets.
- Reduces waste. A great way to use up your sourdough discard from your sourdough starter so you don’t have to toss it in the trash!
Today’s sourdough oatmeal cookies were adapted from my classic oatmeal cookies, with lots of notes taken from my sourdough chocolate chip cookies. Just like with that recipe, had to make some slight adjustments to account for the liquid in the sourdough discard; these included eliminating the egg whites and browning the butter, which cooks out the water AND imparts a rich, toffee-esque flavor. Win-win!
Not only is this recipe a great way to use up leftover sourdough starter (and I have plenty more sourdough recipes if you need them!), but the sourdough also adds depth of flavor that you simply won’t find in your average oatmeal cookies. It doesn’t make the cookies taste sour, but it does add a little something special that I think you’ll love!
What You Need
Today’s ingredients were carefully selected to create richly flavored and perfectly textured cookies. I’ll highlight a few of the key players before we get started!
- Sourdough discard. If you are caring for a sourdough starter, you will have some sourdough discard lying around. Don’t use very old discard for this recipe; stick with fresh (within a day or two). Your discard shouldn’t be super thin/runny or pungent.
- Egg yolks. We’ll skip the egg whites today, as those would add too much liquid to the dough when combined with the sourdough discard. If you don’t want to throw away your egg whites (I give mine to my dogs!), you can repurpose them into coconut macaroons, brownie bark, or a double batch of candied almonds or candied pecans.
- Brown sugar. I use a combination of light and dark brown sugar, but you can use all light brown if that’s all you have on hand. I don’t recommend using all dark brown though, as that could make the cookies too sweet and rich.
- Flour. It is very important that you know how to measure flour, for this recipe and so many others! Accidentally over-measuring flour is one of the biggest mistakes I see new and seasoned bakers alike make. Adding too much flour can quickly ruin your cookie dough and create dry, crumbly cookies.
- Oats. I use and recommend old-fashioned oats, but I think this recipe could work with quick oats if that’s all you have on hand.
SAM’S TIP: If you want to add raisins, nuts, or chocolate chips, I recommend using no more than 1 ½ cups total. You will want to fold them into the dough when you add the oats. Note that adding nuts can cause the cookies to spread less than they normally would.
This is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Sourdough Oatmeal Cookies
Brown the butter
Melt the butter over medium heat, then increase the heat slightly and stir constantly as the butter pops and foams. Once the popping slows down, keep stirring and watch for browning on the bottom of the pan. When you notice lots of toasty brown milk solids (you’ll be able to smell and see them!), remove the pan from the heat and pour the butter into a heat-proof bowl to cool completely.
The butter doesn’t need to re-solidify before you add the sugars, but it cannot be warm to the touch at all (the bowl shouldn’t feel warm, either!), or it will melt your sugars and ruin your cookie dough.
Make the dough
Once the butter has cooled completely (can’t stress that enough 😉), add the sugars and then the egg (just the yolks, remember!) and the vanilla.
Whisk together the dry ingredients (except for the oats) in a separate bowl, then add them to the wet ingredients. Fold in the oats, then cover and chill the cookie dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to three days.
Bake
Drop 1 ½ tablespoon sized scoops of dough onto parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 10-11 minutes. The centers will still look slightly underdone (this is normal!), but the edges should be starting to turn a deep golden brown.
Make sure to let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheet before transferring or enjoying. They will be extremely fragile when warm but will have a perfectly soft and chewy texture once cooled (and, if baked properly, they’ll stay soft and chewy!)!
SAM’S TIP: If you chill the cookie dough longer than 30 minutes, you’ll likely need to let it sit (covered) at room temperature for a bit before you’ll be able to scoop it. The dough gets very firm after a few hours in the fridge.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! This dough freezes quite well. For detailed freezing instructions, visit my post on how to freeze cookie dough.
Browning the butter serves two purposes in this recipe, and in fact, the main purpose isn’t even to add flavor. Instead, we brown the butter to reduce the amount of water in the dough. This is to account for the additional liquid from the sourdough discard. The incredible, nutty flavor is just an added bonus 😉
If you were to use melted butter (without browning it), your dough will likely have too much water and your cookies will be too cakey. Stick with the recipe for best results!
Yes! You can add up to 1 ½ cups of add-ins when you add the oats. Some add-ins I like are dried cranberries and white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips (like my oatmeal scotchies), or chocolate chips and toasted pecans (similar to cowboy cookies!).
If you’re looking for more tasty ways to use up your discard, check out my sourdough blueberry muffins, sourdough biscuits, or sourdough pie crust (use it to make my easy apple pie!).
Enjoy!
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Sourdough Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (200 g) brown sugar firmly packed (use light brown sugar or a mix of light and dark)
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup (140 g) sourdough discard
- 2 large egg yolks room temperature preferred
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups (185 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon table salt
- 3 cups (285 g) old-fashioned rolled oats
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Brown the butter: Place butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, increase heat slightly to just above medium. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to constantly stir the butter, scraping the sides and bottom of the pan with the spatula to prevent burning. The butter will sputter and pop for a bit before this slows and it begins to brown (continue stirring during this time), continue stirring. Once you notice a fair bit of browning on the bottom of the pan and the popping has ceased, remove from heat and pour into a large heat-proof bowl. Allow to cool completely to room temperature before proceeding.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter
- Once butter is cooled completely, add sugars, sourdough discard, egg yolks, and vanilla and stir until thoroughly combined.1 cup (200 g) brown sugar, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, ⅔ cup (140 g) sourdough discard, 2 large egg yolks, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a separate medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.1 ½ cups (185 g) all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon table salt
- Gradually add dry ingredients into the wet, stirring until completely combined.
- Add oats and stir until combined.3 cups (285 g) old-fashioned rolled oats
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill cookie dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- When dough has chilled and you’re about ready to bake, preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Once oven is preheated, remove dough from fridge, uncover, and scoop dough by 1 ½ Tablespoon-sized scoop (34g) and drop onto prepared baking sheet, placing at least 2” (5cm) apart.
- Transfer to center rack of 350F (175C) and bake for 10-11 minutes, cookies are done when the edges are just beginning to turn a slightly darker brown (they may look slightly underdone at the very centers). Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet before enjoying!
Notes
Oats
I’ve only tried this recipe with old-fashioned rolled oats but I suspect quick-oats would also work.Add-ins
Feel free to add up to 1 ½ cups of chocolate chips or nuts to this recipe. Stir them in with the oats.Storing the dough in the fridge
You can keep the dough tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days before scooping and baking. Note that the dough will become very firm after more than a few hours of chilling and will likely need to sit at room temperature for a bit to be soft enough to scoop.Storing
Allow cookies to cool completely before storing in an airtight container for up to 5 days.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Julie
My cookies domed and I flattened all of them with fork after pulled out of oven, they taste great but why would they dome so much? Any way to avoid that?
Sam
Hi Julie! Did they dome or just not spread? If they didn’t spread you may have accidentally added too much flour. 🙁
Luv1anuthr
5/5!! Amazing cookies! I made a double batch the first time and I already have to make more! I added chocolate chips and my adult daughters both said they’re as good as chic fil a 😄 Today I’ll add raisins too.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy they are such a hit for you! Enjoy ☺️
Diane
I used sprouted oatmeal for my first batch because that was all I had. It was a little bit chewy. My next batch was with quick oats. I formed the cookies and put them in the refrigerator overnight. I did this because I wanted the flour and oatmeal to hydrate. These cookies were outstanding. Excellent taste. Your note about not putting more than 1 1/2 cups of extras into the dough was spot on. I love this recipe!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy you enjoyed them, Diane! Thanks for the review 🩷
Diane
Can I use sprouted rolled oats for this recipe?
Sam
Hi Diane! I haven’t tried it, but I think it could work. 🙂