These Sourdough Sugar Cookies are the ones I always make because they’re delicious, reliable, and truly work. After plenty of trial and error with sourdough discard, this recipe consistently delivers soft, tender cookies that roll easily, hold their shape, and don’t taste sour! It’s a no-fail way to use up discard while getting bakery-style sugar cookies that look great, taste amazing, and are perfect for cutting and decorating!
These sugar cookies so perfectly with some sourdough discard chocolate crinkle cookies in a holiday tin!
There is nothing better than a good sugar cookie! They are so versatile! You can bake them for any holiday and decorate them with royal icing or your favorite sprinkles.
This recipe is great to get the kids involved! Let them roll out the dough and stamp the cookie cutters into the dough. Then enjoy cleaning up all those sprinkles and all that flour that is everywhere!
Baking with sourdough discard is one of my favorite things to do! You can make sourdough scones, light and crisp sourdough discard waffles, and favorite sourdough chocolate chip muffins.
We'd love to have you join our Sourdough Facebook group with other Sourdough fanatics sharing their favorite recipes as well as tips and tricks!
Jump to:
- Why You’ll Love This Sourdough Discard Sugar Cookies Recipe
- Sourdough Cookie Recipe Ingredients
- How to Make Sourdough Sugar Cookies
- Tips For Making Sourdough Discard Sugar Cookies
- Sourdough Cookie Recipe Variations
- Decorating Sourdough Sugar Cookies
- How to Store Sourdough Discard Sugar Cookies
- Sourdough Cookie Recipe FAQs
- Other Recipes To Try!
- 📖 Recipe
Why You’ll Love This Sourdough Discard Sugar Cookies Recipe
This is one of those recipes that just works every single time, which is why I keep coming back to it. The dough is easy to roll, doesn’t stick or crack, and bakes up into soft sugar cookies that actually hold their shape (no weird spreading or puffy edges).
The sourdough discard adds a little extra flavor without making the cookies taste sour, so you still get that classic sugar cookie, just better! It’s simple, reliable, and perfect whether you’re baking for a holiday or just because you have discard to use up.
Sourdough Cookie Recipe Ingredients
- Sourdough Discard. If you are new to sourdough, you can make your own sourdough starter from scratch, buy one, or get it from a fellow sourdough friend.
- All Purpose Flour
- Butter
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla Extract
Equipment To Gather
- Stand Mixer
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Rolling Pin
- Silicone Mat or Parchment Paper
- Baking Sheet
- Wire Cooling Rack
How to Make Sourdough Sugar Cookies
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and sugar. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add the egg, vanilla extract, and sourdough discard. Mix again for 1 minute.
- Carefully add the flour to the stand mixer. Mix for 1 minute until the dough comes together into a ball.
- Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and make the dough ball into a disc. Place in the refrigerator for at least an hour, or up to overnight.
- When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Lightly flour your countertop and place the dough on the flour lined counter. Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough out so the thickness of the dough is about ¼ inch thick.
- With your favorite cookie cutters, cut the dough, and place the cut outs onto a parchment lined baking sheet. If you are adding sprinkles to the cookies, now is the time to add them. Bake for 8-12 minutes depending on the thickness of your cookies.
- When they are baked, allow them to cool on a wire cooling rack and then decorate with royal icing.
Tips For Making Sourdough Discard Sugar Cookies
- Cookie cutters are just one way to utilize this dough. If you don't want to deal with the hassle of rolling out the dough and cutting cookie cutters into the dough, simply roll the dough into a log. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate. When you are ready to bake the dough, cut the dough into circles and sprinkle with more sugar. Bake for 8-10 minutes depending on your oven temperature.
- Thinner cookies will take less time to cook than thicker cookies. Watch the oven closely to make sure the cookies do not burn if they are thin.
- You can decorate these cookies with your favorite sprinkles, or with a royal icing. My favorite is this one from Sally's Baking Addiction. I make it every holiday!
Sourdough Cookie Recipe Variations
One of the best things about this dough is how easy it is to switch things up without ruining the results. You can add almond extract for a bakery-style flavor, mix in lemon or orange zest for something bright and fresh, or sprinkle in cinnamon and warm spices for cozy seasonal cookies.
Want chocolate sugar cookies? Swap a little flour for cocoa powder and you’re good to go. The base recipe stays sturdy no matter what, so you can have fun experimenting and still end up with great cookies.
Decorating Sourdough Sugar Cookies
If you love decorating cookies, this dough is perfect for you! The cookies bake up flat and smooth, making them perfect for royal icing, simple glazes, or soft buttercream. They’re sturdy enough to handle piping and sprinkles but still nice and tender when you bite into them.
How to Store Sourdough Discard Sugar Cookies
These cookies store really well, which is a big win if you like to bake ahead. Once cooled, keep them in an airtight container at room temperature and they’ll stay soft for several days.
Freezing Sourdough Sugar Cookies
You can freeze the dough or the cookies. To freeze the cookie dough, make the dough completely and then shape them into a log. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. To freeze the baked cookies, place the cooled cookies in a Ziploc bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
Sourdough Cookie Recipe FAQs
Yes! You will get a little bit more of a rise with active starter than you will with inactive starter. Make sure to refrigerate the dough after you cut out the dough with cookie cutters if you are using active starter.
Yes! You can freeze the dough in plastic wrap and a Ziploc bag for up to 3 months. You can also keep the dough in the refrigerator up to 24 hours before you bake it.
Sourdough discard is the portion of your sourdough starter that you are not feeding. When you are "feeding" your starter to make bread with, you add equal parts flour, water, and starter to a mason jar and let it rise.
You can't feed your entire starter, as it doubles and sometimes triples in size, and that's a lot of sourdough starter to have on hand! If you are new to sourdough, be sure to check out this post all about how to keep your sourdough starter happy.
No! The sourdough discard adds a bit of a tang to the cookies, but they do not taste sour. The sourdough discard adds a bit of rise to the cookies and is a great balance for the sweetness of the sugar. Since we are not adding baking soda or baking powder to these cookies, the starter adds just a little bit of rise to the cookies to make them soft and chewy.
If you want to up the sour flavor, chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for a few hours, or overnight. That will enhance the sour flavor of these cookies.
Other Recipes To Try!
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📖 Recipe
Perfect Cut Out Sourdough Sugar Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup Butter Room Temperature, 1 stick
- 1 ¼ cup Sugar
- 1 Egg
- ½ cup Sourdough Discard Inactive, Unfed
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and sugar. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add the egg, vanilla extract, and sourdough discard. Mix again for 1 minute.
- Carefully add the flour and salt to the stand mixer. Mix for 1 minute until the dough comes together into a ball.
- Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and make the dough ball into a disc. Place in the refrigerator for at least an hour, or up to overnight.
- When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Lightly flour your countertop and place the dough on the flour lined counter. Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough out so the thickness of the dough is about ¼ inch thick.
- With your favorite cookie cutters, cut the dough, and place the cut outs onto a parchment lined baking sheet. If you are adding sprinkles to the cookies, now is the time to add them. Bake for 8-12 minutes depending on the thickness of your cookies.
- When they are baked, allow them to cool on a wire cooling rack and then decorate with royal icing.
Notes
- Cookie cutters are just one way to utilize this dough. If you don't want to deal with the hassle of rolling out the dough and cutting cookie cutters into the dough, simply roll the dough into a log. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate. When you are ready to bake the dough, cut the dough into circles and sprinkle with more sugar. Bake for 8-10 minutes depending on your oven temperature.
- Thinner cookies will take less time to cook than thicker cookies. Watch the oven closely to make sure the cookies do not burn if they are thin.
Ellen says
Do you the recipe in grams? I'm looking forward to trying this. Thank you!
lynnswayoflife says
Hi! Yes! If you click on the "metric" it will convert the recipe. I hope you enjoy!
laura says
Another tasty way to enjoy my sourdough!! YUM!!
Sherry says
What a great cookie recipe!! I love the awesome sourdough flavor and how easy it was to make! My family devoured them in no time! Your cut out sourdough sugar cookies are the best!
Claire says
I love having ways to use up my sourdough starter disguard!!
And these cookies were quite delicious!
I was feeling lazy so I used your top of just rolling the dough into a log and then cut off disks. They were the perfect little round cookie for afternoon tea!
Mandy Applegate says
Oh my goodness these sourdough cookies turned out so good - thank you!
Donna says
I would never have thought to use my sourdough discard in cookies, but now I don't think I ever won't use it! These were so good, I love the flavor the sourdough discard gave them!