Say hello to these Pillowy Soft Sourdough Sugar Cookies!! Soft and chewy in the middle and crispy on the outside.

Sourdough Starter & Discard
I’m using the sourdough discard from my homemade sourdough starter. I like to include the discard when making cookies, pancakes, waffles and most baked goods rather than waste it.
The sourdough adds a deep rich flavor and goes well with the amount of sweetness from the brown sugar in this cookie recipe.
If you haven’t baked with a sourdough starter and looking for an easy recipe here is the one that I used from King Arthur Baking. The recipe is straightforward and easy to follow.
Ingredients Needed to Make Pillowy Sourdough Sugar Cookies
- Grass-fed butter: not all butter is created equal so choose your butter wisely. My go-to brand is Kerry Gold organic grass fed butter. You can also use vegan butter or even a nut butter.
- Brown sugar: the molasses in the brown sugar adds moisture and creates a more chewier texture.
- Cane sugar: adding cane sugar with the brown sugar is getting the best of both worlds. They both have the same amount of sweetness too.
- Vanilla extract: my go-to flavoring to make any baked good taste delicious.
- Eggs: eggs are my preference but you can definitely make this recipe vegan and add flax eggs instead. To make a flax egg, whisk together 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds and 3 tablespoons water. Let sit for 5 minutes to thicken.
- Sourdough starter or discard: fermented sourdough makes it easier for the body to digest and contains healthy resistance starch that will not affect the blood glucose level.
- Baking powder & baking soda: these little treats need to rise a little and boost it’s texture so don’t forget it.
- All purpose flour: holds the cookie together and contributes to the shape.
- Inulin powder: this is optional but I include to boost up the prebiotic fiber since the fiber has been stripped away from the all purpose flour.

How to Make Sourdough Sugar Cookies
This is super easy to make and you don’t even have to break out the food processor or kitchen aid.
First start with creaming the room temperature butter in a bowl with the brown and cane sugar, vanilla, and eggs together. Once you have a nice creamy consistency stir in the sourdough discard.
Next, combine the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and blend until well combined but do not over mix the batter.
Set in refrigerator for about 15 minutes.
Use a spoon or an ice cream scooper to scoop out cookies onto a lined baking sheet. The batter makes about 18 large or 36 medium size cookies.
ice cream scooper used balls of raw cookie dough cinnamon & sugar
Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon mixture on top and bake at 350F for 14 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.

And if sourdough cookies are not your cup of tea then try this easy chocolate chip pecan cookie skillet cookie recipe or better yet, this chocolate chip oatmeal cardamom cookie recipe. Delish!


Pillowy Soft Sourdough Sugar Cookies
- Author: Melissa
- Total Time: 44 minutes
- Yield: 18 1x
- Diet: Low Fat
Description
Say hello to these Pillowy Soft Sourdough Sugar Cookies!! Soft and chewy in the middle and crispy on the outside.
Ingredients
Cookie Batter:
- 1/2 cup butter, room temp
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup cane sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sourdough starter or discard
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup inulin powder, optional
Topping:
- 4 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
Make Cookie Batter:
- Preheat oven to 350F and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl cream butter, brown and cane sugar, vanilla and eggs together.
- Stir in sourdough starter and mix well.
- In a separate bowl mix together all the dry ingredients and blend well. (baking powder, baking soda, salt, flour and inulin)
- Combine the dry ingredients with the wet and mix until well combined. Don’t over mix the batter so that you will get a thick chewy cookie.
- Set batter in fridge for 15 minutes.
- Mix cinnamon and sugar topping and set to the side.
- Scoop out cookies with an ice cream scooper or spoon and drop cookie ball onto a baking sheet. Do not flatten cookies as they will flatten during baking.
- Sprinkle sugar & cinnamon mixture on top of each cookie.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, until lightly golden brown.
- Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack for 10 minutes.
Notes
Batter makes about 18 large or 36 medium size cookies.
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 14
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
4 Responses
So soft! Mine turned out almsot like mini cakes or cookie muffins? they are spOngY and i love it! ThankS for the recipe.
★★★★★
Thank you for sharing, Alison. Glad to hear you love the recipe!!
Delicious! Love the texture and the flavor.
★★★★★
Thank you for sharing! Happy to hear you enjoyed them! Yum!!