Sourdough Oatmeal Cookies with Dark Chocolate

25 minutes

easy

24 cookies

Because Sometimes You Just Need a Cookie. 💛 A Little Sourdough Cookie with A Lot of Chocolate. 💛

Especially one full of oats, real butter, and warm melty chocolate.🍪🍂

If cookies could hug you, these sourdough oatmeal cookies would pull you in for a bear hug. They’re soft in the middle, golden on the edges, and loaded with rich chocolate chunks. The sourdough starter gives them that extra something… a tiny tang, a soft chew, and a whole lot of heart.

They taste like comfort, look like a weekend treat, and smell like you just made the best decision of the day. 🍪✨

There’s something about this cookie that feels like home. The oats make it hearty, the sourdough adds depth, and the dark chocolate melts into pure happiness. Soft middles, golden edges, a little sparkle of flaky sea salt. It’s simple, cozy, and entirely worth turning on the oven for. 💛

Some bakes are about more than flavor. They’re about slowing down, creating something by hand, and finding joy in the little moments, like this one.

Freshly baked sourdough oatmeal cookies with melted dark chocolate on a marble board, one broken open to show gooey chocolate inside.
When baking turns into a love story.

🥰 Why You’ll Love These Cookies

🍪 Sourdough Starter – Adds that soft chew and tiny bit of tang you didn’t know your cookies needed.
🥣 Brown Sugar & Butter – Sweet, buttery, and cozy enough to make the kitchen smell like heaven.
🌾 Oats – A little hearty, a little wholesome, totally comforting.
🍫 Dark Chocolate – Melty, moody, and wildly satisfying.
🧂 Flaky Sea Salt – The sparkle that makes everything pop.

And then there’s this moment: warm cookies on the tray, butter and brown sugar in the air, chocolate glistening. Pure joy.

Freshly baked sourdough oatmeal cookies with melted dark chocolate and flaky sea salt on parchment paper.
Golden edges, melty middles, and a kitchen that smells like heaven. 💛

🍫 Baker’s Tease: Let’s Talk Chocolate

We used a mix of Ghirardelli 72% and 60% cacao chips for that melt-meets-magic balance. The darker chips keep things bold and slightly bitter, while the semi-sweet brings just enough creamy sweetness to make every bite addictive.

Want to make it your own?
Try chopped dark chocolate bars for dramatic chocolate pools, white chocolate for a playful twist, or caramel chips for a gooey surprise. There’s no wrong turn here, just melt, mix, and enjoy the cookie chaos. 🍪❤️

Let’s talk chocolate. Dark, rich, and a little dramatic. It’s the part of every cookie that makes you stop mid-stir and smile.

Dark chocolate chips ready to fold into sourdough oatmeal cookie dough.
Because every great cookie deserves a little chocolate moment. 🍫

🥣 Baker’s Notes: Real Life, Real Cookies

Here’s where the magic happens and where tiny details seriously change the outcome.
These are the things that matter most:

Oats Matter

We used old-fashioned rolled oats because that’s what most of us have on hand.
To get that soft, bakery-style oatmeal cookie texture:

Pulse your rolled oats
→ 3 to 4 quick pulses
→ Break them up just a little
→ Not into flour, not left whole

This helps the dough hydrate evenly so the cookies spread properly and stay soft in the center.

🥣 Using Rolled Oats vs Quick Oats

Rolled Oats (What we used)

✔ Use the same amount as quick oats (1:1)
✔ Pulse lightly to mimic quick oats
✔ Gives a chewy, textured cookie
✔ May need 1–2 extra minutes in the oven

Quick Oats (Easy substitute)

✔ Use the same amount
✔ No pulsing needed
✔ Produces a softer, more uniform cookie
✔ Spreads slightly faster

Both work beautifully; they just give different textures.

✨ If Your Dough Looks Dry

This can happen if:

  • Your discard is thick
  • Your oats weren’t pulsed enough
  • Your flour is a little heavy

Simple fix:
Add 1–2 teaspoons of milk or melted butter
Let the dough rest 10–15 minutes
The oats soften, and the dough becomes perfect.

🍪✨ Keep ’Em Fresh: Storing & Freezing Tips

Freezer Magic (Raw Dough)

Scoop your dough balls
Freeze for 1 hour
Bag and label
Bake straight from frozen at 350°F for 12–14 minutes
(Just 1–2 extra minutes compared to fresh dough)
→ Thick, chewy, bakery beautiful.


Counter Storage (Baked Cookies)

Store airtight 3–4 days.
Slip a small bread slice into the container to keep them soft.
The bread gives up its moisture, and your cookies stay perfect.


Longer Storage

Freeze baked cookies in a single layer, then bag once solid.
Thaw in about 15 minutes or warm in the oven for 1–2 minutes for that just-baked magic.


Craving something fruity next? Try our Rustic Apple Cider Maple Sugar Cookies. 🍎✨


 

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Ingredients

Adjust Servings
¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup (150 g) packed light brown sugar
½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
1 large egg
½ cup (100 g) runny sourdough starter or discard
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
¾ tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
200 g pulsed rolled oats, (2 cups) or use quick oats
cups (250 g) dark chocolate chunks or chips
Flaky sea salt for finishing

Nutritional Information

190 Calories
25g Carbs
2g Protein
9g Fat
13g Sugar

Directions

1.

Prep the oats

Add the 2 cups (200 g) old fashioned oats to a food processor. Pulse 3 to 5 short times until you have a mix of fine oat powder and small oat pieces. They should look a bit like quick oats, not whole flakes and not full flour. Ok to substitute for quick oats - do not pulse
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2.

Mix the dry ingredients

In a medium bowl whisk together: flour baking soda salt cinnamon Set aside.
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3.

Cream the butter and sugars

In a large bowl beat the softened butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar for 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture looks light, creamy and slightly fluffy.
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4.

Add egg, sourdough and vanilla

Add the egg, sourdough discard and vanilla. Mix until everything is combined. The mixture may look a little loose or slightly separated. That is normal.
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5.

Add the dry mixture

Add the flour mixture to the bowl. Fold with a spatula until no dry streaks of flour remain.
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6.

Add oats and chocolate

Add the pulsed oats and the chocolate chunks. Fold until the oats and chocolate are evenly distributed in the dough.
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7.

Scoop the dough

Use a large cookie scoop (about 3 tablespoons or 60 to 65 g of dough) and place 6 scoops on a parchment lined baking sheet. If you like a slightly flatter bakery cookie, gently press the tops just a bit to knock off the dome.
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8.

Bake

Bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes. The edges should look set and lightly golden The centers should still look soft and just a little pale The chocolate should be starting to look glossy and melty
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9.

Optional tray bang for crinkles

For a more bakery style look, carefully lift the tray a couple of inches and let it drop once or twice around minute 7 and again around minute 9. This helps the cookies settle and creates a little wrinkling.
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10.

Cool

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes so the centers finish setting. Move to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
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11.

✨ Enjoy!

Enjoy warm with melty chocolate puddles and the coziest oatmeal chew. The kind of cookie that disappears faster than you think. 🍪💛
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Notes

Cookies have a way of making everything better, especially when there’s sourdough involved. So grab a plate, pour some milk, and share one with someone who deserves a smile… even if that someone is you. 🥛🍪✨

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