Chewy and sweet, these sourdough sugar cookies are made with part brown sugar. This is a drop cookie recipe with no need to roll or cut out and can be made with either active starter or sourdough discard. Bake immediately or chill overnight, it's up to you!

Several crinkly cookies on a small rectangular wire rack.

This is a bit like a chocolate chip cookie without chocolate chips, with a similar texture and taste to sourdough chocolate chip cookies, but still very much a sugar cookie. The added brown sugar makes it a little chewier and more caramel-like in flavour.

Why You'll Love Sourdough Sugar Cookies

This is a one-bowl recipe with minimal clean-up
It's a great base recipe that you can add to with different flavours or additions
With no need to roll out the dough, it's easier and more straightforward than many sugar cookie recipes
The cookies and unbaked dough both freeze well
It's a great way to use up sourdough discard and the cookie dough can be long fermented

Ingredients

This recipe is adapted from our drop sugar cookie recipe, with brown sugar replacing a little of the white sugar to boost the flavour. It's a very nice combination with the slight tang from sourdough starter.

Sourdough starter: this can be discard or active, but we recommend staying away from really old, very sour discard that's been in the back of the fridge for months.
Butter: room temperature, salted butter for best results. If using unsalted butter, double the amount of added salt.
Brown sugar: use light or dark brown sugar interchangeably in this recipe. If you prefer a more traditional tasting sourdough sugar cookie, replace the brown sugar with all white sugar. Raw sugar works well too.
Make it dairy-free: replace the butter with a high quality vegan butter alternative that comes in stick or block form. The cookies might still spread a little more so if the dough seems soft, chill for at least 30 minutes before scooping and baking.

Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the printable recipe card with full ingredient measurements and complete instructions.

Step by Step Photos

Cookie dough steps 1 to 4, creamed butter and sugar, other wet ingredients added and mixed, dry ingredients added.

Step 1: mix the butter and sugar to combine. They won't cream.

Step 2: add the egg, starter, and vanilla.

Step 3: mix again to combine. The mixture will look more creamed now.

Step 4: sift in the dry ingredients.

Sugar cookies steps 5 to 8, mixed dough, scooped out, and baked cookies.

Step 5: mix to combine. The dough will be crumbly looking.

Step 6: finish mixing with a spatula or wooden spoon to bring the dough together.

Step 7: scoop the dough onto lined baking sheets.

Step 8: bake for about 12 minutes and cool on the baking sheets.

Top Tips

Don't worry that it doesn't cream: there's a higher ratio of sugar to butter in this recipe, so the butter sugar mixture won't cream together in the way you might expect. This is normal.
Chill the dough: if you want a stronger sourdough taste, cover the bowl well and chill the dough for up to 24 hours before baking. Freezing before baking will also add a stronger tang. In testing we didn't find there to be extensive texture differences in cookies that were baked immediately or dough that was chilled for 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 hours – the difference is more in flavour.
The cookies will deflate: while baking, the cookies will puff up, but they'll collapse and deflate when they come out of the oven so you get chewy, crinkly cookies. If over-baked they won't collapse so keep an eye on the time and your oven temperature.

How to Store

Storage: keep the cookies in a sealed container at room temperature for up to one week.

Freezing: once fully cooled, transfer the cookies to an airtight container and freeze for up to two months. Thaw at room temperature to serve. For best results, freeze the cookies the same day they're baked.

Freeze before baking: scoop the cookie dough onto a lined baking sheet (or two, if needed) and freeze until the dough is frozen solid. Transfer the dough balls to an airtight container and freeze for up to two months, then bake directly from frozen, adding a minute or two onto the baking time.

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