Spiced Sourdough Snickerdoodle Cookies with Discard

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Sourdough snickerdoodle cookies are delicious, chewy spiced cookies with a hint of vanilla and a slight tang from the sourdough. They are super easy to make and use simple ingredients you probably already have on hand.

sourdough snickerdoodle cookies cooling on parchment paper on counter top

According to my husband, these are the perfect sourdough snickerdoodle cookies. In fact, they are the best snickerdoodle cookies he has ever had, and he is the #1 Fan of snickerdoodle recipes! That’s the beauty of baking with sourdough. Sourdough adds a depth of flavor that can’t be replicated. It’s the perfect cookie!

Snickerdoodles are known for being soft cookies with a chewy texture. You will find this recipe to be the perfect balance of a chewy exterior with crisp edges and a soft center.

Sourdough Tip

If you’re new to sourdough, make sure to check out my tips on How to make Sourdough Starter More Active.

What You’ll Like About Sourdough Snickerdoodle Cookies:

  • You can make this recipe with either active sourdough starter or sourdough starter discard. Either will work because this recipe doesn’t rely on the starter to help the cookies rise. Sourdough Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies are another of my favorite sourdough discard recipes.
  • This snickerdoodle cookie recipe uses simple ingredients and can be ready for the oven in less than 20 minutes which means you can whip it up for after school snacks or last minute desserts just because.
  • These sourdough snickerdoodles don’t use cream of tartar to help them rise, just good old fashioned baking powder and baking soda. That happened out of necessity when I realized I only had one teaspoon of cream of tartar while I was making these for the first time!

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Ingredients for Snickerdoodle Sourdough Cookie:

Dough:

Wet ingredients

3/4 cup butter, room temperature

Sugar

Brown sugar or sucanat

Sourdough starter discard

Vanilla extract

Egg

dry ingredients

Unbleached all purpose flour

Baking powder

Baking soda

Sea salt

Rolling Mixture:

Sugar

Cinnamon

Tools You May Need:

Cookie scoop or small ice cream scoop

Stand mixer with paddle attachment

Non-stick ceramic rimmed baking sheet

Parchment paper

sourdough snickerdoodle cookies on plate with glass of milk

How to Make Sourdough Snickerdoodle Cookies

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and both sugars until fluffy. To the butter mixture, add the sourdough discard, vanilla, and egg. Mix again at a low speed until the mixture is smooth. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you mix.

In a medium bowl, add the dry ingredients and mix together. Slowly add the flour mixture to the ingredients in the electric mixer and stir just until incorporated. 

Mix together the sugar and cinnamon mixture in a small bowl. 

Using a cookie dough scoop, measure out 2 tablespoons of dough at a time. Roll the dough between your hands to form cookie dough balls. Roll the dough ball into the cinnamon-sugar mixture until it is evenly coated. Place on a prepared baking sheet.

Bake cookies at 375 for 9-11 minutes on the middle oven rack just until the edges of the cookies are set. For best results, do not overcook them or you will end up with a dry cookie. Remove from the oven and cool cookies on the pan for 5 minutes before moving them to a wire rack. The cookies will continue to bake on the sheet pan until transferred to the rack.

Storage:

Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature. If you can’t eat your cookies fast enough, you can freeze the leftover cookies in ziploc bags.

You can also freeze the dough balls for a great way to make sourdough cookies later. To do this, roll the dough balls in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place on a baking sheet until frozen, then store the balls in a ziploc bag.

Long-Fermented Sourdough Snickerdoodles:

If you would like to long ferment these snickerdoodle cookies for the health benefits, simply follow the steps above up to the point where you have added all of the ingredients to the stand mixer bowl and have mixed the dough just until everything is incorporated. Transfer the dough to an airtight container and place into the refrigerator to allow the dough to ferment for up to 3 days. The longer you allow the dough to ferment, the tangier your cookies will taste. Once you have fermented your dough, remove from the refrigerator and continue the steps as outlined above.

FAQ:

Why did my snickerdoodles come out dry?

If your snickerdoodles are dry, you probably cooked them too long. Try reducing the amount of time in the oven by a minute or two and see if that fixes the problem. It’s also a possibility that you may have added too much flour to your dough.

How come my snickerdoodles are flat?

If all your batches of snickerdoodle cookies are coming out flat, the problem could be that your oven is too hot. Try lowering your oven temperature by 5 degrees and baking the cookies for a few extra minutes. To prevent flat cookies, you should also place your balls of dough on a cool baking sheet for baking instead of a pan that is still warm from the oven. Finally, if those tips don’t work, you can try chilling your dough for 1 hour in the refrigerator before scooping into dough balls and baking.

More Fall Inspired Recipes:

If you make this recipe and love it, I would love if you gave it 5 stars!

Sourdough Snickerdoodle Cookies

Sourdough Snickerdoodle Cookies

Yield: 32 cookies
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Sourdough snickerdoodle cookies are delicious, chewy spiced cookies with a hint of vanilla and a slight tang from the sourdough. They are super easy to make and use simple ingredients you probably already have on hand.

Ingredients

  • Dough:
  • ¾ cup butter
  • 1 ½ cups sugar
  • 2 Tbsp brown sugar
  • ½ cup sourdough starter discard
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 ½ cups flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • Rolling mixture:
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and both sugars until fluffy. To the butter mixture, add the sourdough discard, vanilla, and egg. Mix again at a low speed until the mixture is smooth. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you mix.
  3. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture to the ingredients in the standmixer and stir just until incorporated. 
  4. Mix together the sugar and cinnamon mixture in a small bowl. 
  5. Using a cookie scoop, measure out 2 tablespoons of dough at a time. Roll the dough between your hands to form a cookie dough ball. Roll the dough ball into the cinnamon sugar mixture until it is evenly coated. Place on the prepared baking sheets.
  6. Bake cookies at 375 for 9-11 minutes on the middle oven rack just until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before moving them to a wire rack. The cookies will continue to bake on the sheet pan until transferred to the rack.

Notes

You can make this recipe with either active sourdough starter or sourdough starter discard. Either will work because this recipe doesn't rely on the starter to help the cookies rise.

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