These delicious, rich oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with a sourdough discard flax egg are one in a series of cookie recipes I’ve developed this year. (Go here for peanut butter, here for ranger cookies and here for classic chocolate chip.) I’ve been posting cookie recipes rather than, say, zero-waste advice or listicles because a) I figure that while ChatGPT can spit out recipes, it can’t test them so for now I still have a job and b) I like cookies.
The recipe below that ChatGPT produced/stole might waste perfectly good ingredients or it might taste great. Maybe I should be worried… If you try the chatbot’s recipe and it doesn’t turn out, please don’t blame me! I haven’t tested this.
Sourdough discard flax meal eggs
I wouldn’t exactly call these sourdough cookies as they contain just a small amount of sourdough discard (active starter would also work). Soon after I started baking cookies with flax eggs (ground flaxseed plus water) to replace eggs, I realized that I could probably use sourdough (fermented flour and water) for a flax egg and reduce the amount of flour in the original recipe by the amount of flour in the sourdough discard egg replacer. This substitution works really well.
I recently ran out of store-bought ground flaxseed meal but have flaxseed on hand so I ground some up. I tried grinding the flaxseed in my grain mills but the oil in the seeds gummed both up. My daughter’s Magic Bullet worked pretty well. If you grind your own, you want it fine. (If you buy it, you also want it fine…)
Not sure if your sourdough discard is suitable for baking? Go here for a post on managing your sourdough discard.
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sourdough Discard Flax Egg
Equipment
- 1 hand mixer or stand mixer
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unfed sourdough discard, 100 percent hydration* (see note) straight from the refrigerator
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed brown or golden, finely ground
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup old fashioned rolled oats
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, softened dairy or vegan
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar golden or dark
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 1½ cups semisweet chocolate chip pieces
Instructions
- Make a sourdough discard flax egg by combining the sourdough discard and flaxseed meal in a small bowl. Set aside to thicken for 10 to 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- In a medium-size bowl, sift together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat together the softened butter with a hand mixer on high speed until creamy, about a minute. Add the sugar and beat until creamy. Beat in the sourdough discard flax egg, vanilla and molasses.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix in the chocolate chips.
- Drop the dough by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown. The centers will still be soft. Rotate the trays halfway through baking.
- Allow to cool on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to completely cool. Store in a container for a week or the freezer for up to six months.
Notes
Check out my award-winning cookbook!
- Taste Canada silver for single-subject cookbooks
- Second-place Gourmand cookbook award in the category of food waste
- Shortlisted for an award from the International Association of Culinary Professionals
Learn more about my book here.
Another fun use for starter!
HI! I got your book for my birthday and I LOVE your mission and style. The only thing that I wish is that you had some gluten free recipes. I am gluten sensitive and so much want to bake my own breads and snacks to avoid the ridiculous pricing as well as packaging. Do you have any gluten free ideas?
I’ve been a follower of yours for a couple of years now, Anne-Marie and I love trying your recipes! Do you think I could try this with a regular egg? Also I rarely keep molasses on hand, so would more brown sugar, or subbing with maple syrup or honey work?
This recipe for oatmeal cookies using sourdough starter is fabulous! I just made them today, after looking all over the internet for recipes for “sourdough discard” and “oatmeal.” Mine are a bit flatter than the ones in your photo, but not by much. The taste is so good! I cut back on the chocolate chips and added walnuts which may have caused that difference. This recipe is a keeper. Thank you so much.
I’m so glad you like them! The walnuts sound like a great addition. Thank you for the feedback 🙂