The BEST Milled Flour Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is the chocolate chip cookie recipe that those of us using milled flour AND sourdough discard have been waiting for! This recipe will give you the perfect soft, gooey but chewy milled flour sourdough chocolate chip cookies.

This is one of the many staple recipes I like to have ready in the freezer to surprise my family with a quick dessert or for unexpected guests who stop by. These are better than a bakery-style cookie, naturally fermented, and they keep their freshness for several days.

Step-by-step instructions

Weigh ingredients

Start by first weighing out all of your ingredients. I weigh out my sugars and butter right into my mixing bowl. The dry ingredients will be measured in one bowl, wet ingredients in another, and chocolate chips in another.

As soon as I measure my wet ingredients I put them straight into the fridge to keep cold.

Beat the ingredients

Use the paddle attachment to beat the cold, cubed butter just until it starts to come together, about 60 seconds. Do not worry if it looks unevenly mixed at this point. You do not want to over mix throughout this process.

Add the chocolate chips and beat on low for another 30 seconds to incorporate. The texture of the chocolate chips in this step should help the butter and sugar come together more evenly.

Whisk the dry ingredients together and add them to the butter, sugar, and chocolate chip mixture. Beat again on low for about 15-30 seconds. It should appear crumbly and may still seem unevenly mixed at this point.

Use a dough whisk or fork to beat the wet ingredients together until smooth. Add it to the batter and mix on low speed until just incorporated, about 15-30 seconds.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, forming a large round ball of cookie dough, checking to be sure that the ingredients are evenly combined.

Chill the dough

For the best results and easiest cookie ball forming, I place the mixing bowl full of dough into the fridge for at least an hour (and up to 24 if you’d like to cold ferment the batter) so that the dough is easier to handle. This also helps me to avoid wasting dough from it sticking to my fingers.

Portion the dough and freeze

Portion the dough into 20 golf-ball sized balls, about 2-3 tablespoons of dough per ball. Place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and chill for at least 2 hours in the fridge, although placing them straight in the freezer to flash freeze for 24 hours is my favorite method.

Bake the chocolate chip cookies

When you are ready to bake your cookies, preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes from the fridge or 12-15 minutes from the freezer, or until the very outside of the cookies are golden brown and the middle appears slightly under-baked.

Cool

Let the cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack.

Secrets and tips for the best results

Do not over-bake them. Over-baking these cookies will result in a cake-like consistency versus them being gooey and chewy. Make sure to begin checking for doneness sooner than expected, even at the 10 minute mark. An extra minute or two of baking can really make or break the perfect cookie.

Keep the ingredients extremely cold throughout the process. This is crucial for the best consistency. Using cold butter and sourdough starter discard, placing the combined dough in the fridge before forming into balls, and cold-fermenting or, better yet, freezing the dough before baking, makes the perfect cookie consistency.

Feed your milled flour sourdough starter the day before you are going to make these cookies. Once it doubles, place your starter in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

Do not over-mix your dough. For each step, make sure you are mixing until just incorporated. Adding too much air creates a more cake-like consistency.

Storing and freezing chocolate chip cookies

Unbaked cookie dough

Storing unbaked cookie dough my preferred method of storing.

Store unbaked cookie dough in the fridge for up to 7 days, tightly wrapped or in an airtight container.

To freeze unbaked cookie dough, portion cookie dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and place it in the freezer to flash freeze. Transfer the frozen dough balls into a freezer-safe container and keep them frozen for up to 3 months.

Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes, straight from the freezer.

Another option would be to thaw in the fridge overnight and bake for approximately 8-10 minutes.

Baked chocolate chip cookies

Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 7 days. My momma taught me that putting a slice of bread in the container with the cookies keeps their chewy, gooey consistency. It sure does work!

Freeze any leftover baked cookies for up to 3 months. Be sure the cookies have cooled completely before transferring them to a freezer-safe bag.

Important ingredients for chocolate chip cookies

Irish Butter: Margarine just doesn’t make the same cookie. A good yellow, grass fed butter makes a huge difference.

Soft white wheat berries: I like to grind soft white wheat berries for most of my dessert recipes and that’s definitely my favorite for this recipe too!

Homemade vanilla extract: Your cookies will still be delicious with store bought vanilla extract. But, if you’ve baked with homemade vanilla extract, you will understand why I’m saying this is important. Check out my blog post to learn how to make homemade vanilla extract, if you haven’t tried it before. It’s very simple!

The mix of brown sugar and cane sugar helps to create the gooey consistency. I buy the Azure Standard Turbinado sugar for my brown sugar. I have tried to substitute the brown sugar with coconut sugar and it’s just NOT the same.

Milled flour sourdough baker must haves

I’m somewhat of a minimalist in the area of kitchen tools. This is mainly because I am fairly frugal. But, also because collecting physical clutter translates into major mental clutter for me. The tools we do have I use extremely often for their form and function. You can find a list of those items here.