Sourdough Sugar Cookies [cut out + decorate]
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These simple sourdough sugar cookies make the perfect sourdough cookies to decorate for all occasions. You can use your sourdough discard to make these sweet sourdough cookies and they're a delicious way to get the kids involved in sourdough baking too!
Get your favorite cookie cutters and let's get baking!
These sourdough sugar cookies are soft cookies with a lovely soft interior, but you can make them with slightly crispier edges too (which is how I love to eat them).
Sourdough discard doesn't alter the flavor of the cookie too much, although if you choose to ferment the dough a bit longer, they will have a lovely sourdough tang.
If you love sourdough cookies, why not try these amazing sourdough chocolate chip cookies, sourdough gingerbread cookies, sourdough snickerdoodle cookies or these sourdough oatmeal cookies.
What Is Sourdough Discard ... and Why Use It For Cookies?
Sourdough starter discard is the unfed portion of your starter that you remove before you feed it and refresh it for baking sourdough bread.
You can use the sourdough discard to make so many things (check out 60+ sourdough discard recipes here)!
For this recipe, I recommend you use sourdough discard that isn't more than a week old because you don't want sour cookies. Ideally, use sourdough discard that's not more than 24 hours old for this recipe. You can of course use fed, active sourdough starter too!
Sourdough discard is great to use when baking cookies because it allows you to ferment the dough overnight (or even longer if you wish) which can give you some health benefits. The sourdough discard in this recipe also contributes to the soft texture of the cookie and a subtle sourdough tang too!
Ideally your sourdough discard (or active starter) will be 100% hydration. You don't want runny sourdough starter for this as it will make the sourdough cookie dough too soft.
How To Make This Sourdough Sugar Cookie Recipe [step by step instructions + photos]
This sourdough sugar cookie recipe uses minimal ingredients to create a delicious sourdough cookie - perfect for gifting or filling up the cookie jar on your kitchen counter.
I love to make this dough and then let my boys cut out the shapes. It's a simple way to get the kids involved in sourdough baking.
Here's how to make sourdough sugar cookies:
- Add all purpose flour, baking powder and salt to a mixing bowl and whisk together until well combined. Set the dry ingredients aside.
- Add the softened butter and sugar to a separate mixing bowl and cream them together using a hand mixer until they are light and creamy (you could also do this in a stand mixer if you prefer).
- Add the egg, vanilla extract and sourdough starter to the butter and sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until well combined.
- Now, add the wet mixture to the dry ingredient mixture and combine into a soft dough (use low speed on hand mixer or stand mixer or wooden spoon). Don't over mix the dough, it needs to just come together.
- Divide the mixture into two balls and place each ball between two sheets of parchment paper.
- Use a rolling pin to roll each ball of dough into a "sheet" of dough around half a centimetre thick (¼ inch). Place each sheet of dough onto a prepared baking sheet (cookie sheet with no edges is best) and let the dough chill in the fridge. If you don't have room, just stack the two sheets on top of each other.
- Allow the dough to sit in the fridge overnight if you can (up to 48 hours).
- When you are ready to bake the sourdough sugar cookies, preheat the oven to 175C (350F).
- Take one sheet of dough out at a time and use cookie cutters to cut the sourdough cookie dough into whatever shapes you want (see notes for how to deal with excess dough). Place the shaped dough onto the cold cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. You want to leave around 5 cm (2 inches) between each cookie.
- Place the cookies into the oven for 10 to12 minutes (watch them closely). You don't want them to brown too much, however the edges should be golden brown, while the centres are still pale (generally 10 - 12 minutes for soft cookies, 11-12 minutes for crispier edges).
- Take the cookies out of the oven and allow them to sit on the tray for around 5 minutes before placing them on a wire rack to cool completely.
- You can decorate these cookies however you'd like. Royal icing is great if you want to pipe a design on. The white stars and pink circle cookies in these photos have been decorated using fondant icing which I rolled out really thing and cut to the same shape. The cookies with sprinkles were topped with a glaze and then dipped in sprinkles.
Step by Step Photos
Tips for Making The Best Sourdough Sugar Cookies
- I recommend using a kitchen scale for this recipe (as I do with all sourdough baking recipes) because weighing ingredients is more accurate.
- You can use almond extract instead of vanilla extract if you prefer. It gives the cookies a beautiful flavor.
- Soften the butter at room temperature. It should still be cool and not starting to melt.
- You don't need the dough to come to room temperature after being in the fridge. It's much easier to cut the cookies out when the dough is firm out of the fridge. If you let the dough warm up, your cookies won't have nice "clean" edges. They'll spread in the oven and look wonky.
- Once you've cut out the shapes from a sheet of dough, you can gather up the excess dough and re roll it to cut more cookies. If the dough is too soft, roll it out again between 2 sheets of parchment paper and pop in the fridge for 10 minutes to firm up.
- If at any point the dough seems too soft to work with, just put it back in the fridge. Don't leave cookies that have been cut out on the counter. If you need to set them aside before you bake them, pop them back into the fridge.
- You do not have to ferment this dough. You can roll the dough out and place into the fridge for just one hour to firm up before you cut the cookies. However, the option is there to leave the dough in the fridge for up to 48 hours of cold fermentation. The sourdough flavor will develop more if you leave the dough to ferment in the fridge.
How To Decorate Sourdough Sugar Cookies
These cookies are simple to cut into whatever shape you like. Hearts and stars are really simple shapes to cut out and can be decorated very simply. These soft sourdough sugar cookies are perfect for Christmas, Valentines, Thanksgiving or even Easter!
I have used very simple cookie cutters to create circles and stars and then rolled out fondant and cut shapes one size smaller than the baked cookies to create a very simple but effective decoration.
If you are great with detail, you could try your hand at piping the icing onto these cookies. Pinterest is a great place to look for inspiration for decorating sugar cookies.
Some other ideas are:
- dip the cookies in a simple glaze then top with your favorite chocolate chips or sprinkles.
- sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar before baking for a very simple, tasty topping.
- make your favorite cream cheese icing and smear it onto the cooled cookies.
- leave the cookies plain and serve on a fruit platter with this spiced pumpkin cream cheese dip.
Can I Add Flavors To Sourdough Sugar Cookies?
Yes you can flavor these cookies. I've added vanilla to these cookies, but you can use a different extract if you want to. Some alternatives would be almond, peppermint, lemon or orange.
They also work well with a teaspoon of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice added too!
How To Store + Freeze
Baked and iced cookies will last for around 5 days in an airtight container. I prefer to store them in glass as plastic will make them too soft too fast.
This dough is fine to freeze. I find the easiest way is to cut the cookies into the shapes, snap freeze on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and then pop the unbaked cookies into a zip loc bag.
You can then place the frozen cookies onto cookie sheets when you are ready to bake.
You can bake them from frozen, they will just take an extra few minutes to bake through. Store cookie dough in the freezer for up to 6 weeks.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can use brown sugar instead of white sugar, however the texture and flavor of the sugar cookies will be different. The cookie will be softer than usual and harder to decorate if you use brown sugar.
You can mix this dough in a number of ways:
- use an electric hand mixer (I find this is the most convenient way to do it).
- use a stand mixer (this way you can also bring the dough together in the stand mixer using the paddle attachment).
- mix everything by hand (you'll need your muscles to cream the butter and sugar together).
- use a Thermomix (speed 4 is fine to cream the butter and eggs, use dough mode to bring the dough together).
Sourdough Sugar Coookies
Equipment
- Cookie Cutter
Ingredients
- 260 g All Purpose Flour
- 3 g Baking Powder
- 2 g Salt
- 150 g Granulated Sugar
- 170 g Unsalted Butter softened
- 1 Egg
- 5 g Vanilla Extract (or almond extract)
- 100 g Sourdough Starter or sourdough discard
Instructions
- Add all purpose flour, baking powder and salt to a mixing bowl and whisk together until well combined. Set this aside.
- Add the butter and sugar to a mixing bowl and cream them together using a hand mixer until they are light and creamy (you could also do this in a stand mixer if you prefer).
- Add the egg, vanilla extract and sourdough starter to the butter and sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until well combined.
- Now, add the wet mixture to the dry ingredient mixture and combine into a soft dough (use low speed on hand mixer or stand mixer or wooden spoon). Don't over mix the dough, it needs to just come together.
- Divide the mixture into two balls and place each ball between two sheets of parchment paper.
- Use a rolling pin to roll each ball of dough into a "sheet" of dough around half a centimetre thick (¼ inch). Place each sheet of dough onto a flat cookie sheet and place them into the fridge. If you don't have room, just stack the two sheets on top of each other.
- Allow the dough to sit in the fridge overnight if you can (up to 48 hours).
- When you are ready to bake the sourdough sugar cookies, preheat the oven to 175C (350F).
- Take one sheet of dough out at a time and cut the cookies out with a cookie cutter (see notes for how to deal with excess dough). Place the shaped dough onto the cold cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. You want to leave around 5 cm (2 inches) between each cookie.
- Place the cookies into the oven for 10 to 12 minutes (watch them closely). You don't want them to brown too much.
- Take the cookies out of the oven and allow them to sit on the tray for around 5 minutes before placing them on a wire rack to cool completely.
- You can decorate these cookies however you'd like. Royal icing is great if you want to pipe a design on. The white stars and pink circle cookies in these photos have been decorated using fondant icing which I rolled out really thing and cut to the same shape. The cookies with sprinkles were topped with a glaze and then dipped in sprinkles.
Notes
- Half Teaspoon Baking Powder
- One Quarter Teaspoon Salt
- Two Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- use an electric hand mixer (I find this the most convenient way to do it)
- use a stand mixer (this way you can also bring the dough together in the stand mixer using the paddle attachment).
- mix everything by hand (you'll need your muscles to cream the butter and sugar together).
- use a Thermomix (speed 4 is fine to cream the butter and eggs, use dough mode to bring the dough together).
Nutrition
