Peanut Butter Cookies are a delicious twist on an old American Favorite cookie. Including sourdough starter adds a deeper flavor with a bit of tang.
Add Chocolate Chips or other varieties of baking chips for Bursts of sweet yummies in these flavorful peanut butter cookies. That adds even more flavor to these delicious desserts.
If you are a sourdough baker you know the sourdough discard can become a problem. Who wants to throw it out?? Not me. That is Money and good ingredients going down the drain.
And you have to wash that starter down the drain with a LOT of water. If you don’t your pipes might get full of a gooey floury cement over time.
Since animals LOVE sourdough starter I really don’t think it belongs in the compost pile either. It attracts pests. Who needs that?
My solution is finding easy yummy recipes that use up sourdough discard in all it’s many phases. When you feed sourdough it goes through stages. So does the discard. Always check and see if your recipe requires an inactive or active starter for best results. These cookies have the advantage of using starter fed or unfed.
Looking for more sourdough recipe inspiration? Check out all of our sourdough breads and sourdough discard recipes Here.
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- Sourdough Peanut Butter Oatmeal cookies
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- Sourdough Molasses Cookies Recipe.
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- Sourdough White Chocolate Cookies
I made sourdough White Chocolate Cookies. They were a huge win. The family and office friends were all about those cookies. Our Soft Sourdough Molasses cookies are an AMAZINGLY flavorful sourdough discard cookie recipe. And just recently I created Peanut Butter OATMEAL cookies with sourdough discard. Boy are they Delicious.
Sourdough discard dessert recipes are usually pretty popular. The sourdough adds an intensity of flavor and a touch of tanginess that benefits sweet recipes.
These easy peanut butter cookies with sourdough are a big hit. I’ve made them in a couple of different ways now. So far they are good in all the variations I’ve tried.
Stay tuned. I have my eye on several more sourdough recipes for dessert. I need to use up that constantly growing sourdough discard. And we love dessert 🙂
Peanut Butter Cookies with sourdough have a deeper flavor with a hint of tang.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies With Sourdough Recipe:
This is an easy dessert recipe. That’s why I enjoy these cookies so much. This recipe is easy for me and popular with the family.
…And I can use up sourdough starter in almost any stage. That said. Your starter stage of development will affect the flavor of these cookies.
NOTES:
- Fully active starter will certainly puff the cookies up more. If your using starter that’s been unfed in your fridge several weeks don’t expect much puffing up. But you WILL have a lot of strong tangy sourdough flavor in your cookies. So if you want more flavor use an older unfed starter.
- That’s where the baking chips come in. HINT: They work really well with tangy flavored starter.
- However, This is a basic recipe that you can choose to tweak if you prefer. Use the baking chips. Or not. Your choice.
- I use creamy peanut butter. I just do. You can use chunky peanut butter if you love it. Up to you. I do recommend a sweet peanut butter. If you don’t use sweet peanut butter the cookies may taste bland. Try adding more sugar to your recipe.
- I do use granulated sugar in this recipe. For the dipping of the dough balls and criss cross pattern dipping in sugar works best for me.
Our soft and chew sourdough peanut butter cookies are simple to make and a great way to use your sourdough starter. This recipe full of rich flavor and freezer friendly. #peanutbuttercookies #easy #chewy #sourdough #starter #recipe
Tips for evenly baked cookies:
Cookie dough bakes best when it is evenly sized and placed evenly apart on your baking sheet. I recommend these steps to control the size and separation of your cookies.
- line your baking sheets. I use silicone matts. I really like the ones with the cookie spacing marked on them. My cookies are much more evenly baked now. I can easily see if the cookie size and spacing are correct.
- Use the correct sized cookie scoop. Using a spoon or other utensil may work to make cookies. But for the BEST cookies that are evenly baked. Please use a cookie dough scoop. they are SO worth it.
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sourdough peanut butter cookies are MUCH easier to get evenly baked if your baking sheet is lined with a marked silicone matt.
Other versions of this peanut butter cookie recipe you may want to try:
I chose to make these without the chocolate chips this time. That’s why your not seeing any chips in the cookies. The chocolate chips are optional.
These cookies are great plain or with chocolate chips. They are ALSO good with white chocolate chips or peanut butter chips. And they may taste great with other chips as well.
Please let us know how you make this recipe. Comment in the comment section and rate this recipe. How did it go for you? What did you do with it?
Peanut Butter Cookies with sourdough and chocolate chips. A tasty variation.
Yield: This cookie recipe makes about 50 cookies. UNLESS you add the chocolate chips. Then add another dozen cookies to the count. If you don’t need that many you can divide the recipe in half.
Stored in an airtight jar these cookies will stay fresh several days to up to a week.
Freeze these peanut butter cookies. Here’s How:
- Place your extra COOLED and set cookies into a heavy duty freezer ziplock bag.
- SUCK out all the air with a straw. Or suck it out through the uncompleted seal and then seal it fast.
- Label the bag with the recipe name and date.
- Freeze for up to two months.
Your Printable Recipe:
Peanut Butter cookies With Sourdough Starter
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are a delicious twist on an old American Favorite cookie. Including sourdough starter adds a deeper flavor with a bit of tang. Bursts of sweet chocolate in these flavorful peanut butter cookies make a good cookie great.
Ingredients
- 1 cup sourdough starter -240 grams
- 1 cup peanut butter - 255 grams
- 1/2 cup organic coconut oil (or butter)-softened - 112 grams
- 1 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)- 175 grams
- 2 eggs - 103 grams
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract - 4 grams
- 2 cups flour 256 grams
- 1 tsp. baking powder - 5 grams
- 1 tsp. baking soda- 6 grams
- 1/2 tsp. salt -3 grams
OPTIONAL:
- 1 cup (165 grams)to 2 cups (315 grams) flavored baking chips (optional-choose any kind you like)
Instructions
Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl: Mix together the brown sugar, peanut butter, vanilla and softened coconut oil.
Add in the sourdough starter, and eggs. Mix Gently until combined.
In a smaller mixing bowl Sift together the dry ingredients (except the chips).
Add the dry ingredients into the wet in thirds, mixing after each addition.
Finally add the baking chips (if using) and mix by hand until dispersed into the dough.
Roll the dough into one inch balls.
OPTIONAL: For more sweet roll the cookie balls in sugar now.
Place each ball 2 to three inches apart on your lined baking sheet. They will expand and need room on the sheet.
Using a fork dipped in sugar gently press the fork into the dough balls and criss cross the dough balls as shown.
Bake 9 to 10 minutes until the cookies are LIGHTLY browned. Notice the increase in cookie size when baked. 
Remove from oven and let sit 5 minutes.
Remove to cooling racks. Serve.
Notes
The stage of your starter Matters:
- A fully fed and active starter with a mild fruity smell will offer a less intensely flavored cookie that puff more.
- An unfed or tangy starter will enhance the flavor of these cookies but the cookies will not be as cake like.
The AMOUNT of your starter matters too.
I've made this recipe with only half the starter amount called for and the cookies turned out great. They DO have less puff and a bit more peanut butter flavor if that is what your after.
I have yet to make these (and I make them all the time) and turn out what WE think is a bad cookie.
That's why you see so many notes. Sourdough personalizes this and other recipes. Your starter is different than mine. Do what works for you.
For flatter cookies:
Eliminate the baking powder and baking soda. The starter will still give some leavening.
For puffy cookies that are sweeter:
- Use a freshly fed or recently fed starter
- Add 1/4 to 1/2 Cup granulated sugar to taste
- Use a sweetened peanut butter
The chocolate chips are optional.
They may be omitted or replaced with other baking chips you may prefer. Some good choices are white chocolate chips and peanut butter chips.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
50Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 106Total Fat 6gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 7mgSodium 99mgCarbohydrates 12gFiber 1gSugar 4gProtein 2g
Sara T
These cookies look so yummy! I was wondering how they would hold up doing a 72 hour cold ferment, so all the flour is able to be fermented by the wild yeast. I have not been able to find many recipes that do a do a long ferment with active starter.
Thanks,
Sara
Diane
Hi Sara T, I’ve never long cold raised this dough. Sourdough discard recipes don’t usually do that. HOWEVER. I think you can. But reduce the sourdough starter by half. (at least a third) It will more than likely ferment into mini breads if you don’t. 🙂 And use UNFED starter so they don’t get too puffy. Please let me know how it goes.
Franziska
I just made these using half the quantum of the recipe and I also replaced half of the flour with medium oatmeal. The cookies turned out great. Chewy and very moorish! Thank you for the recipe!
Diane
Your Welcome Franziska, Thanks so much for letting us know how you made it work for you. I just posted my versions of sourdough peanut butter oatmeal cookies. You might enjoy those too. Happy Baking!
Jane hogg
That sounds like a great idea- I’m going to try that variation today!
Diane
Excellent. Please let us know how it goes for you. 🙂
Eva
This looks great! Thank you! Might you have a good sourdough oatmeal peanut butter choc chip cookie recipe?
Diane
Well now that you mention it. Not yet. But I’ll get starter on it today. In the meantime try adding 1/2 cup oatmeal and if it’s too dry throw in an extra egg? I’ll try this today and let you know how it goes. Thanks for the great idea. 🙂
Eva W
HI Diane! I don’t yet feel confident enough with sourdough to experiment. But I am DEFINITELY looking forward to your results!!! I usually make oatmeal peanut butter choc chip cookies with self-rising flour, but now that I am starting on my sourdough journey, I want to find a way to use the sourdough discard and effectively use all the raw material I have, since I am fortunate enough to have it. Thanks so much for having fun with it too!!!! 🙂 (P.S. I love oatmeal – so I usually use a ratio of 2 cups oatmeal to 1 cup flour; I have at times blended the oatmeal to make oat flour but that changes the texture. Another idea (if one is low on eggs): I sometimes use boiling water (after the shortening has been incorporated and before adding eggs) to moisten the mix but then maybe the sourdough starter gives it enough moisture???) Of course, you must do it your way. I am really looking forward to it. Thanks again!!!!!
Eva W
Oh, it just hit me: can’t use boiling water – it’ll kill the yeast. So maybe warm water?
Eva W
Hi Dianne! I’ll post them here in case there are other adventurous bakers who can benefit from my comments (I learned about the hot water and oatmeal from a comment too!); I’ll try sending you a PM of my final pics on FB if I can figure that out.
INGREDIENTS
• 4 Cups Old-Fashioned Oatmeal
• 2/3 Cup Boiling Water
• 2 Cups self-rising Flour
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 Cup golden sugar (scant)
• 1 Cup Canola Oil
• 2 heaping spoonfuls of creamy peanut butter – about 1/2 cup
• 2 eggs
• 6 TBS unfed sourdough starter
• 1/2 cup mini-choc chips
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Add water to oats and stir. Let stand 15 minutes so the oats absorb water and the mixture cools down.
2. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda and sugar.
3. In another mixing bowl (I use my 4 cup measuring cup), mix the oil and peanut butter with a whisk.
4. Add eggs and starter. Mix well.
5. Add the softened oats to the flour mixture and mix until blended (can use hands).
6. Add the wet to the dry.
7. Add the chocolate chips if using
8. Shape into balls
9. Preheat an oven to 375 F.
10. Bake for 15-20 minutes until they are golden brown. (My oven seems to run cool so they take longer)
11. Oh, and I also divided up the dough because my Mom doesn’t like choc chips as much.
Diane
Thanks so much Eva, We are also on instagram if you want to tag us in a pic.
Diane
Oh Eva I am so glad you checked back. I have been working on a recipe all morning for you. And I have it done! I put the recipe up on our instagram stories which also play on our FB page. Go check them out. I posted the entire recipe in a brief form. Let me know if you enjoy them I can build them a post of their own if you find them worthy. I think they are VERY good. let us know! And thanks for the great recipe ideas.
Eva W
Hi Diane! They look AWESOME. I can’t wait to bake them. Didn’t see the recipe on either website (but maybe that’s because I am not sure how to use instagram stories) – I hope you make a blog post about them so that i can see the whole thing. Thank you so much! I love this kind of comfort food and as you said, we need it! 🙂
Diane
I know you’ve seen the story by now. I just want to say there are a LOT of online calculators that convert grams to cups for you. So please give that a try. I’ll see about getting this recipe posted in the near future.
Eva W
Hi Diane! I made these cookies today and they are ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. I made a version that is closer to the type my family likes (i.e. more oatmeal, some water so it’s less dry, less sugar and I used about half the amount of sourdough starter you used.) I am very pleased. Thanks so very much for giving me the confidence to use up my extra starter this way! If you like, I can post my recipe or send you a FB PM if you want to see it. I love your blog and would only feel comfy posting the recipe if invited. Have a great weekend!
Diane
Hi Eva, I’m so happy you made this recipe your own. I’m actually going to post the oatmeal version of these cookies pretty soon. How fun that you made your own version. Thanks for asking before you posted your version on our comments. I actually would love to see what you came up with. It sounds pretty close to what I did.
So go ahead and put yours up here in the comments or you can email me if you prefer. I may merge the recipes to create my sourdough oatmeal peanut butter cookie post. After all it was at your request I created them.
I will certainly mention you in that cookie post. Have a great day. I’m so happy you enjoy our blog. A large part of our success is we have a great audience. Bakers Just like you. Thanks again for your input. 🙂
Eva W
We use less sugar because my Mom was diagnosed borderline diabetic at one point – so we learned to cut back on sugar and our taste buds have obviously adjusted. 🙂
Diane
That’s what it’s all about. All the best to you and your mom. Stay healthy!
N
Was this recipe designed by volume or weight? I’m about to make these, and I need to know which measurements to use- 2 cups flour isn’t 330g…
Diane
Hi N, This recipe was originally in volume measurements. The last time I made it (about a week ago) I converted it to weight measurements as I baked from the volumes. It turned out great! So all I can say is I may have made a mistake in the written conversion. So I’ll make them again tonight using my own weights to test it again. In the meantime why don’t you try it with the volumes.
Diane
I’ve updated the recipe for you. The weights are now correct. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Happy Baking!
Grace Axcelson
awesome!! i halved the recipe & subbed 3 tbsp. aquafaba for the egg to make it vegan, and it turned out wonderfully!! i think next time ill up the salt a bit, & maybe just use some more sugar on the fork when pressing the cookies (theyre sweet enough, but could use a little boost!) love that i can use my discard in NON savory/bready applications. thanks for a great recipe, im sure ill be making these again!
Diane
That’s wonderful to hear Grace. Enjoy!