Sourdough Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
Delicious, slightly sweet, made with fermented flour and oats, these sourdough breakfast cookies are the perfect on the go breakfast or snack.
Don’t get me wrong, I totally love sweets, but at the same time I really dislike how sweet most desserts are and how they make you feel after.
So I took one of my favorite oatmeal cookie recipes, made it into a fermented, less sweetened version that is perfect for an on the go breakfast or snack. They are almost like granola bars which we call “oat bars” around my house, but in the shape of a cookie.
And they are totally customizable. We make several variations of these.
Perfect hearty texture from the oats, not a ton of sugar, and fermented so they are more digestible.
Some people who are sensitive to gluten can have long fermented sourdough making these healthy sourdough oatmeal cookies perfect. Those who are celiac should still avoid all gluten.
This healthy sourdough cookie recipe is also the perfect way to use up sourdough discard. Either active or starter will work, but I love using discard instead of just tossing it in the trash.
Tips:
- Substitute chocolate chips for blueberries, dried fruit, nuts, or even trail mix. My kids love the trail mix version that includes craisins, cashews, and almonds.
- You can make and bake these right away or allow them to ferment overnight for the most digestibility.
- This recipe is healthier due to the lower amounts of sugar, inclusion of oats, and the fermented grains. If you want a sweet cookie, you can add more sugar to the dough (up to 1/2 cup more).
- Active sourdough starter or discard will work for this recipe. Did you know that discard will also ferment grains, not just active. You can use discard in a variety of quick breads, cookies, and things like scones easily since they are risen with leaveners rather than the wild yeast in the starter.
- Double this recipe and stick the extras in the freezer to eat later.
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What makes these sourdough cookies healthier?
Less sugar: They have much less sugar than your standard cookie recipe with only 1/2 cup of sugar for the entire batch.
Can be made with fruit: Can be made with blueberries as well (raspberries also sound delightful) instead of chocolate for even more health benefits.
I’ve made a trail mix version where I added some of our favorite trail mix. Its just cashews, almonds, and cranberries. Chopped up the nuts a little and threw them in. Kids loved them.
Fermented grains: The fermentation of grains happens when healthy bacteria and yeasts from a sourdough starter helps break down the grains in a way that makes them easier to digest.
This also makes the nutrients breaks down he phytic acid present and makes the grains nutrients more bio-available.
Tools:
Baking sheet – I like this stainless steel one.
Ice cream scoop – aka a large cookie scoop
Measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
Butter – unsalted and softened.
Sugar
Sourdough starter– active or discard will work just fine since the rise is do to chemical leaveners.
Maple syrup – you could also substitute for honey.
Egg
All purpose flour
Oats – quick or regular will work
Vanilla extract – homemade or store-bought
Baking powder
Baking soda
Salt
Cinnamon – adds a really yummy warm flavor to these sourdough breakfast cookies.
Chocolate chips – or blueberries. Dried fruit and nuts would also be delicious.
How To Make Healthy Sourdough Breakfast Cookies
In a stand mixer, cream together softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Next, pour in sourdough starter and maple syrup and mix until combined.
Turn the mixer on low. Add flour and oats and allow it to mix together until it comes together..
Cover with a tea towel and allow to sit in a warm place for 8-24 hours or move onto the next step if you want to make them quick. This is optional but allows the grains to ferment making them more digestible, the nutrients more bioavailable, and adds another layer of flavor.
The next day, preheat oven to 350.
Gather the remaining ingredients and uncover the fermented dough.
Add egg, vanilla extract, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt to the dough.
Mix until combined.
Fold in chocolate chips or blueberries.
Scoop dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. I like using a larger cookie scoop to make them more substantial.
Bake for 15-20 minutes for larger cookies and 12-15 minutes for smaller cookies. The edges should start to turn golden in color. Be careful not to over bake.
Cool before serving.
How To Store:
Store at room temperature in an air-tight container for 3-4 days or freeze for up to 3 months. I love freezing them and just popping them in the oven for a few minutes before eating.
FAQ:
They can be depending on the recipe. To make these cookies low FODMAP, ferment the cookies at least overnight up to 24 hours and use either blueberries or dark chocolate chips. Some people cannot tolerate even long fermented sourdough on the low FODMAP diet, skip these if that is you.
Discard is the portion of starter that is removed before feeding the main starter again. Normally, you remove a portion to keep from the starter growing too large and hard to healthily manage. Rather than tossing the starter discard, it can be used in a variety of recipes.
Find More Sourdough Recipes:
- Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Bread
- Easy Sourdough Banana Muffins With Discard
- Sourdough Pumpkin Pancakes
- Sourdough Apple Muffins With Cinnamon Streusel
- Overnight or Quick Blueberry Muffin Recipe
If you’ve tried and loved this recipe, make sure to come back and give it 5 stars and tag me on Instagram @ablossominglife.
Sourdough Breakfast Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter active or discard
- 1 tbs maple syrup or honey
- 1 cup all purpose flour or gluten free 1-to-1 flour
- 2 cups quick oats
- 1 egg
- 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips or blueberries
Instructions
- In a stand mixer, cream together softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy
- Next, pour in sourdough starter and maple syrup and mix until combined.
- Turn the mixer on low and add flour and oats.
- Cover with a tea towel and allow to sit in a warm place for 12-24 hours if desired, or move onto the next step for the quick version.
- The next day, preheat oven to 350 F.
- To the dough, add egg, vanilla extract, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt to the dough.
- Mix until combined.
- Fold in chocolate chips or blueberrie
- Scoop dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes for larger cookies and 12-15 minutes for smaller cookies. The edges should start to turn golden in color.
- Cool before serving.
Notes
- You can make and bake these right away or allow them to ferment overnight for the most digestibility.
- This recipe is healthier due to the lower amounts of sugar, inclusion of oats, and the fermented grains. If you want a sweet cookie, you can add more sugar to the dough (up to 1/2 cup more).
- Active sourdough starter or discard will work for this recipe.
Made these with the walnuts, and added raisins (1/3c), pumpkin seeds (1/4c), chia seeds (1/4c).
Baked 12 minutes and they stayed in ball shapes.
A wonderful protein snack using an about 1T less sugar and butter.
I let the sour dough/flour/ butter/ sugar mixture sit about 15 minutes before adding rest of ingredients.
Will definitely make again! Big hit here!
Those sound delicious. Basically trail mix cookies!
Hi Amy, this looks great, thank you for sharing =)
I’ve been thinking about this recipe for days. Do you have any thoughts on the difference in starting with active starter vs discard; I was wondering if starting with active would mean more opportunity for fermentation, leading to more digestibility and softer texture. I was thinking of doing a low temperature slow ferment, maybe finishing off in the fridge for a day or two; I haven’t eaten wheat in a couple years and am interested in using this recipe to try how sourdough wheat sits with me.
Cheers 🙏
Good luck! I hope it goes well and you are able to enjoy wheat again. Both will ferment the dough and I honestly do not think it makes a difference whether it is discard or active for the rate of fermentation or texture (since the starter isn’t giving the dough any rise), at least that is not my experience. If you are wanting to long ferment this for best digestibility I would say definitely 24 hours at room temperature. You could pop it in the fridge after if desired. When we were struggling with a gluten/wheat sensitivity with my daughter, she could only tolerate grains fermented 24 hours. If it was a fridge ferment, it had to be 3 days. Hope that helps.