These Sourdough Discard Sugar Cookies are perfect for cutting out in your favorite shapes, and topping with your favorite colored icing and sprinkles! They're very customizable and fitting for any holiday or celebration. They're a not-too-sweet cookie, but the frosting really makes them a sweet, festive dessert.
Looking for other sugar cookie options? Try these Sourdough Discard Lofthouse Cookies and these Sourdough Discard Sugar Cookie Bars!
Why you'll love this recipe
- These cookies can be cut in any shape for any holiday or celebration! Use food coloring to make the icing any color of your choice, too!
- Don't feel like rolling and cutting cookies? Try these Sourdough Discard Sugar Cookie Bars and these Sourdough Discard Lemon Cookie Bars!
- This recipe uses sourdough discard, but you could easily modify to use active sourdough starter instead, if you prefer.
- You can easily make the dough in advance (up to several days) and pull it out of the fridge when you're ready to cut and bake.
- Looking for other cookie ideas? Try these Sourdough Discard Lemon Sugar Cookies and these Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Jump to:
Ingredients
There are only a few key ingredients you'll need to bring this recipe together.
- Sourdough discard: The sourdough discard should be unfed and at room temperature for this recipe. This recipe is designed for a sourdough starter with a 1:1 ratio (when you feed your starter, it's with 1 part flour and 1 part water). If your starter uses a different ratio, you may need to adjust some of the ingredients in this recipe.
- Learn more about how to make a sourdough starter.
- Butter: This recipe uses quite a bit of butter, and it's important that it is softened to room temperature to cream together with the sugar properly.
- Food coloring and sprinkles: These are optional, but an easy way to customize your cookies!
See full recipe below for detailed directions.
Substitutions & Variations
This is a very adaptable recipe and below are a few easy substitutions and variations you can try.
- Use active sourdough starter - While it's not needed for leavening purposes, if you'd like to make this recipe with active sourdough starter, you can! To do so, replace the sourdough discard with active starter (200g). Be prepared that your cookies may rise a bit more than a version made with sourdough discard.
- Customize your shapes - Use different shaped cookie cutters to make these cookies for any holiday or celebration! I used these Easter Cookie Cutters to make these cookies for Easter.
- Customize your colors and sprinkles - Food coloring is another easy way to customize these cookies. Change the color of your icing, and add sprinkles to make these any color you like!
How to Make Sourdough Discard Sugar Cookies
There are only a few key steps to bring this recipe together. The full recipe with detailed directions is at the bottom of this post.
- Step 1: Mix together the dry ingredients.
- Step 2: Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Step 3: Add the sourdough discard, egg, and vanilla extract. Then mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
- Step 4: Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
- Step 5: Divide the dough into 2 halves. Roll out the dough to ¼ inch thickness.
- Step 6: Cut the cookies with your desired cookie cutter shapes.
- Step 7: Transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake until firmed and the edges are just starting to brown. Let the cookies cool completely.
- Step 8: Mix together your icing.
- Step 9: Dip the cookies upside-down in the icing.
- Step 10: Set the dipped cookies on a cooling rack to allow excess icing to drip off. Let the icing harden for at least an hour, then serve.
Expert Baking Tips
- Use metric measurements for at least the flour and sourdough discard. These are two ingredients where there can be a huge variation in using cups vs. metric measurements. Using a kitchen scale for metric measurements for at least these two ingredients will set you on the right path!
- Make sure your butter is softened to room temperature. This will ensure that it creams together appropriately with the sugar.
- Let the dough chill for at least 2 hours (or up to 2 days) before rolling and cutting.
- The dough will be best in that first roll, so get as many cookies as you can out of it! For subsequent rolls, those cookies will end up being a little bit thicker after they bake (more gluten is activated by gathering and re-rolling, essentially kneading, the dough).
- Let the cookies cool completely before dipping in the icing, otherwise the icing will melt right off.
- Looking for other Easter recipes? Try this Sourdough Discard Carrot Cake, these Sourdough Discard Brioche Rolls, and these Sourdough Discard Hot Cross Buns!
Storage
Room Temperature Storage: Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5-6 days.
Freezer Storage: Store the cooled cookies in a freezer-safe container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Before serving, let the cookies thaw to room temperature.
Recipe FAQs
They're accurate! I use the metric measurements for my own baking, especially with the flour and sourdough discard, so I recommend you do the same! There can be such a huge variation in cups measurements, particularly for those two ingredients.
If your icing seems too thick, add a little bit more milk to reach your desired consistency. If it is too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar. You want the cookies to be easily dippable, but you don't want the icing to fall right off the cookie. Good news: you can always dip a cookie more than once!
More Sourdough Discard Cookie Recipes
If you tried these Sourdough Discard Sugar Cookies or any other recipe on my website, please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I'd love to hear from you! Happy Baking!
Sourdough Discard Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 2 ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 14 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 200 grams (about ¾ cup) sourdough discard unfed, at room temperature
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the Icing
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 6-8 Tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Food coloring optional
- Sprinkles optional
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the sourdough discard, egg, and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined and a smooth dough forms. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and press it into a disk. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (or up to 2 days).
- Preheat the oven to 375℉ and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Remove the dough from the plastic wrap and divide into two pieces. On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll the dough to ¼ inch thickness. Press your cookie cutters into the dough to cut your desired shapes, then transfer the cut cookies to the prepared baking sheet. Gather any dough scraps together, re-roll the dough, and cut out additional shapes until all dough has been used. Repeat with the remaining half of the dough. The dough will be best in the first roll, so get as many cookies out of it as you can! Subsequent rolls will give you slightly thicker cookies (more gluten is activated by gathering and re-rolling the dough).
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the cookies are firmed and the bottoms are just starting to brown. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool fully.
- Once the cookies have cooled, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. Start with less milk - you can always add more if it seems too thick! Whisk until smooth and combined; add food coloring if desired. The icing should be thin enough to be dippable, but not so thin that it will run off the edges of the cookie.
- Dip the cookies upside-down into the icing, swirling to cover the surface. Then twist and bring the cookie right-side-up. Place on a cooling rack to let any excess icing drip off. Add sprinkles, if desired. Let the icing harden for about an hour before serving.
CFS says
They came out beautiful! Love this recipe!
I just wonder if anyone had the small issue I had. I stored them (well dried) in a Tupperware container but the next day the cookies had a white discoloring on the icing surface.
Jessica Vogl says
This can happen! For the icing, if you use a milk with a higher fat content, that should help prevent that from happening. I make mine with almond milk (low fat content), so this happens to me as well.
Jessica Vogl says
They're so cute, and I love how customizable they are for any holiday or party!