Sourdough double chocolate high protein cookies are fudgy, deep chocolate cookies that get their protein from cottage cheese and bread flour instead of protein powder. Made with sourdough discard, they have no sour taste and no tang, just richer chocolate flavor and one of the best ways to use up your discard. Each cookie carries 6.5 grams or more of protein, about 80 percent more than a regular double chocolate cookie the same size, with the same thick, fudgy bite as the original. Check the table of contents for the full macro breakdown.
Table of Contents
- Why These Sourdough Discard Cookies Work
- Ingredient Notes
- How To Make Sourdough Double Chocolate High Protein Cookies
- Chill Time
- Recipe
- Sourdough Double Chocolate High Protein Cookie Macros
- Tips For The Best Sourdough Chocolate Cookies
- Frequently Asked Questions
- How To Store Sourdough Discard Cookies
- More High Protein Recipes
- More Recipes You Will Love
- Subscribe
Why These Sourdough Discard Cookies Work
This is the sourdough discard version of my Double Chocolate High Protein Cookies, built specifically so the discard adds flavor without changing the texture, the protein number, or the bite you already love.
Most sourdough discard cookie recipes simply add discard on top of a finished formula and cut a little flour to compensate. That works fine in a butter based dough, where chilling firms the dough back up as the butter solidifies. This cookie is built on cottage cheese, not butter, so chilling cannot do that same work. Instead of cutting flour, the discard’s water is balanced by reducing the cottage cheese slightly, so the dough holds the same shape and bite as the original, with the discard adding real depth to the chocolate instead of competing with it.
The result is a cookie that tastes like a richer, more complex version of the original, with no sourness and no change to how it bakes or feels. If you have been hunting for sourdough discard recipes that are not just crackers and pancakes, this is the one to save.
Ingredient Notes
Sourdough discard: Use discard at 100 percent hydration or slightly stiffer. This recipe is built around that ratio, so a much wetter discard will need a small flour adjustment.
Cottage cheese: Blended smooth, this is still the main protein source in the recipe. The amount is slightly lower than the original to make room for the discard’s moisture, but the protein difference is small enough that it does not change the per cookie number.
Bread flour: Stays at the same amount as the original. The discard adds its own flour on top, which gives the dough enough structure to handle the added moisture without going thin or greasy.
Natural cocoa powder: This recipe is balanced for natural cocoa, which is acidic and works with the baking soda. See the notes section for the Dutch process swap.
Instant coffee: Deepens the chocolate flavor without adding a coffee taste.
How To Make Sourdough Double Chocolate High Protein Cookies
You will find the full step by step directions in the recipe card below, but a few of the steps are worth understanding before you start, because the order matters.
The cottage cheese gets pureed completely smooth first. This is the step that lets you get away with cottage cheese in a cookie at all. Any curds left behind will show up in the baked cookie, so you want it silky before anything else goes in.
The cocoa powder goes into the food processor with the cottage cheese rather than into the dry ingredients. Pureeing it into the cottage cheese blooms the cocoa, drawing out a deeper, rounder chocolate flavor than you get from simply whisking it into the flour.
The sourdough discard goes into the mixer, not the food processor. Keeping it out of the puree means it stays gently worked instead of whipped smooth, and it folds evenly into the creamed butter, peanut butter, and sugar base before the cottage cheese mixture goes in.
Once the flour goes in, mix only until the dough looks shaggy. Overmixing develops the gluten and gives you a tougher cookie, and you want these tender and fudgy. The same goes for pulling them from the oven while the centers still look underdone, since they finish setting as they cool.
If you need these to be peanut free as well as tree nut free, there is a simple butter swap in the FAQ below.
Chill Time
Chill the dough at least 2 hours so it firms up enough to scoop and hold its shape. These sourdough discard cookies bake best straight from a cold dough, so for the best flavor, chill it overnight or about 12 hours, which gives the discard time to deepen the chocolate flavor further without adding any tang.
Scoop the dough into 70 gram mounds, press a few chocolate chunks on top, dip the top in granulated sugar, and press down gently into a thick disc before baking straight from the fridge.
Recipe
Sourdough Double Chocolate High Protein Cookies
Equipment
- Food processor blender
- Stand Mixer hand mixer
- kitchen scale
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Wire cooling rack
Ingredients
- 220 grams cottage cheese blended smooth (about 1 cup)
- 60 grams sourdough discard 100% hydration or stiffer (about 1/4 cup)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 50 grams natural cocoa powder 1/2 cup
- 25 grams butter softened (2 tablespoons)
- 32 grams peanut butter 2 tablespoons, see notes for nut free swap
- 150 grams brown sugar packed (3/4 cup)
- 50 grams granulated sugar 1/4 cup
- 2 egg yolks
- 215 grams bread flour 1 3/4 cups
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 200 grams chocolate chips or chunks 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons, plus a small handful reserved for the tops
- Granulated sugar for rolling (about 1/4 cup)
Instructions
- Add the cottage cheese, vanilla, and cocoa powder to a food processor/blender and puree until completely smooth and blended. This blooms the cocoa into the moisture and deepens the chocolate flavor. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer, beat the softened butter, peanut butter, and both sugars together for about one minute, until combined. Scrape down the bowl.
- Add the egg yolks and mix for another minute. Scrape down the bowl.
- Add the sourdough discard and mix until incorporated.
- Add the pureed cottage cheese mixture and mix until incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the bread flour, instant coffee, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and gently mix just until the dough comes together and looks shaggy. Do not overmix.
- Add the chocolate chunks/chips and mix until just incorporated, holding back a small handful for the tops.
- Chill the dough at least 2 hours, up to overnight or about 12 hours for the best flavor.
- Scoop the dough into thick mounds, about 70 grams each. Form a firm ball, press a few chocolate chunks onto the top, then dip just the top into granulated sugar. Place sugar side up on a lined baking sheet and gently press down into a thick disc.
- Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are set but the centers still look slightly underdone.
- Let the cookies set on the pan for a few minutes before moving them. They firm up as they cool.
Notes
Sourdough Double Chocolate High Protein Cookie Macros
These carry the same macros as the original version. Per cookie, this recipe has about 243 calories, 6.5 grams or more of protein, 8 grams of fat, 38 grams of carbs, and 23 grams of sugar.
Compared to a classic double chocolate cookie the same size, that is about 80 percent more protein, 46 percent less fat, 30 percent less sugar, and 24 percent fewer calories. It comes out to more than double the protein density of a regular cookie, all without protein powder.
A quick honest note. A food generally has to get about 20 percent of its calories from protein to wear a formal high protein label. No whole food cookie can hit that, because a cookie is mostly flour, sugar, and chocolate by nature. What these deliver is real: 6.5 grams or more of protein per cookie, more than double the protein density of a normal cookie, and far less fat and sugar than the classic version, plus the fermentation benefit of the sourdough discard.
Tips For The Best Sourdough Chocolate Cookies
Use discard at 100 percent hydration or slightly stiffer. A wetter discard will need a small flour adjustment to keep the dough from being too soft to scoop.
Do not overmix once the dry ingredients go in. The dough should look shaggy, not smooth, going into the fridge.
Pull the cookies from the oven while the centers still look slightly underdone. They firm up as they cool and stay fudgy in the middle.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes a cookie high protein without protein powder?
The protein here comes from whole food ingredients doing double duty. Cottage cheese is the engine, with bread flour, egg yolks, and a little peanut butter adding more, and even the cocoa powder chips in. Together they give these cookies far more protein than a regular cookie, all without a scoop of protein powder.
How much protein is in each cookie?
Each cookie has 6.5 grams or more of protein, which is about 80 percent more than a classic double chocolate cookie of the same size, and more than double the protein density.
Are protein cookies actually healthy?
These are still a treat, not a “health food”, and that is the honest way to think about them. What they offer is a cookie with more protein, nearly half the fat, and about 30 percent less sugar than a classic double chocolate cookie, made from real ingredients you can pronounce. That makes them a dessert you can feel good about reaching for.
Can I use low fat cottage cheese?
Full fat 4 percent cottage cheese is best here. Lower fat versions carry more water, which can make the dough wetter and the cookies spread more. If low fat is all you have, you may need to work in a little extra bread flour after chilling so the dough holds its shape.
Will these taste sour or tangy from the sourdough discard?
No. This recipe is built so the discard adds depth and richness to the chocolate flavor without any sour or tangy taste coming through.
Can I use active starter instead of discard?
Yes, either works. Just know that if you use sourdough starter at peak activity, you may end up with a slightly fluffier cookie thanks to all that active fermentation. They will still be delicious, and you get even more of the benefits that come from a long ferment.
How long can I ferment the dough?
You can chill the dough anywhere from 2 hours up to about 3 days. The 12 to 24 hour window is the sweet spot for the best balance of flavor and texture, and a longer ferment deepens the chocolate flavor and adds more of the benefits of slow fermentation. Bake straight from the fridge whenever you are ready.
How do I make these nut free?
These cookies are already tree nut free. To make them peanut free as well, replace the 32 grams (2 tablespoons) of peanut butter with an equal amount of softened butter, bringing the total butter to about 55 grams (4 tablespoons). The cookies will be very slightly richer and just as delicious.
Can I skip the chill time?
No. The chill is what lets the dough firm up enough to scoop and hold its shape, and a longer chill deepens the chocolate flavor.
How To Store Sourdough Discard Cookies
Store these sourdough double chocolate cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for about three days. After that, the moisture from the cottage cheese can make them turn a little overly fudgy, so move them to the fridge to store beyond three days.
More High Protein Sourdough Recipes
More Recipes You Will Love
- Double Chocolate High Protein Cookies (the original, non sourdough version)
- Sourdough Brondies
- Sourdough S’mores Cookies
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