Sourdough Oatmeal Walnut Cookies

If you love cookies with some heft and crunch like my household, you will unquestionably love sourdough oatmeal walnut cookies. The chewy texture of oats, the crispy feel of walnuts, and the heartening whiff of nutmeg are all you need to start the day happy!

It is in the past few weeks that I've gotten serious about baking with sourdough. It's not as if I haven't used sourdough discard before. I have.

I've made sourdough crackers with it. Then there were banana cinnamon pancakes with it. I've even tried my hand at sourdough waffles and sourdough banana bread, much to the delight of the kids. 

But when it comes to baking bread, the journey has been eventful, exciting, and humbling. Case in point: the boules I baked.

But that doesn't mean I’ve given up. While the starter's being fed and used for baking breads, I'm finding creative ways to use the discard!

This time it was cookies, the ever-popular snack in my home. I decided on sourdough oatmeal walnut cookies because I was recently gifted an enormous bag of California walnuts, and I wanted to put them to good use.

What's sourdough starter discard?

A quick refresher for anyone new to sourdough:

When you keep a sourdough starter at home, you have to feed it. With every feed, you remove some part of it (else you'll end up with a mountain of sourdough starter). 

This eliminated part is called sourdough starter discard, and chucking it in the bin is not an option because I follow a zero-waste policy in my kitchen.

So, every time the discard pile reaches a dangerous limit, I use it for cooking or baking like with these sourdough oatmeal walnut cookies. 

How to Make Sourdough Oatmeal Walnut Cookies?

I sift together flour, salt, baking soda, coconut sugar, nutmeg, and coarsely ground rolled oats (I used my coffee grinder to crush the oats). Because these sourdough oatmeal walnut cookies are vegan, I replaced the egg with psyllium husk, or as it is commonly known, Isabgol. The husk binds the ingredients and holds them together exceptionally well. As a result, the cookies don't have that crumbly texture. 

FYI, I have used Isabgol before for my strawberry & rosemary scones, and the result was delightful. You cannot taste Isabgol at all.

But if you are still skeptical (or don't have it), swap it with flax egg by mixing a tablespoon of ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons of water. Let it chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes and then add it.

Keeping the dry ingredients aside, in another bowl, I quickly mix soy milk, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and the sourdough starter discard. 

Once they are whisked well, I add the dry ingredients to the wet to make the dough. This I top with walnuts, one of the most effective superfoods you can indulge in to improve health.

Walnuts contain fats (the good kind), iron, selenium, calcium, zinc, vitamin E, and some B vitamins. If you're a vegetarian, then they are one of the few sources you have of omega-3 – the magical fatty acid that boosts mood and keeps the heart in check.

I also mixed-in a handful of chocolate chips because I was needlessly apprehensive that the children might not like the cookies without them. The little man put paid to that worry after one bite of these hearty, gooey goodness.

The rambling point I'm trying to make here is that chocolate chips are not the heroes of the cookies. They are an after-thought, and entirely optional!

Baking the sourdough oatmeal walnut cookies

Fat, chunky treats that satisfy the soul with one nibble, that what I wanted with sourdough oatmeal walnut cookies. The idea was to savor a whole bunch of textures with every mouthful.

So, before I slid them in the oven, I refrigerated the dough for 15 minutes. Once it was cold, I scooped it on a lined sheet and then baked. But if you prefer thinner and crispier cookies, flatten them before baking and add a minute or two to the oven time. 

Recipe variations:

These sourdough oatmeal walnut cookies are vegan and dairy-free but I did use whole wheat flour. If you wish to make them gluten-free too, switch to buckwheat flour with eyes closed and look for certified gluten-free oats. 

Instead of the 70% dark chocolate chips, you can use cranberries as I did for my ginger cranberry oatmeal ones.

These cookies definitely need a crunch, so instead of walnuts, use any chopped nuts your family enjoys the most. 

You can replace the coconut sugar with white or brown sugar. If you don't have coconut oil, then melted and cooled butter is a great substitute. I won't recommend any other oil because I am clueless about what consistency it will give to the cookies. 

Dig into sourdough oatmeal walnut cookies

These cookies are not your usual light-as-air affair. They are soft-baked, wholesome, hearty cookies with a stunning nutty flavor.

Don't let the chocolate chips fool you; I'll happily serve the soft, chewy cookies for breakfast!

All in all, sourdough oatmeal walnut cookies are deliciously healthy treats that you don't feel guilty about indulging. Besides, any resistance to temptation is all but futile. 

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