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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📖 Recipe
Sourdough Oatmeal Walnut Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup Coarsely ground Oats I ground rolled oats in my coffee grinder
- 1 cup Wholewheat flour
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- 1/8 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Cinnamon powder
- 1/4 tsp Nutmeg powder
- 1 tbsp Psyllium husk
- 1/2 cup Coconut sugar
- 1/3 cup Sourdough starter
- 1/3 cup Coconut Oil or melted butter
- 1/4 cup Soy milk You can use any milk of your choice
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup Walnuts, coarsely chopped
- 1/3 cup Dairy free chocolate or Dark chocolate (70%) chips Optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients - oats, wholewheat flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder, psyllium husk and coconut sugar.
- Whisk the ingredients well to make sure there are no lumps.
- In another small bowl, mix the sourdough starter, soy milk, coconut oil and vanilla extract well.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ones and mix well.
- Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips ( if using).
- Chill this dough for 15-20 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with silpat or parchment paper.
- Scoop out the dough using an icecream scoop or 2 spoon onto the bakingtray.
- If you want thinner, crispier cookie, flatten them a bit before baking.
- Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes. For a crispier cookie, bake for another 2 minutes.
- Let the cookies rest on the baking tray for 5-10 minutes, before transferring them on a cooling rack.
- Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container.
Nutrition
Ron says
Nice recipe, I was looking for a sourdough cookie recipe.
I made a couple of changes, I did a 50/50 between whole wheat and all purpose white flour. I replaced the chocolate chips with candied cranberries.
This is one of my top 5 cookie recipes 🙂
Thank you Tasha for sharing!!!
Natasha Minocha says
So so thrilled to hear this Ron! Love the idea of cranberries and wholewheat in these cookies!Thank you for trying the recipe and for your lovely feedback. Truly appreciated.
Je says
Hi, do you have metric measurement of this recipe?
Natasha Minocha says
Hello, unfortunately, I don't. But, if it is of any help, the cup size I use, measures 240 ml. My recent recipes have both cup and metric measurements and I do need to work on the older ones. I apologize for the inconvenience.
Emilye says
These look wonderful! Can’t wait to try them, and will try making them gluten free. What is the equivalent in grams of 1/3 cup sourdough discard?
Natasha Minocha says
Thank you so much, Emilye! So I'm not entirely sure what would work as a substitute for sourdough discard in this recipe. YOu could simply leave it out or try it with Greek yogurt maybe? The discard is here more for its flavor than anything else. Hope this helps! Please do let me know how these worked out for you:)
Emilye says
Thank you for getting back to me Tasha! I do have a sourdough starter (and discard), I simply wanted to know how many grams of it I would need to equal 1/3 cup in the recipe 🙂 I am more familiar with metric measurements, sorry.. would be great if you could include metric conversions in your future recipes 🙂
Natasha Minocha says
Ahhhh! Okay! 1/3 cup should be 90 grams.
I have started doing so in my recent recipes...now I have both, metric and cup measurements. I hope you will find that useful from hereon. Thank you so much for supporting and following. I hope the cookies turn out amazing for you! 🙂
Emilye says
I made them today and they came out fantastic! I used semolina instead of whole wheat flour, and reduced both the oil and sugar a bit. They still came out wonderful 🙂 I am planning on making another batch soon, this time with some kind of gluten free flour. Thanks so much for this great recipe! And thank you for adding measurements in grams in your other recipes, really appreciate it!
Natasha Minocha says
Yayyyyyy, THANK YOU Emilye! You made my day!I so appreciate you taking the time out to try the recipe and for the feedback. It means a lot to me. Have the best day ahead!????
Emilye says
I made them again today, this time using half brown rice flour and half sorghum instead of the whole wheat. Still spectacular! And they work equally well thick and chewy or thin and crispy. This recipe will become my go-to when I want to use up discard. Thanks again for this winner of a recipe. Look forward to trying others 😀
Natasha Minocha says
Oh wow, Emilye! These sound absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for sharing with me. Really appreciate it 🙂
Jenn says
I want to try these and I don't have any Psyllium husk... can I sub in 1 large egg as I am not vegan?
Also wondered if I can cold ferment them overnight and bake in the morning?
Natasha Minocha says
Hi Jenn, yes, by all means, add an egg and I think cold-fermenting will add tons of flavor! Please do let me know how these turned out for you. ????????
Sapna Surana says
Hi Tasha,
If we want to avoid baking soda and powder and only use sourdough,how can we do so
Natasha Minocha says
Hi Sapna, I'm not quite sure as I haven't tried that. But if your starter is active, I'm sure it will work. You may also have to rest the batter for a while.
Please do let me know if this works for you. Happy baking! 🙂
Akhila says
Hi Tasha, wonderful n whole some n guiltless snack. Thanks for the recipe. I have a question on sourdough starter....mine is very sour..I literally get the sour taste in the food which doesn't go very well with sweet snacks. Pls advise.
Natasha Minocha says
Hi Akhila, I think it depends on the recipe you're using the sourdough starter in. Maybe just use a lesser quantity of it. You cannot taste any sourness in these cookies at all. 🙂