These marbled sourdough sugar cookies are a sweet treat! The soft, pillowy sugar cookies not only taste delicious but are beautiful to look at. Kick off the patriotic holidays with this sourdough discard cookie recipe.
It is no secret we love sourdough sugar cookie recipes! We tend to make them for each holiday occasion as they are a sweet base for any design on top (pun intended!). Even when I was previously gluten free, sugar cookies were a favorite of mine.
Now, after years of healing my gut, I make sourdough recipes and share them on this blog! In the past we have made pumpkin cut out sourdough cookies for the fall, blue and white pinwheel cookies for the winter, and heart shaped sourdough sugar cookies for Valentine’s Day (or Mother’s Day)!
Sourdough sugar cookies can be diverse. We have even made the sourdough cookie dough into a sourdough fruit pizza!
The topping for these sourdough cookies is like royal icing. It is made from powdered sugar, milk (or water) and food coloring.
These cookies are unique because they will never turn out the same. Based on the placement of food coloring and how you turn your hand, every cookie will be decorated differently. Like a snowflake, no two cookies are identical.
The base for this recipe is our go to sourdough sugar cookie dough. It is made with sourdough discard, lots of butter and (of course), sugar! And if you like a lightly sweetened sourdough sugar cookie recipe, we enjoy make a variation with sour cream.
Why you will love these cookies
Kitchen Equipment
- Hand mixer
- Baking / cookie sheets
- Large mixing bowl
- Cooling rack
- Favorite cookie cutters (optional – but fun to create shapes in dough)
Ingredients for Marbled Sourdough Sugar Cookies
- All purpose flour
- All purpose flour helps to achieve the fluffy, soft sourdough sugar cookies.
- White Sugar
- Powdered sugar
- If you want a soft sourdough sugar cookie, add powdered sugar! Because of the cornstarch in the recipe, it helps to make the cookies delightfully soft.
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Unsalted butter
- To ensure the cookies are not too salty, use unsalted butter. If using salted butter, leave the the salt out of the recipe.
- Sour Cream
- Sour cream helps to enhance the flavor of these sugar cookies and provide a soft texture.
- Sourdough discard
- Either active sourdough starter or sourdough discard can be used within this recipe. The baking powder causes the cookies to spread on the pan.
- Egg
- One whole egg is used within this recipe.
- Vanilla extract
- Almond extract
Decoration
- Powdered Sugar
- Milk (or water)
- Vanilla Extract
- Watkin’s Natural Food Dye
How to make Marbled Sourdough Sugar Cookies
Making marbled sugar cookies is an easy process.
We have two methods for making this recipe- stir and go long fermented. Both result in a tender, slightly sweet cookie, which holds up to a glaze.
Stir and go Sourdough Sugar Cookies
Allow the butter, egg and sourdough discard to reach room temperature. This will allow the dough to come together easily and have less time in the fridge solidifying enough to easily work with.
With a handheld mixer, whip the softened butter until light and fluffy in a large bowl. Mix in the white sugar and powdered sugar.
Then add the egg, vanilla extract, sour cream and the sourdough discard. Mix until combined. To the wet ingredients, add the remaining dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder)
Roll the dough into a log shape to cut into circles. Alternatively place the dough between wax paper or parchment paper. Use a rolling pin to flatten the the sugar cookie dough to 1/4-1/2” thick before using cookie cutters to make shapes. Place on a lined baking sheet.
If baking now and not long fermenting, I would highly recommend placing the dough in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes. For best results, this cooling period will keep the cookies the correct shape and reduce the chance of spreading on the baking sheet.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. After chilling in the fridge, remove the log (if not cut) and slice into rounds. Place the sourdough sugar cookies immediately in the oven and allow to bake for 8-10 minutes.
To achieve soft sourdough discard sugar cookies, these will seem “underbaked”. They will continue to cook (aka carryover cook) as they sit on the cookie sheet.
When touched, the sugar cookies will not stick to your finger. Do not let them turn golden brown in color or they will be too hard, become crumbly and have crispy edges.
Transfer the cookies from the baking sheet to a wire cooling rack. Allow the cookies to cool completely before icing.
Once the cookies have cooled on a wire rack, make the icing. Do so by mixing together powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk (or alternative liquid).
Put a few drops of your favorite color in the glaze. For sourdough 4th of July cookies, we put red and blue in the white frosting. Use a toothpick or fork to drag the colors to each other or make a swirl pattern. As you dip the cookies, the colors will become marbled together.
Dip the cookie straight down into the icing, pull upwards, and then turn your hand as you flip it up so the icing can drip off when placed on the bottom.
It can be helpful to place the wire rack on top of a baking sheet to prevent any icing from dripping onto the countertop.
Note there is a slight aftertaste with natural food colors when they are not mixed into a frosting or glaze. However, we only noticed this with blue and red colors and it was only noticeable in heavily dipped areas.
Long Fermented Sourdough Sugar Cookies
To long ferment the cookie dough, mix all ingredients together. Allow to sit on the countertop for 12+ hours, or to your fermentation goals.
The dough will not double in size. Once fermented to your liking, roll into a log shape and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Note, if your house temperature is cold, the sugar cookie dough may be quite pliable.
The plastic wrap will secure the cookie dough and keep the moisture in while long fermenting in the fridge. Keep the dough in the fridge up until you are ready to bake (up to 3 days).
When ready to bake, remove from the fridge and slice.
Marble Sourdough Sugar Cookies Variations
There are a variety of sourdough sugar cookie variations to adapt this recipe to fit your needs.
- Use cookie cutters to create various shapes and sizes of cookie dough
- Change the color combinations for each holiday season
- Winter – add shades of green. If you like trees, use a tree shaped cookie cutter
- Valentine’s Day – add shades of pink, red and purple
- Gender reveal cookies
- For a baby gender reveal or bridal shower – coordinate the color pink or blue
- Add metallic colors or glitter for a beautiful color
How to store Marbled Sourdough Sugar Cookies
These cookies can be stored at room temperature for 3 days. After three days, place them in the fridge or freezer in an air-tight container or freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months.
If making the dough in advance, combine together in preferred method (stir and go or long fermented). Shape into a log, cover with wax paper and place in a freezer safe bag until ready to cook. When ready to cook, allow them to thaw at room temperature until oven preheats and bake as outlined above.
Frequently Asked Questions
Marbled Sourdough Sugar Cookies
Equipment
- 1 hand mixer
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 Cookie Sheet
- 1 Wire Cooling Rack
Ingredients
Sourdough Sugar Cookie Dough
- 1-1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt leave out if using salted butter
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 egg
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 3 TBS sourdough discard discard or active starter
- 1 TBS sour cream
Royal Icing
- 4-6 drops Natural Food Dye
- 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
- 1-2 TBS Liquid (Milk, water, etc)
Instructions
Stir and Go
- Allow the butter, egg and sourdough discard to reach room temperature. This will allow the dough to come together easily and have less time in the fridge solidifying enough to easily work with.
- With a handheld mixer, whip the softened butter until light and fluffy in a large bowl. Mix in the white sugar and powdered sugar.Add the egg, vanilla extract, sour cream and the sourdough discard, mixing until combined. To the wet ingredients, add the remaining dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder).
- Once the dough is combined, roll the dough into a log shape to then cut into circles. Alternatively roll out the sugar cookie dough to 1/4-1/2” thick before using cookie cutters to make shapes. Place on a lined baking sheet.
- If time allows, I would highly recommend placing the dough in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes. This cooling period will keep the cookies the correct shape and reduce the chance of spreading on the baking sheet.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for 8-10 minutes.To achieve soft sourdough sugar cookies, these will seem “underbaked”. They will continue to cook (aka carryover cook) as they sit on the cookie sheet.When touched, the sugar cookies will not stick to your finger. Do not let them turn golden brown in color or they will be too hard (and crumbly).
- Transfer the cookies to a baking sheet to cool.
- Once the cookies have cooled on a wire rack, make the icing. Do so by mixing together powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk (or alternative liquid).
- Put a few drops of your favorite color in the icing. For sourdough 4th of July cookies, we put red and blue in the white frosting. Use a toothpick or fork to drag the colors to each other or make a swirl pattern. As you dip the cookies, the colors will become marbled together.
- Dip the cookie straight down into the frosting, pull upwards, and then turn your hand as you flip it up so the frosting can drip off when placed up.It can be helpful to place the wire rack on top of a baking sheet to prevent any icing / frosting from dripping onto the countertop.Allow icing to set before serving. The icing will not be firm to the touch, though it will 'set' as it sits on the counter.
Long Fermented Sourdough Sugar Cookies
- To long ferment the cookie dough, mix all ingredients together. Roll into a log shape and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Allow to sit on the countertop for 12+ hours, or to your fermentation goals. If your house temperature is cold, the sugar cookie dough may be quite pliable.The plastic wrap will secure the cookie dough and keep the moisture in while long fermenting in the fridge.
- Keep the dough in the fridge up until you are ready to bake (up to 3 days).
- When ready to bake, remove from the fridge, slice, bake and decorate.
Notes
- Ensure the dough has been chilled before baking to prevent the cookies from spreading.
- Use whatever food colors you like! We love the red, white and blue combination for 4th of July and red and purple for Valentine’s day. Works for any occasion!
Nutrition
What is your favorite marble color palette? We are particular to red, white and blue for 4th of July, though we love red, pink and prLet us know in the comments below!
