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–+ servings
plate of marbled sourdough sugar cookies

Marbled Sourdough Sugar Cookies

Hailey
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. 
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Dough Chill Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Servings 12 cookies
Calories 104 kcal

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

Chill the Dough
  • Ensure the dough has been chilled before baking to prevent the cookies from spreading.
Decoration Color
  • 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

Serving: 1gCalories: 104kcalCarbohydrates: 15.9gProtein: 0.9gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2.4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 9mgSodium: 45mgPotassium: 5mgFiber: 0.2gSugar: 10.7gVitamin A: 39IUVitamin C: 0.0004mgCalcium: 1.7mgIron: 0.2mg
Keyword cookies, dessert, discard, snack, sourdough, sugar cookies
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