Name: Sourdough Funfetti Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 1470 min
Ingredients: 120 g Butter ((salted, softened at room temp)); 275 g Sugar; 5 g Vanilla Paste ((or extract)); 1 Egg ((large, mine was around 60g)); 1 Egg Yolk ((around 15g)); 120 g Sourdough Starter ((or sourdough discard)); 260 g All Purpose Flour; 4 g Baking Powder; 4 g Baking Soda; 4 g Salt; 65 g Sprinkles ((plus more for topping - see notes))

These sourdough funfetti cookies are chewy, with crispy edges and are bursting with colorful sprinkles! Perfect for birthday celebrations or just because you feel like making something fun! Sourdough discard adds a subtle tang that balances the sweetness and gives the cookies a rich, complex flavor. These are going to be on repeat in your kitchen, I just know it! Let's fill up your cookie jar with something fun!

A blue edged plate stacked with colorful sourdough funfetti cookies sits to the left of the photo. There are two glasses of milk with blue striped straws in the background, as well as some cookies with bites taken out of them.

Why You'll Love This Recipe!

Cripsy Edges, Chewy Centres - These colorful sourdough cookies have crispy edges and soft, chewy centres. They're just all round delicious and the perfect cookie formation if you ask me.

Fun for All Ages - Sourdough Funfetti Cookies are perfect for kids, but will also bring smiles to the faces of any age! I served these to my aunt and uncle who are in their 80s and they loved them too!

Sourdough Discard or Sourdough Starter - You can use either active sourdough starter or sourdugh discard for these cookies.

A stack of 5 sourdough funfetti cookies. The top cookie has a bite taken out of it, as does the cookie sitting next to the stack. There is a glass of milk with a blue straw in the background of the photo.

Ingredients

Butter - I've used salted butter, softened at room temperature.
Sugar - you'll need granulated sugar to create these funfetti cookies.
Vanilla Extract - you can also add almond extract if you like the flavor to create something a little different.
Egg - one large egg, plus an egg yolk create a rich, creamy cookie dough for these cookies.
Sourdough Starter - you can use active, bubbly sourdough starter or sourdough discard to create these delicious sourdough funfetti cookies. Just a note though, if you are using discard, make sure your discard isn't too old and sour as it will give these cookies an unpleasant flavor.
All Purpose Flour
Baking Powder & Baking Soda - just a little bit of each create the perfect rise for these cookies. Measure this as accurately as possible as too much of either will affect the texture of the cookies.
Salt - just a little salt to cut through the sweetness and provide some balance.
Sprinkles - I recommend using larger sprinkles if you can. I've used Betty Crocker Parlor Perfect Sprinkles. You could also add some holiday themed sprinkles to create seasonal cookies like Halloween, Valentine's Day, Christmas etc. Sprinkles are such an easy way to make these cookies season, no frosting required!

How To Make Sourdough Funfetti Cookies

This is such a simple recipe to pull together. It's also a really fun one to get kids involved in the kitchen. I do recommend using a stand mixer to mix the batter, however I prefer to add the sprinkles by hand so they don't break.

Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer and use the whisk attachment to cream together until light and fluffy.

Next add the vanilla paste and egg and continue to whisk until the egg is fully combined with the butter and sugar.

Now add the sourdough starter and continue to whisk. The mixture might look a little curdled at this point and that's ok.

I recommend swapping over to the paddle attachment for the next steps as it makes it easier. If you have been using a hand mixer, I recommend just using a spatula for the next part.

Add the all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt to the bowl and mix until well combined. Try not to over mix the batter at this stage.

Now it's time to add the sprinkles. If you're using smaller sprinkles, I find it's totally ok to use the stand mixer as they don't tend to break. If you're using larger sprinkles, you might consider doing this part by hand so that they don't break. It's really up to you.

Once the sprinkles are mixed through, cover the sourdough funfetti cookie dough and place into the fridge to ferment. For the best results, allow the sourdough funfetti cookie dough to ferment for around 24 hours. As a minimum leave the dough in the fridge for 2 hours to firm up otherwise you won't be able to scoop it and form balls and it will spread too much in the oven.

4 process shots showing how to make sourdough funfetti cookies.

When you're ready to bake the cookies, preheat your oven to 170C. Prepare 2 large baking sheets or 3 smaller ones. You can use parchment if you want to - I haven't for these cookies.Use a cookie scoop to make balls of dough (I've made mine 24g per cookie).

Place the cookie dough balls onto your prepared baking sheets, remembering to leave plenty of space as the cookies will spread.If you want to have extra sprinkles on top, you can add a small pile of sprinkles on each cookie dough scoop.

Bake the sourdough funfetti cookies for 15 minutes at 170C. Remove from the oven while they are still soft in the middle and allow them to cool on the tray for around 15 minutes before moving them to a wire rack too cool completely.

Kate's Recipe Tips

I highly recommend fermenting this dough for 24 hours. It creates such a delicious flavor and enhances the texture of the baked cookie, making the middles beautifully chewy and the edges lovely and crispy.
I always add some extra sprinkles to the top of these cookies for extra pizzazz! It really lifts the look of the baked cookies.

How To Store + Freeze

These sourdough funfetti cookies are best stored in a cookie tin or glass jar. Storing in plastic will make them too soft and you'll lose the crispy edges. They will last for up to 5 days stored in a cookie tin or jar on the counter.

You can freeze the cookie dough balls and then bake them from frozen if you want to. They make a great "emergency" cookie. I snap freeze the cookie dough balls on a tray and then transfer to a zip loc bag once frozen. The cookie dough is good in the freeze for up to 3 months.