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Sourdough Cranberry & White Chocolate Cookies

Homemade sourdough cookies with fresh‑milled flour are just phenomenal. Cranraisins, white chocolate, and orange zest make a rich, delicate and bright flavor combination. Fresh milled and unbleached all purpose flour both provide a healthy option than store-bought white flour. And they’re definitely healthier than most store-bought cookies. The sourdough starter will ferment your flour to help it be more digestible. You kids will devour these things- trust me. Using fresh-milled flour in these sourdough discard cookies gives a nutty, wholesome flavor—especially when paired with bright orange zest and sweet cranraisin-white chocolate mix-ins. Everyone will be thrilled with the mouthful of flavors when they take a bite.

I developed this recipe a little bit spur of the moment. I was thinking about how my family loves white chocolate and cranberry granola bars. I keep those ingredients well stocked in my pantry, so I knew I could experiment with some other recipes. That same day, I wanted to make a batch of sourdough chocolate chip cookies. But I couldn’t find any milk chocolate chips in my pantry. That’s when this recipe popped into my mind. I took my sourdough cookie recipe, added come lemon zest, and mixed in cranberry raisins and white chocolate chips instead of the regular chocolate chips. I baked the first batch in our church kitchen. My pastor taste tested them first and fully approved. Then Scott and the kids reviewed them with enthusiasm. I think you’ll enjoy them too!

Ingredients to make Sourdough Cranberry & White Chocolate Cookies

oranges, white chocolate, crab raisins, on a. cutting board with sourdough cookies

butter
sugar
brown sugar
eggs
sourdough starter
vanilla
fresh milled soft white flour
unbleached all purpose flour
baking soda
baking powder
real salt
white chocolate chips
cran raisins

This isn’t my only White chocolate and cranraisin sourdough recipe. Check out my granola bars too.

How to Make Your Sourdough Cranberry & White Chocolate Cookies

In the bowl of your stand mixer, add the softened butter and both sugars. To get the soft textures of these cookies, you’ll want to cream the butter and sugar together until smooth. You don’t want to see the sugar grains anymore. This step can take 5-10 minutes, but it’s worth it for the texture of these cookies.
Add eggs, one at a time; then add your vanilla and orange zest. Continue mixing until combined well.
In a separate bowl, combine both flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk these together so that the baking soda and baking powder are incorporated and evenly distributed. Nobody likes a bite of baking soda.
Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix it all together until you no longer see dry sections of flour. Then add in your sourdough starter. Allow it to mix well until the sourdough starter can’t be seen. Don’t worry if it seems a bit thin. The fresh milled flour will continue to absorb some moisture as it ferments.
Next, fold in the white chocolate chips and cranberry raisins.
To ferment your cookie dough, you’ll want to cover it and allow it to set on the counter for 1-6 hours. You can also leave it in the fridge overnight.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. With a large cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake each batch of cookies until golden brown. They’re ready to come out of the oven when the center no longer jiggles. Mine take about 12 minutes each in a convection oven, but traditional ovens may take a little longer.
Remove the cookies and transfer to a cooling rack until cool to the touch. (or grab one fresh and hot)
Serve with a glass of milk.

cookie dough scoops on a parchment lined baking tray cookies baking in a small convection oven cookies cooling on a rack oranges, white chocolate, crab raisins, on a. cutting board with sourdough cookies

Variations and Add-ins

You can make these white chocolate and cranberry cookies without the orange zest. The set just brings a little extra brightness to the recipe. Just omit it if you don’t have it or don’t want to use it. This recipe would be great with some kind of chopped nuts. My kids don’t like nuts in their cookies so I don’t even try that.

Substitutions

For a healthier version, you could swap out the white chocolate chips for Lily’s white chocolate style baking chips. Shop my affiliate link here: https://amzn.to/4lG6sJa They’re sugar free! I used fresh milled soft white flour and unbleached all purpose flour. You could use regular white flour and hard red wheat fresh milled flour- just add your flour in slowly until you get a good consistency. You may not need the same amount of flour if you use alternatives to my exact recipe.

Tips to help when you’re making Sourdough Cranberry & White Chocolate Cookies

1. Take the time to cream your butter and sugar. It’s worth it for the texture of the cookies. It will also help the flavors combine better.
2. Use orange zest from mandarin oranges.
3. Chop the cran raisins up before adding to help them spread through the dough more.
1. Take the time to cream your butter and sugar. It’s worth it for the texture of the cookies. It will also help the flavors combine better.
2. Use orange zest from mandarin oranges.
3. Chop the cran raisins up before adding to help them spread through the dough more.

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How to store Sourdough Cranberry & White Chocolate Cookies

Like I always say, these sourdough cookies are so delicious I doubt you’ll even need to store any because they’ll disappear so fast. But if you want o save some for later, you can freeze them in a ziplock or Tupperware. They should stay fresh for a month or so. It would be a special treat for a friend or a new mom to individually wrap them and freeze them for her. She could all out one at a time to have her own special treat for herself.

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FAQs

Yes. I try to use active starter just because I don’t want to wait as long. But you can use discard, and just give it a bit longer to ferment. It usually works best to leave the dough in the fridge overnight if you’re using discard.

The sourdough starter or discard adds a tangy flavor that pairs beautifully with the sweetness of white chocolate and the tartness of cranraisins. Using fresh-milled flour and orange zest takes the flavor to the next level, making them unique compared to traditional cookie recipes.

Store your sourdough white chocolate cranraisin cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. For longer storage, you can freeze the cookies for up to 3 months. Just let them cool completely before freezing, and place parchment paper between layers to prevent sticking.