These sourdough malted chai chocolate chip cookies are sweet, chewy, and packed with warm chai flavors and rich dark chocolate. The extra chewiness comes from three things working together: sourdough discard, brown sugar, and malted milk powder.
These chai cookies are perfect for fall and winter. Pair them with my sourdough snickerdoodles, sourdough oatmeal cookies, sourdough peanut butter cookies, or my double chocolate stuffed cookies for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Looking for more fall treats? Try my pumpkin banana bread muffins too.
Quick Look: Malted Chai Chocolate Chip Cookies
⏱️ Ready In: About 51 minutes (includes 30-minute chill)
🔥 Bake Time: 11–12 minutes
🍽️ Serves: 24 cookies
✨ Calories: Approximately 141 per cookie
🥄 Main Ingredients: Sourdough discard, malted milk powder, chai spice, dark chocolate
🌿 Dietary Info: Vegetarian (easily made dairy-free)
💛 Why You'll Love It: Chewy, cozy, malted chai cookies that use up your discard.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Ultra chewy: Sourdough discard, brown sugar, and malted milk powder team up for a soft, chewy bite.
- Warm chai flavor: A homemade chai spice blend (cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, allspice) makes these taste like fall.
- A great way to use discard: A perfect home for that jar of starter, like my sourdough chocolate chip muffins.
- That malted depth: Malted milk powder adds a nostalgic, can't-quite-place-it richness — my favorite thing about these cookies.
- Made for the holidays: Perfect on a cookie plate next to my pumpkin cream cheese cookies.
Ingredients You'll Need
- brown sugar + cane sugar: Brown sugar brings chew and molasses depth; cane keeps them balanced.
- unsalted butter, melted and cooled: The base of that chewy texture.
- all-purpose flour: The structure of the cookies.
- sourdough discard: The star — fed or unfed, straight from the fridge. Adds tang and chew.
- egg + vanilla: Bind the dough and add flavor.
- chai spice mix: A homemade blend of cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice (see the recipe card).
- malted milk powder: For that signature malted depth and extra chew.
- salt + baking soda + baking powder: For flavor and the right spread.
- dark chocolate, chopped: Rich pools of chocolate throughout — chocolate chips work too.
See the recipe card for quantities.
Easy Substitutions & Variations
- Dairy-free: Use a plant-based butter or a neutral oil like coconut oil. Plant butter is often salted, so cut the added salt in half if you're sensitive to it.
- Chocolate: Add ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder with the dry ingredients for a double-chocolate version (add 1–2 tablespoons of milk if the dough is too dry), like my sourdough double chocolate banana muffins.
- Chocolate chips: Swap the chopped bar for dark, semisweet, or milk chocolate chips.
- Nuts: Fold in chopped pecans or walnuts for crunch.
- Store-bought chai: Use a pre-mixed chai spice if you have it, in place of the homemade blend.
- More cookies to bake: Round out the plate with my brown butter sugar cookies or brown butter oatmeal cookies.
How to Make Malted Chai Chocolate Chip Cookies
Note: I bake by weight for accuracy. Cup measurements are approximate and may vary depending on how you scoop.
Step 1: Mix the wet ingredients: In a stand mixer or bowl, mix the sugars and melted butter, then add the sourdough discard, vanilla, and egg and mix until combined.
Step 2: Add the dry ingredients: Slowly add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, malted milk powder, and chai spice. Mix until just combined.
Step 3: Add chocolate and chill: Stir in the chopped chocolate. Chill the dough for 30 minutes to an hour before baking — this wet-ish dough is much easier to shape cold.
Step 4: Scoop and bake: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Using a 2-tablespoon scoop, place dough balls on a lined sheet and bake on the middle rack 11–12 minutes, until the edges begin to brown and the tops look just set. Cool on the pan 5–10 minutes before transferring to a rack.
Weigh your ingredients! Using a kitchen scale ensures your measurements are accurate, which is key for getting consistent results in baking. It takes the guesswork out of measuring and helps your recipes turn out exactly as intended every time.
Expert Tips
- Use room-temperature ingredients. They mix more evenly for a consistent dough and cookie.
- Don't skip the chill. This is a slightly wet dough — 30–60 minutes in the fridge makes it far easier to scoop and shape.
- Pull them looking underdone. When the edges just start to brown and the tops look set (not shiny), take them out. They finish baking as they cool.
- Chop your own chocolate. A chopped bar gives melty puddles and thin shards you don't get from chips.
- Make extra chai spice. The blend keeps well in a jar — you'll want it for lattes and future bakes.
What Makes This Recipe Special?
The malted milk powder is the secret ingredient here. It adds a warm, nostalgic depth (hello, Ovaltine) and makes the cookies noticeably chewier than a standard chocolate chip cookie. Paired with a homemade chai blend and sourdough discard, you get a cookie that's cozy, complex, and just a little tangy — nothing like the usual.
It's also a fantastic discard recipe. That jar in your fridge becomes chewy, spiced cookies instead of going to waste, the same way it transforms my sourdough oatmeal cookies. Serve them warm with a glass of milk (or Ovaltine) and they disappear fast.
Sourdough Malted Chai Chocolate Chip Cookies FAQs
Absolutely — in fact, an active starter will probably give you a slightly fluffier cookie.
Yes! You may need to add 2–3 tablespoons of flour to compensate, though I've made them without starter and didn't need to adjust. It depends on your flour, climate, and starter hydration.
It's a slightly wet dough — not overly wet, but sticky enough that it's hard to handle by hand. Use a cookie scoop and chill the dough before baking to make shaping easier.
The use of malted milk powder is for the added depth of flavor and it creates a chewier cookie.
Chai is a combination of seasonings, including cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice. Finding pre-mixed chai spice at your local store isn't always easy, but it is super easy to make!
Malted Chai Chocolate Chip Cookies Troubleshooting Guide
| Problem | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Dough too sticky to scoop | Not chilled. | Chill 30–60 minutes before scooping. |
| Cookies spread too thin | Butter too warm or dough not chilled. | Cool the melted butter and chill the dough. |
| Cookies came out dry | Too much flour, or overbaked. | Weigh the flour and pull them when edges just brown. |
| Dough too dry | Low-hydration starter or dry climate. | Add 1–2 tablespoons of milk. |
| Flavor too mild | Chai spice or malt under-measured. | Use the full amounts; malt is key to the flavor. |
Storage
- Store at room temperature in an airtight container for 3–5 days.
- Freeze baked cookies (or scooped dough balls) for up to 6 months.
Other Sourdough Discard Recipes to Consider
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Malted Chai Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sourdough Discard
Equipment
- Stand Mixer Optional.
- mixing bowl If not using a stand mixer.
- Kitchen Scale Optional, but recommended.
- Cooling rack
- Lined baking sheet
Ingredients
Chai spice mix:
- 2 tablespoons ground ginger
- 1 ½ tablespoons cinnamon
- 2 ½ teaspoons cardamom
- 2 teaspoons cloves
- 2 teaspoons allspice
- 2 teaspoons nutmeg
Malted chai chocolate chip cookies:
- 113 grams unsalted butter melted and cooled (½ cup)
- 165 grams brown sugar packed (¾ cup)
- 100 grams cane sugar ½ cup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 100 grams sourdough discard ⅓ cup, fed or unfed
- 1 egg room temperature
- 300 grams all-purpose flour 2 ½ cups
- 47 grams malted milk powder ⅓ cup
- 1 teaspoon chai spice mix
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 115 grams dark chocolate chopped (1 ½ bars)
Instructions
- Mix the chai spice in a small jar and set aside.2 tablespoons ground ginger, 1 ½ tablespoons cinnamon, 2 ½ teaspoons cardamom, 2 teaspoons cloves, 2 teaspoons allspice, 2 teaspoons nutmeg
- Mix the sugars and melted butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or a mixing bowl.113 grams unsalted butter, 165 grams brown sugar, 100 grams cane sugar
- Add the sourdough discard, vanilla, and egg. Mix until combined.1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 egg, 100 grams sourdough discard
- Slowly add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, malted milk powder, and chai spice. Mix until combined. Stir in the chopped chocolate or chocolate chips.300 grams all-purpose flour, 47 grams malted milk powder, 1 teaspoon chai spice mix, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, 115 grams dark chocolate
- Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour. Just before baking, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Using a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop dough balls onto a lined baking sheet. Bake on the middle rack for 11–12 minutes, until the edges begin to brown and the tops look just set.
- Cool on the pan for 5–10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
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