Sourdough Corn Cookies

These melt-in-your-mouth Sourdough Corn Cookies feature corn in three ways, including crunchy caramelized honey cornflakes.

The cookies are yellow and buttery, reminiscent of sweet corn, utilizing cornmeal for texture and cornstarch for tenderness, and featuring an irresistible caramelized honey cornflake cereal.

Sourdough discard lends a hint of tang and helps keep them soft for days. Plus, they’re easy to make the components ahead of time or overnight.

Follow my detailed instructions, complete with photos and tips, below for the best Sourdough Corn Cookies.

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👍 Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Another simple and easy way to use sourdough discard.
• Honey, corn, and butter flavor like my Sourdough Honey Cornbread and Sourdough Corn Muffins in cookie form.
• A beautiful pale yellow color, reminiscent of sweet corn that is achieved with egg yolks, butter, and cornmeal.
• Textural contrast of sandy cornmeal, crunchy cornflakes, and tender sugar cookies.
• Crispy edges and chewy centers, due to the pan-banging technique.

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🔍 Tips for Making Sourdough Corn Cookies

• Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes to make rolling easier and to allow the flavors to infuse. This is important for most cookie and muffin recipes.
• You can make the corn cookie dough the night before (or freeze portioned cookies) and caramelized honey cornflakes a couple of days ahead of time.
• Portion the cookie batter by weight for equal-sized cookies.
• Use the pan-banging technique during baking for wavy, crisp edges.
• Fully cream the butter and sugar together for lighter, chewier cookies that spread perfectly.

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🛠 Tools Needed

• Baking scale
  • Flour and sourdough starter can weigh differently from person to person, so weighing your ingredients is the best option! Measuring your ingredients by weight will make your baking more consistent and accurate.
• Sheet Pan or Cookie Sheet
  • Line the pans with parchment or a silicone baking mat to prevent sticking.
• Spatula
  • For scraping the sides of the mixing bowl.
• Stand mixer or hand mixer, recommended
  • For creaming the butter and mixing the cookie dough.
• #40 Cookie Scoop, 2 TBS scoop, optional
  • I weigh the dough for precise, equal sizes, but you can also use a 2 TBS cookie scoop to get close.

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🛒 Ingredients Needed

• Unsalted butter, room temperature
  • It’s important that the butter is softened to cream it with sugar and incorporate air into the batter. This is what makes a soft and tender cookie.
• Granulated sugar
  • Adds structure and sweetness to the cookies, helping them spread evenly.
• All-purpose flour
  • You can substitute with a gluten-free flour to make gluten-free corn cookies, such as cup-for-cup or measure-for-measure.
• Cornmeal
  • Use a fine or medium-grind cornmeal to prevent the cookies from being too gritty. I tested with Indian Head and Bob’s Red Mill medium-grind.
  • I also add cornmeal to these Sourdough Strawberries & Cream Scones and the crust to this Sourdough Strawberry Galette for texture and flavor.
• Corn starch
  • The corn starch makes the cookies extra soft and tender. Plus, it preserves their chewiness for days.
• Salt
• Baking Soda
  • The baking soda helps the cookies spread and rise in the oven.
• Vanilla Extract
  • Use real vanilla extract or vanilla paste, not imitation.
• Sourdough Discard
  • If you don’t have an active sourdough starter, learn how to make one in a week following my how-to guide. See my top sourdough starter tips and other sourdough discard recipes.
• Egg yolks
  • Two egg yolks add color, richness, and structure, helping to bind the cookie ingredients together. Use the egg whites to make Sourdough Ladyfingers!
• Cornflakes
  • This recipe came about because I had a giant box of corn flake cereal I needed to use!
  • The cornflakes add a perfect crunchy element to the cookies, but you can leave them out if you prefer.
  • If you want to substitute with another cereal, I recommend chopping puffed Corn Pops.
• Honey
  • Easier than making a traditional caramel, simply heat honey in a skillet to caramelize it into a rich, more complex toffee-like honey caramel.
  • Caramelizing honey reduces its moisture content and concentrates the honey flavor into a sticky mixture, similar to the boiled apple cider in Sourdough Apple Cider Donuts or Sourdough Apple Cider Upside-Down Cake.

Flavor Variations

• Blueberries: Fold freeze-dried wild blueberries into the batter. Corn and blueberries are a great combo like the lemon and blueberries in my Sourdough Blueberry Muffins and Lemon Blueberry Sourdough Pound Cake.
• Maple: Substitute the honey with maple syrup and caramelize the same way. I use caramalized maple for the candied pecans in these Einkorn Salad with Radicchio & Oranges.
• Hot Honey: Use hot honey for a spicy caramel cookie.
• Lemon or Lime: Brighten the cookies with fresh citrus zest.
• Brown Butter: For an even richer nutty and caramel flavor, you can brown the butter beforehand like I do for Brown Butter Sourdough Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Sourdough Hot Cross Buns, and the cream cheese frosting on my Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls.
• Tajín: Roll the cookies in Tajín seasoning for a bit of lime, spice, salty kick.

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🌽 How to Make Sourdough Corn Cookies

Follow this detailed recipe guide as you make the best Sourdough Discard Corn Cookies.

1. Mix the Wet Ingredients

Beat the softened butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed for a few minutes until pale, light, and fluffy.

Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula if needed.

Mix in the egg yolk, sourdough discard, and vanilla extract until incorporated.

2. Mix in the Dry Ingredients

In a small separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, cornmeal, and salt.

Then, pour the dry ingredients into the stand mixer bowl, pulse a few times to prevent the flour from spilling, and mix just until combined.

The cookie dough will be thick, soft, and slightly sticky.

3. Chill the Dough

Cover the bowl and chill the cookie dough for at least 30 minutes.

Chilling the dough helps the flavors meld and makes rolling out easier.

4. Make Caramelized Honey Cornflakes

As the cookies chill, you can make the caramelized honey cornflakes or make them a couple of days ahead of time.

Set aside a large plate or a small baking sheet with parchment paper.

Add honey and a pinch of salt to a small skillet over medium heat. Stir with a spatula as the honey bubbles and turns a deep amber color, emitting a strong honey aroma, for a few minutes.

Remove from the heat and immediately add a tablespoon of butter to the honey mixture (it’ll bubble) and stir in the cornflakes to coat them in the caramelized honey.

Spread the hot caramelized honey cornflakes on parchment paper so they cool quickly and harden without sticking together.

5. Bake

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC) and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

In a small bowl, combine granulated sugar and more cornmeal to coat the cookies in.

Scoop 2 TBS of chilled cookie dough (about 44g each for me), roll them into spheres between your palms, and toss in the sugar cornmeal coating. In total, you should get 20 large cookies.

Place the rolled cookies on the baking sheets, leaving a couple of inches of space between them, and bake one pan at a time in the center of the oven rack. Refrigerate the remaining cookies as they bake.

Bake for 8 minutes, then remove from the oven and pan bang the sheet pan onto the counter to deflate the centers.

Sprinkle the crispy caramelized honey cornflakes on top of the cookies, bake for another two minutes, pan bang, and finally bake for another two minutes, followed by one last pan bang. This is a total of 12 minutes in the oven with 3 pan bangs.

The pan-banging method yields cookies with unique, crackly, and wavy edges that are slightly crispy on the outside and chewy in the center. It’s what I do for other cookie recipes like my Sourdough Pumpkin Maple Cookies, too!

Let the cookies cool on a wire rack, sprinkle with optional flaky salt, and repeat with the remaining cookie dough.

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How to Store

I recommend storing the sourdough corn cookies in an airtight container for 4-5 days. They stay soft for days with the addition of sourdough discard and corn starch.

You can store unbaked cookie dough in the freezer for up to 3 months and thaw completely before baking. If baking from frozen, they may need a couple of more minutes in the oven and may not spread as much.

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❓ Frequently Asked Questions

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