Sourdough Teddy Grahams

These homemade Sourdough Teddy Grahams are my nostalgic, from-scratch take inspired by the classic little bear-shaped snacks, with the added bonus of using sourdough discard.

The dough comes together with simple ingredients, and the recipe includes three flavors: original cinnamon, chocolate, or chocolate chip. They’re crisp around the edges, lightly sweetened with honey, and perfect for lunchboxes.

The sourdough teddy bear cookies are fun to make and easy to bake for kids!

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👍 Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Tender, crisp teddy bear-shaped cookies that you can make in three different flavors.
• Easy-to-roll dough that’s perfect for kids to cut-out and bake.
• Lightly sweetened with honey.
• Favorite nostalgic back-to-school sourdough recipe.
• Stays crisp for days and stores extremely well.

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🔍 Top Baking Tips

• For crisp cookies like store-bought Teddy Grahams, roll the dough thinly to ⅛” or less.
• Don’t overwork the dough. Mix just until the ingredients come together for a tender, crisp texture.
• Chill the dough before rolling out so the flavors meld and the dough isn’t too soft when cutting out.
• If you’re making different flavors, weigh and divide the dough evenly into three portions.
• I tested the recipe at different temperatures and 325ºF was the perfect temperature so they didn’t over bake or burn too quickly.
• For making chocolate chip dough, chop chocolate chunks or chips very finely so they fit better into the small cookies.

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🛠 Tools Needed

• Baking scale
  • Flour and sourdough starter can vary in weight 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.
• Teddy Bear Cut-Outs
  • I use these cute mini Teddy Bear cookie cut-outs. You could even make holiday or Christmas cookies with this simple cinnamon dough.
• Rolling Pin, for rolling out the cookies.
• Sheet Pan, lined with parchment paper
• Stand mixer or electric hand mixer, for mixing the cookie ingredients

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🛒 Ingredients Needed

See below for my ingredient recommendations and possible substitutions.

• All-purpose Flour
  • You can substitute all of the all-purpose flour with gluten-free flour.
• Whole Wheat Flour
  • The whole wheat flour makes the cookies taste like sourdough graham crackers, but you could also make them 100% whole wheat cookies like these Sourdough Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies or Sourdough Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies.
  • If you happen to have graham flour or spelt flour, you can use it here!
• Salt
• Baking Soda adds an ever-so-light amount of lift and helps keep them crisp, yet tender.
• Unsalted Butter
  • Using butter instead of oil as the primary fat adds richness and keeps the dough soft for rolling out.
• Vanilla Extract enhances flavor and adds warmth and the perception of sweetness.
• Honey
  • The natural sweetener helps them crisp and the floral complexity complements the cinnamon and vanilla.
  • Substitute with maple syrup for maple sourdough teddy grahams.
• Sourdough Discard
  • If you don’t have an active sourdough starter, learn how to make one in a week by following my how-to guide. See my top sourdough starter tips and other sourdough discard recipes.
  • To make 100% gluten-free, use a gluten-free sourdough starter and gluten-free flour.
• Cinnamon
  • A touch of cinnamon adds a cozy warmth and flavor to the cookies, especially when they’re plain.
  • Leave the cinnamon out or substitute with other warming spices if you’d like.

Flavor Variations

• Chocolate
  • Use Dutch-process cocoa powder like in my Fudgy Sourdough Brownies or black cocoa like I do in my Homemade Sourdough Oreos for rich cocoa flavor.
• Chocolate Chips
  • Chop chocolate chunks, chips, or a chocolate bar into fine pieces to make sourdough chocolate chip teddy grahams that taste like Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Cookies.

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🧸 How to Make Sourdough Teddy Grahams

Follow this detailed recipe guide with step-by-step images as you make the best sourdough teddy grahams.

1. Mix the Dry Ingredients

Whisk the flours, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon in a small mixing bowl and set aside.

2. Mix the Wet Ingredients

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or electric hand mixer) on medium speed, beat the softened butter and honey together for 3-5 minutes.

Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed and mix until the butter is pale yellow and fluffy.

Mix in the vanilla extract and sourdough discard until incorporated.

3. Mix the Cookie Dough

Dump in the bowl of dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until the dough comes together into a cohesive mass.

4. Add Optional Mix-ins and Chill the Dough

At this point, you can decide if you’re going to bake all one flavor of cookies or make other flavors.

If you’re making different flavors, weigh the dough and divide by however many flavors you’re making. For example, if you’re making three flavors, each batch should weigh about 188g each.

For cinnamon/plain, leave the dough as is. Mix in finely chopped chocolate chips to make a chocolate chip batch. Finally, mix in the cocoa powder last if making a chocolate batch.

For each flavor, scrape the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and bring to a round disc shape like you’re making Sourdough Pie Crust (Extra Flaky!).

Wrap the dough in the plastic wrap and use your palms to smush the dough into a round disc.

Refrigerate for at least an hour to infuse the flavors and make rolling and cutting out easier.

At this point, you can freeze the dough for up to three months.

5. Roll and Cut Out Sourdough Teddy Bears

Allow the dough to soften at room temperature for at least five minutes before rolling out so it doesn’t crack.

Between two large pieces of parchment paper, roll out the dough with a rolling pin to ⅛” thin. If it sticks, lightly flour the parchment paper and rotate the dough periodically.

Lightly flour the cookie cutters and cut or punch out the bears. Re-roll and cut out scraps. This dough creates a lot of teddy bears.

6. Bake

Preheat the oven to 325ºF (163ºC) and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Space the cut-out cookies close together on the sheet pan, as they don’t spread much.

Bake for 10 minutes or until the cookies are just brown around the edges.

Cool for at least 15 minutes on a wire rack to crisp up and enjoy!

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How to Store and Serve

• Store sourdough teddy grahams in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
• Be sure to allow the cookies to cool completely before storage.
• For longer storage, freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months and thaw at room temperature.
• If the cookies soften, reheat them in an oven at 300ºF for a few minutes to re-crisp the cookies.

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❓ Frequently Asked Questions