Sourdough Chocolate Chip Bread is a tender and tangy sliceable loaf, full of buttery flavor and dotted with sweet, melty chocolate.
This indulgent bread makes a special breakfast, a delicious dessert, or a nutritious but satisfying treat. It’s quick and easy, sweet and buttery, yet light and fluffy.
It’s basically a batch of chocolate chip muffins in a loaf form! Perfect for those mornings when you need to move right past the muffin liners and straight to the single loaf pan.
The addition of sourdough discard provides the signature sourdough flavor we love, and you can adjust the sweetness of the bread slightly by using milk chocolate or dark chocolate chips.
It’s similar to sourdough banana bread (just without the banana), another classic that we love in its sourdough form, and one that also often includes chocolate chips.
Some more recipes of this delicious, no-fuss nature are our fall favorite, sourdough pumpkin bread, a big-time summer favorite, sourdough zucchini bread, and an all-time favorite, sourdough double chocolate bread.
Why You’ll Love Sourdough Chocolate Chip Bread
Sourdough flavor: This recipe is a great way to use up sourdough discard and enjoy that sourdough tanginess! At a loss for what to do with all that discard? Here are 20+ sourdough discard breakfast recipes to keep your family fed and your discard working for you.
Quick and easy: Simple ingredients, no rise time needed, and baked in just over an hour, this bread is a great option for same-day or last-minute bakes.
Sweet and satisfying: With a sweet muffin crumb and chocolate chips dotted throughout, it’s a delicious choice for breakfast or dessert.
Ingredients
Sourdough discard: Discard offers a stronger tanginess due to its longer fermentation, while active sourdough starter is milder in flavor and doesn’t stand out as much. Either one works well for this recipe. Interested in learning more about sourdough? I have a post all about how to use sourdough starter.
Brown sugar: Brown sugar gives the bread a richer color and flavor, adding a hint of molasses for complexity and depth.
Chocolate chips: Quality chocolate chips will have a richer flavor and smoother texture, providing the best results.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Tools You May Need
Loaf pan: This recipe is for a standard 9×5 loaf pan, either metal or glass. A smaller 8×4 loaf pan may require a longer bake time.
How to Make Sourdough Chocolate Chip Bread
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare your loaf pan. Add the cooled melted butter, white and brown sugar, vanilla, eggs, sourdough discard or active starter, and milk to a large mixing bowl and whisk together until smooth.
Step 2: In a separate small bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined.
Step 3: Gently fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula, then transfer the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
Step 4: Bake in the preheated oven for 65-75 minutes until golden brown, then cool before slicing.
Tips
- Avoid overmixing the batter.
- When baked, the top should be golden brown and set. A sharp knife, toothpick, or cake tester inserted in the center should come out clean.
- Cooling in the pan completely will help the bread to slice cleanly.
Recipe Modifications and Variations
- Substitute chocolate chunks or mini chocolate chips.
- Add chopped & toasted walnuts, pecans, or even cashews.
- Top with flaky sea salt.
- Sprinkle extra chocolate chips on top before baking for added flair.
Recipe FAQ
You certainly can. Leaving out the baking soda, baking powder, and chocolate chips, combine all other ingredients. Cover and ferment at room temperature for 12-24 hours. After the dough ferments, add your leavening agents, fold in the chocolate chips, and bake per instructions.
Leftover bread can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for several days. For longer storage, wrap well with plastic wrap, place in a freezer-safe bag or container, and freeze until ready to use.
Mixing the batter until it’s just combined. Overmixing can cause the loaf to collapse. Add your wet and dry ingredients together, stir until all the dry ingredients are moistened, then stop. You will have some small lumps. Gently fold in your chocolate chips, pour into the loaf pan, and bake. Use all of the tricks for determining if it is baked through, as underbaking may also cause the middle to drop.
If you find that your bread is not cooked through, preheat your oven back to 350, then bake your loaf for another 10 minutes or so. Check for doneness, cool, and serve.
More muffins and quick breads from the Farmhouse:
- Sourdough Blueberry Muffins
- Chocolate Sourdough Zucchini Muffins
- Sourdough Discard Cinnamon Bread
- Easy Sourdough Blueberry Bread
- Sourdough Discard Lemon Bread
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love it if you could come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone.
Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Bread
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons butter melted, 113 g
- 1/2 cup sugar, 96 g
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, 100 g
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup sourdough discard, 186 g
- 1/4 cup milk, or water. Whole milk preferred. 61 g
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, 280 g
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, 3 g
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Melt your butter, then set it aside to cool until warm. Prepare your loaf pan by greasing it with butter or lining it with a piece of parchment paper.
- Add the cooled butter, white and brown sugar, vanilla, eggs, sourdough discard or active starter, and milk to a large mixing bowl and whisk together until smooth.
- In a separate small bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined.
- Gently fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula, then transfer the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 65-75 minutes until golden brown, and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool before slicing.
Notes
- Avoid over-mixing the batter.
- When baked, the top should be golden brown and set. A sharp knife, toothpick, or cake tester inserted in the center should come out clean.
- Cooling in the pan completely will help the bread to slice cleanly.
- Find the long fermentation instructions in the blog post.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How long would you bake this if making it as mini-loafs?
35 minutes.
It turned out perfect! I added raisins, cranberries, and chopped walnuts.
This was a delicious recipe! I did the long fermentation and mixed in the baking soda and powder while it was cold still and the bread baked up fine but has a swirl through it. Could this be because it was cold? Do you have a recommendation for timing to leave out of the fridge before baking? I think I only waited a half hour due to lack of time available. What’s the recommendation? Thanks!
I’m new to sourdough and appreciate the collection of discard recipes. I made a half-batch of this bread and a bunch of substitutions to reduce gluten and sugar, and bump up protein. I subbed 3/4 of the flour with Bob’s Red Mill 1to1 Gluten free flour and the remainder with whey protein isolate. I used sugar free chocolate chips, and allulose instead of sugar. Baked in two Parchment lined mini loaf pans for 35 minutes. Perfect!!!
Love this so much! I very much appreciate a good discard recipe, this will be part of my sweet treat roster. Thank you for sharing your talent.
My crust got super dark. When I noticed it looking dark, I pulled it to check for doneness, but the knife still came out super gooey. I pulled it out on the earlier end of the time frame, and it was done on the inside, but too dark on the outside. I did try to cover it with foil, but the sides and bottom were super dark too. Any tips for next time?
Hi! I am making this today and just wanted to double check that It is safe to long ferment at room temperature with the eggs already added into the batter. I threw the dough together last night and didn’t really think about it, so this morning I’m hoping that it is still OK to bake!
Yes, you can long ferment for up to 24 hours on the counter or three days in the fridge.
Hello!
Do you know if the loaf freezes well?
It does freeze pretty well!
Hi Lisa! If I wanted to make these into muffins instead, how long would I bake for?
Around 25 minutes.
I wanted to mill my flour for this recipe. What type of milled flour should I use for this recipe. I love all your recipes!
Soft white wheat.