Sourdough Muffins

These fluffy sourdough muffins are healthy, easy and delicious. They are a great base for blueberries, chocolate, banana or any of your favorite flavors! You can use a fed starter or it is a great use for discard.

I would like to introduce you to my starter Ryen III. Yes ,he has a first name. Yes, he is a he. No, I do not know why. He got the name Ryen because I created him with rye flour…. get it? Yes I know I’m lame but it makes me giggle. Here at the homestead we like to say he is of a royal and distinguished lineage. He is the third because well… my husband inadvertently murdered him one day while I was at work. Thankfully I had given a good friend of mine a sample of him (Ryen II) shortly before. So she happily returned some of her happy healthy starter back to me and hence the distinguished gentleman Ryen the Third entered our lives.

Maintaining a sourdough starter is far easier than many think. I am currently working on another blog post all about how to maintain one. When it is complete I will add it here. One factor of a healthy starter is you need to give it “exercise.” That is, if it the natural yeast inside your starter is not fed and revived regularly it becomes sluggish and dormant. This will result in flat under proofed dough with less of that sought after sourdough flavor.

No you do not need to feed and discard from your starter everyday. Yes I know many in the sourdough community will come for me for saying that. However, there are many ways to go about making your sourdough journey your own and how to make it fit into your schedule. If you are a professional baker with a bakery and need a consistent product across the board than absolute consistency with your starter is key. However, most of us are baking for ourselves and our family and just want a tasty and healthy end product to feed our loved ones.

So that being said, if your starter naps in the fridge for weeks at a time like Sir Ryen III does then he needs to wake up a bit before we can bake again. What that means is feeding for 2-3 days before it’s time to make our bread dough. This eliminates the need to find discard recipes multiple times a week. Depending on how sleepy he was though by the time he is active and bubbly again I may have more starter than needed to make my bread. I do not like to waste. So these sourdough muffins are one my favorite ways to use my discard for without resulting in any waste!

What are some of your favorite uses for sourdough discard? Leave a comment below with some of your favorite ideas!

Long Ferment or Quick Bake Sourdough Muffins?

There are two ways you can go about making these sourdough muffins. The recipe card below includes both. You can do an overnight ferment or you can just mix all the ingredients together the same day like any traditional muffin recipe. Doing an overnight ferment will allow the grains to ferment increasing their digestibility and overall health benefits.

Filling Choices

Simply fold in any of the following toppings to the finished dough! The options for these sourdough muffins are limitless. Add whatever you and your family likes!

• Mixed berry. My absolute favorite filling is frozen mixed berry. Top with turbinado sugar.
• Chocolate Coconut. For a delicious melty treat chop up 4oz of your favorite bakers chocolate bar. You can use chocolate chips but they will not be as deliciously melty as the bar. Top with or fold in coconut shavings.
• Lemon poppyseed. Add about 1/4 cup of lemon juice and poppyseeds for a fresh summertime treat.
• Banana nut. Gently fold in 1 cup of sliced bananas. Either top or fold in chopped walnuts
• Frozen fruit of your choosing. This works great with frozen blueberries, raspberries, strawberries etc. Top with turbinado sugar or shaved chocolate for a special treat. There is no limit!

Useful Tools for the Recipe:
Reusable Silicon Muffin Liners
Bakery Muffin Liners
Danish Dough Whisk
My Favorite Organic Walnuts

Yield: 12 Large Muffins

Sourdough Mixed Berry Muffins

Print

Delicious and healthy sourdough muffins. You can subsitutue the mixed berries with your favorite muffin fillings! Use fed active starter or discard.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Additional Time 8 hours

Total Time 8 hours 38 minutes

Ingredients

Overnight Ferment

• 1 cup (205g) sourdough starter (fed or discard)
• 1 cup (125g) all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (200g) maple syrup sugar (can use honey or sugar)

Day of Baking Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup (75g) all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 stick (8 tbsps) of melted unsalted butter
• 1-2 cups of mixed berry or filling of choice

Topping Options Depending on Filling Choice

• Coarse sugar like turbinado sugar
• Shaved dark chocolate
• Coconut

Instructions

1. The night before combine ingredients for overnight ferment. Cover with clean tea towel or plastic wrap and leave overnight night or for at least 8-12 hours
2. Day of baking preheat oven to 425°F
3. Mix in the remainder of the dry ingredients together in one bowl
4. Mix wet ingredients in a smaller ball and add to dry. Combine this with the overnight ferment
5. Fold in filling of choice. If using frozen incredients do not defrost.
6. Add to lined or greased mufin tin. Sprinkle tops with turbinado sugar or topping of choice
7. Bake at 425°F for 6 minutes
8. Reduce temperature to 350°F for another 20-30 minutes or until the top is lightly golden and/or a toothpick comes out clean. This time will vary depending on your oven

Will make 12 large muffins bakery style muffins or 16 small muffins.

Notes

If you do not wish to do an overnight fermend you can combine all dry ingredients above and then add to wet ingredients. Bake as directed.

If you do not have cornmeal you can use all all purpose flour. The cornmeal will add great texture though.

Don’t have a sourdough starter? Learn how to easily make one without any discard in only four days here!