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These moist and tender blueberry muffins are the perfect way to use up sourdough discard. The sourdough starter gives these muffins a slight tanginess that is quite addictive!
There are many benefits of having an active sourdough starter in the fridge.
The first, most obviously, is the ability to make sourdough bread at home. If you haven’t tried it, you must. I know sourdough bread has been all the “rage” this past year, but I’ve been making it for years and let me tell you, there’s nothing like slicing open a crusty loaf of bread you made with your own hands. I love slathering a freshly baked slice with butter, then biting through the crunchy crust and into the fluffy interior. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
The second benefit of having a sourdough starter around? All the wonderful things you can make with the sourdough discard!
I feed my starter twice a week – on Wednesdays and Sundays – which means twice a week I have some discard that needs to be used up. These sourdough discard waffles are a family favorite. And the blueberry muffins you see here are another one of our top sourdough discard recipes.
Why We Love These Muffins
I won’t go into too much detail on how to make these muffins as the process is pretty simple. You mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, mix the wet ingredients in another bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix. Add blueberries. Bake. That’s pretty much all muffins in a nutshell.
There are, however, a few things that make these sourdough muffins particularly worth trying:
- This is an EASY sourdough discard recipe. Working with sourdough starter/discard can be a little intimidating, so best to start with simple recipes like these muffins or the waffles I mentioned above. There really is nothing special you have to do. You just treat the discard like any wet ingredient.
- I love how moist, tender and fluffy these muffins are! They get a nice dome on top that makes you feel like you’re visiting a coffeeshop. If you want to feel extra fancy, you can sprinkle some pearl sugar on top of the muffin batter just before baking. They add a pretty sparkle since pearl sugar does not melt when you bake the muffins.
- The sourdough discard gives these muffins a little tang that adds a whole new depth of flavor. It’s hard to describe, but these muffins have a more complex flavor than a regular blueberry muffin.
A Note About the Batter & Filling Your Tins
Muffin batter is usually thicker than cupcake batter – and this makes sense if you think about what each recipe is. A cupcake, as the name implies, is essentially a mini cake. By contrast, a muffin is a kind of quick bread. I added a photo of what the batter for these muffins should look like. 🙂
Another thing to note about muffins vs. cupcakes is how much batter you add to your muffin tin. For cupcakes, I will only fill each tin about 3/4 full so that the cupcake has room to rise significantly without losing its shape. But muffins like the ones you see here have a thicker batter that holds its shape better so for these I usually fill my muffin tin all the way to the top.
I hope you give these muffins a try and discover a new way to use up extra sourdough discard!
Want to Add a Topping?
A few folks have emailed me wondering if they can add a topping to these muffins. The answer is: yes! I like to use a mixture of crunchy walnuts, brown sugar and ground cinnamon. All you have to do is mix up the topping ingredients in a bowl and then sprinkle over the muffin batter just before baking. You can also use finely chopped pecans or almonds if you like those nuts better.
PrintSourdough Discard Blueberry Muffins
These moist and tender blueberry muffins are the perfect way to use up sourdough discard. The sourdough starter gives these muffins a slight tanginess that is quite addictive!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 cup sourdough discard
- 3/4 cup yogurt (I prefer whole yogurt)
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
- 3/4 cup sugar
- Zest of one lemon
- 2 cups fresh blueberries (frozen works too)
For the topping (optional)
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
Prep your tools. Preheat your oven to 400F and line your muffin tins with paper baking cups.
In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients. This includes the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Mix well and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the wet ingredients. This includes the sourdough discard, yogurt, vanilla, egg, butter, sugar and lemon zest. Mix well and set aside.
Remove 1 tablespoon of the dry ingredients and set side. We are going to mix this with the blueberries later to prevent them from sinking in the batter.
Slowly add the rest of dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until there are no traces of dry ingredients visible.
Prep the blueberries. In a medium bowl, combine the blueberries and the 1 tablespoon of dry ingredients that you set aside earlier. This will help prevent the berries from sinking in the muffins.
Add berries to batter and add to the muffin tin. Add the blueberries to the batter and mix until just combined. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each one 3/4 full.
Want to add a topping? In a medium bowl mix up the crumb topping ingredients and sprinkle on the muffin batter just before baking.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. The muffins are done when golden and when the tops spring back when gently pressed with your finger.
Notes
- You can store these muffins on the counter for 3-4 days. Let them come to room temperature, then store in a ziploc bag or tupperware.
- You can freeze these muffins for up to 3 months. Let them come to room temperature, then wrap each muffin in saran wrap or plastic wrap. Place the wrapped muffins into a freezer safe container and place in the freezer.
Last Step:
Please share a rating and comment if you enjoyed this recipe! Your feedback helps this little blog thrive and continue providing free, high-quality recipes for you.Keywords: sourdough discard recipes, sourdough muffins
Can you use all sourdough discard in lieu of the yogurt or sour cream?
I would not recommend it. Both yogurt and sour cream help make the muffins tender & moist. I think if you replaced them with just discard the muffins would be a bit too dry.
Great recipe. I used a combination of blueberries & strawberries. Yummy!
★★★★★
Sounds delightful! So glad you enjoyed the recipe. 🙂
This was a moist and delicious muffin. I did substitute sour cream for the yogurt and huckleberries for the blueberries.
★★★★★
Thank you for trying this recipe and coming back to let me know how it turned out! Yes, sour cream is an excellent sub for the yogurt. You are so lucky to have huckleberries! I bet that was a tasty swap. 🙂
Oh my gosh! Sooo delicious! Easy to make. I’m always looking for new recipes to use up my discard and this is my favorite recipe yet! Thank you!
★★★★★
Thank you for sharing such a lovely comment! Made my morning!
These muffins were so easy to make. The only trouble was they disappeared very quickly. 😉
★★★★★
Ah, they tend to do that! Thank you so much for trying the recipe & coming back to let me know you enjoyed it. 🙂
These are a big hit! Simple and delicious. My son will eat half dozen if I don’t watch him!
★★★★★
Wonderful! So happy you and your son enjoyed this recipe. 🙂
What kind of yogurt did you use? I used Astro Balkan style and the batter was so thick that the blueberries streaked when I tried to mix them in?
I usually use Stonyfield yogurt. The batter is very thick, it is not going to be a loose batter like you would find in cupcakes.
These muffins are pure heaven! Absolutely THE BEST I’ve ever made! Bonus, because they’re sourdough and I used diabetic friendly sweeteners, these are a perfect grab and go breakfast for my husband who has diabetes. Awesome!
★★★★★
Wow thank you! So happy you liked them. 🙂
Can I use frozen strawberries instead of blueberries.
You can probably use them if they are sliced. Whole frozen strawberries will be too big and will prevent the batter from cooking through.
I never ever take time to rate recipes, but I honestly think these may be the best muffins I’ve ever baked, and I’ve been baking for about 45 years. :). I searched for sourdough discard muffin recipients and chose this one. I changed nothing. It made 12 large wonderfully moist muffins. In my electric oven at 400 degrees they took only 18 minutes. I made them this morning for a kind neighbor who was helping my husband with a car repair and kept just 2 here. After eating one warm with butter I selfishly wished I had kept more, so I’ll be baking them again tomorrow! That gentleman stopped me a few minutes ago to tell me they were fabulous and his family had them almost gone already, so two 5 stars in one review. 🙂
★★★★★
Thank you for sharing such an amazing comment! I’m smiling ear to ear – you made my day. So happy you and your neighbor enjoyed this recipe.
Love this recipe so much. We’ve made a couple of batches this week using blueberries and then raspberries and they turned out delicious! Planning to use this as my go to muffin base going forward. Thanks!
★★★★★
Amazing! So happy you are enjoying this sourdough recipe. Thank you for coming back to tell me. 🙂
This is the best sourdough discard muffin recipe. Very pleased with this batter and bake. While I didn’t want or intend to substitute ingredients , I actually was out of blueberries but had fresh raspberries and frozen mango slices in my fridge. I also only had vanilla Ellenos Greek yogurt (in lieu of regular plain yogurt) in my fridge. Given all the extra sugars from the fruit, I halved the sugar content and the recipe still turned out excellently.
★★★★★
Your muffins sound delicious! Love the combo of raspberries and mango. <3
I made this today. It’s a hit! I didn’t have any yogurt so I used sour cream instead. I also didn’t have any blueberries so I used chocolate chips instead. Good heavens! They were delicious. Thank you for sharing your recipe – it gave me a great place to start!
★★★★★
Sour cream is an excellent substitute for yogurt, good call! And using chocolate chips sounds delicious. I may have to try that myself. The tangy sourdough with the sweet chocolate would be tasty!
Absolutely delicious and so easy to make. I’m definitely saving this recipe.
Can you use different berries?
★★★★★
Awesome! So glad you liked it. 🙂 Yes, you can use different berries – I’ve used raspberries, black raspberries and blackberries (chopped in half if they are large).
Made these twice over the last two weeks and everyone who tries them is obsessed! Such a great recipe
★★★★★
Amazing! Thank you so much for sharing. I’m happy to hear you like the recipe!
I made a double recipe that yielded 35 muffins (I used 1/2 rehydrated blueberries and a carton of fresh). I could have piled a little more batter into each cup, but loved how these turned out. They were tall and flavorful like you’d buy in a coffee shop. I’ll definitely be making these again.
★★★★★
Thank you for sharing how these muffins came out! So happy you enjoyed the recipe. <3
These were fantastic! I had to use some discard so I found your recipe. I used 0% greek yogurt and extra vanilla. So yummy! My kids loved them!!
★★★★★
What a wonderful comment to see first thing in the morning. So glad you and your family enjoyed these muffins!
Excellent muffins! Made a batch of these today and they came out great.
★★★★★
Wonderful! Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed this recipe. <3
I made these this morning and unfortunately they didn’t quite turn out like pictured. My dough was VERY thick- I used fed starter instead of old starter… could that have made a difference?
The batter for these muffins should be quite thick, I added a photo to the post so you can see what it should look like. 🙂 We are not going for a cake or cupcake batter consistency here, but rather a thicker muffin batter that will hold its form when the tins are filled all the way to the top. It’s hard to say whether there were any issues with your starter without seeing it, but it sounds like maybe you were expecting a looser batter similar to a cupcake?
I want to make these but have a few questions first.
#1: I want to make them mini sized for a young children’s Sunday school class so how long would I bake them? The pan I have is a dark non-stick pan if that matters.
#2: You mentioned how to freeze them but not how to handle them after they’re frozen. Making them mini sized would make way too many to take to this small class all at once so how would I go about thawing and serving them?
#3: If I use vanilla yogurt (that’s all I keep on hand) would I just omit the vanilla extract and it work the same? Or should I use sour cream instead?
Thanks in advance!
I haven’t made these as mini muffins, but you certainly could. I would start with a baking time of 18 minutes, then check the muffins by gently pressing your finger on the top of one of the muffins. It will be hot so do it quickly! If your finger leaves an impression in the muffin, then it needs to bake longer. If the muffin springs back, then it is done.
To defrost the muffins, you can just place them on the counter for a few hours.
And yes, if you use vanilla yogurt then you can omit the vanilla extract. You could also use sour cream in place of the yogurt. I would probably go the vanilla yogurt route myself. 🙂
Thank You. I was looking for a way to use up some discard dough and leftover currants. Good thing I used a greased jumbo muffin pan to fit this batter quantity, as these got big.
I used fresh/frozen black currants (left over from jam canning project) and 3/4 cup chopped pecans, with the topping. Baked 25 min. Removed from pan to cool. Texture is soft on inside and slightly crunchy top with carmelized side and bottom. Awesome!
The tart berry flavor of currants, along with yugart and sourdough discard is a perfect combo. What a surprise.
I will store in freezer so I don’t eat them all in one day. 😍. When defrosted on low (30%) power for about 45 -60 sec. they’re like fresh baked. A little warm with butter and it’s a winner again and again.
I wonder how rhubarb would work? I’ll try it and let you know.
★★★★★
Thank you for sharing such a thoughtful and detailed comment! So happy you liked these muffins. 🙂
I just made this recipe and it turned out really wonderful! It took less time to bake, as I made the muffins smaller. Also, I had no blueberries so I used fuji apples (as I have a large bag of those) which I peeled and cut into small pieces and added a pinch of cinnamon and ginger powder for flavor to work with the apples. Then tossed in about a third of a cup of chopped pecans. I was worried that I had changed things too much, but these muffins turned out quite well. Thank you for your clear construction of this recipe!
★★★★★
Those sound like some seriously good muffins you made! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe & thank you for coming back to tell me how the muffins came out. 🙂