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These moist and tender sourdough blueberry muffins are the perfect way to use up 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 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 Sourdough Blueberry 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.
How to Store Sourdough Blueberry Muffins
Let your muffins cool to room temperature, then store your sourdough muffins as follows:
- Counter. Place them in an airtight container and store them on the counter for up to 4 days.
- Fridge. You can extend their shelf life by placing the container with your muffins in the fridge. They will last for up to 7 days.
- Freezer. Wrap each muffin in saran wrap, then place the wrapped muffins in an airtight, freezer-safe container. They will keep for up to 3 months. Thaw on the counter for a few hours or you can remove the saran wrap and warm individual muffins in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds.
More Sourdough Discard Recipes
- Sourdough Maple-Vanilla Challah Bread
- Sourdough Discard Pancakes
Sourdough Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ cup sourdough discard
- ¾ cup yogurt, I prefer whole yogurt
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
- ¾ cup sugar
- Zest of one lemon
- 2 cups fresh blueberries, frozen works too
For the topping (optional)
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup walnuts, finely chopped
- ½ 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.
