Sourdough Muffins Recipe: 3 Baking Tips

Sourdough muffins use sourdough starter for a tangy flavor and natural lift. Some sourdough muffin recipes call for a fed sourdough starter, while others call for sourdough starter discard.

Using a fed sourdough starter provides the muffins with a yeast-like chew and gives them rise, while discard lends a tangy flavor but not much lift since it’s inactive. For a recipe you can easily follow at home, try making Poilâne CEO Apollonia Poilâne’s homemade sourdough starter recipe.

Sourdough bakers often look for ways to use sourdough discard and leftover sourdough starter from making sourdough bread. You can add sourdough starter to muffins of all types—for example, blueberry muffins, chocolate chip muffins, cranberry orange muffins, or coffee cake muffins.

Use these tips with a fed or unfed sourdough starter when making sourdough muffins:

1. 1. Add chemical leavening agents for assistance. Add baking powder and baking soda to your muffin recipe to give the muffins a tender crumb and an airy texture. Sourdough starter contains natural yeast that helps baked goods to rise, but an unfed starter is inactive. This tip is, therefore, extra helpful if you are using an unfed starter but want a lighter muffin.
2. 2. Feed the sourdough starter the night before. As a sourdough starter establishes, it requires feeding every so often. Only use a starter in a recipe after you’ve fed it once or twice to ensure it’s fully activated. A sourdough muffin recipe will specify whether you are to use a starter that is active or discard.
3. 3. Ferment the muffin batter for at least twelve hours. For both active sourdough starter and sourdough starter discard, fermenting the muffin batter develops the tangy sourdough flavor in the muffins and supports the life of the starter. If you’re using baking powder and baking soda, add both to the batter after the fermentation period.

Sourdough muffins use sourdough starter for a tangy flavor and natural lift. Some sourdough muffin recipes call for a fed sourdough starter, while others call for sourdough starter discard.

Using a fed sourdough starter provides the muffins with a yeast-like chew and gives them rise, while discard lends a tangy flavor but not much lift since it’s inactive. For a recipe you can easily follow at home, try making Poilâne CEO Apollonia Poilâne’s homemade sourdough starter recipe.

Sourdough bakers often look for ways to use sourdough discard and leftover sourdough starter from making sourdough bread. You can add sourdough starter to muffins of all types—for example, blueberry muffins, chocolate chip muffins, cranberry orange muffins, or coffee cake muffins.

Use these tips with a fed or unfed sourdough starter when making sourdough muffins:

1. 1. Add chemical leavening agents for assistance. Add baking powder and baking soda to your muffin recipe to give the muffins a tender crumb and an airy texture. Sourdough starter contains natural yeast that helps baked goods to rise, but an unfed starter is inactive. This tip is, therefore, extra helpful if you are using an unfed starter but want a lighter muffin.
2. 2. Feed the sourdough starter the night before. As a sourdough starter establishes, it requires feeding every so often. Only use a starter in a recipe after you’ve fed it once or twice to ensure it’s fully activated. A sourdough muffin recipe will specify whether you are to use a starter that is active or discard.
3. 3. Ferment the muffin batter for at least twelve hours. For both active sourdough starter and sourdough starter discard, fermenting the muffin batter develops the tangy sourdough flavor in the muffins and supports the life of the starter. If you’re using baking powder and baking soda, add both to the batter after the fermentation period.