Any Flavor Sourdough Discard Muffins (with overnight option)

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These Sourdough Discard Muffins are moist, tender, and endlessly customizable. The easy blank slate batter takes minutes to whip up and can be baked right away or refrigerated to bake the next day. Shown here with cinnamon sugar, but you can choose your own adventure based on what your favorite muffin flavor is!

pile of regular and miniature muffins on dark wire rack

Recipe Background and Details

These tender sourdough discard muffins are a welcome addition to my muffin collection. I've been making muffins for decades and as I've written before, I think muffins are the friendliest of baked goods. They are so easy to make and they just make people so darn happy!

If you love sourdough discard recipes as much as I do, be sure to check out these other popular recipes: Sourdough Discard Cinnamon Rolls, Sourdough Discard Soft Pretzels, and Sourdough Discard English Muffins.

I have been wanting to add a sourdough muffin to the blog for awhile now, and these are so fun because I designed them to be a blank canvas. I added cinnamon sugar to this batch that I photographed, but you could leave that out and have a delicious, basic muffin or add in whatever you love (chocolate chips, blueberries, etc...) These remind me a lot of my Cinnamon Sugar Cream Cheese Muffins and would be amazing with that same treatment.

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Recipe Background and Details
Ingredients
Instructions
Substitutions and Variations
Make Ahead and Storage
My Top Muffin Tips
FAQ
Related - sourdough recipes
Sourdough Discard Muffins Recipe

Ingredients

You'll need just a few pantry staples and some sourdough starter to make these easy muffins. Plus, whatever mix-in's your heart desires - I give lots of ideas below.

flour: all purpose makes the best muffin in my opinion.
sugar: regular or an alternative (natural, please) sweetener you prefer. If using a liquid sweetener such as honey or maple syrup you may need to add a bit more flour or use less milk.
baking powder and soda: to give these muffins a good rise and some tenderness.
cinnamon: optional but really delicious especially if you are leaving them plain or doing the cinnamon sugar option.
salt: always
milk: I use whole milk.
sourdough starter: unfed or discard is what I use but if you wanted to use active you could get some more lift from it and also some fermentation if you do the overnight cold ferment.
egg: for tenderness, moisture, and lift.
oil: any neutrally flavored liquid oil or melted butter. I adore a buttery muffin, but lately I have been loving the texture oil gives. I prefer melted coconut oil or avocado oil if I'm not using butter.
vanilla extract: I can't make a muffin without it!

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Just a quick mix and bake and you'll be enjoying fresh sourdough muffins! Like all of my muffin recipes, these could not be easier.

wet ingredients in glass measuring cup next to dry ingredients in glass bowl with whisk to the side

wet ingredients added to dry ingredients in bowl with whisk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners or spray with nonstick spray.
Mix wet ingredients in a small bowl or measuring cup and set aside. (*if using a different extract or zest add it here.)
Whisk all dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir until incorporated but do not over-mix.
Gently fold in any mix-ins at this point. It helps to toss berries or chocolate chips with a tablespoon of flour before folding in to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin batter while baking. (*At this point, if desired, you can cover the batter and scoop and bake muffins the next day.)
Divide batter evenly between 12 muffin cups. Fill them right to the top. If you have added a large amount of mix-ins you might have more than 12 muffins.
Bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes.
Allow to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

Substitutions and Variations

flour: feel free to use a different flour - einkorn makes a wonderful, tender muffin. If using whole wheat I recommend doing a blend of all purpose and whole wheat or you will have a very dense muffin. You may need to adjust the moisture level depending on what flour you use.

gluten-free: Use a high-quality, cup-for-cup gluten-free flour blend such as King Arthur or Bob's Red Mill (and of course make sure your starter is gluten-free if you are baking for someone with an allergy).

flavorings: instead of or in addition to the vanilla, add an extract or flavoring oil that you love.

mix-in's: add in about 2 cups of berries, chopped fruit, dried fruit, chocolate chips, nuts or add a blob of jam, nut butter, or cream cheese to the center of each muffin before baking.

cinnamon swirl: fill muffin cup half way with batter and add about a teaspoon of cinnamon sugar before filling the rest of the way with batter. Top with more cinnamon sugar and bake.

muffin flavor inspo: lemon zest with poppy seeds, cranberry with orange zest, blueberry with lemon zest, cinnamon sugar, chocolate chip, raspberry white chocolate, apple cinnamon, pear hazelnut, maple pecan (use maple sugar in place of white sugar or use a dash of maple extract, mixed berry, etc. *I am working on a separate sourdough banana muffin, sourdough chocolate muffin, and sourdough pumpkin muffin because those flavors are not just a simple addition as they change the chemistry and moisture of the batter significantly. Keep your eyes peeled for those recipes coming soon!

a pile of muffins with one muffin torn in half revealing the cinnamon swirl inside

Make Ahead and Storage

Make this batter the night before and store covered in the refrigerator. Scoop and bake the next morning. *If you are using active starter, you will get some fermentation benefits from this cold ferment.

Store baked and cooled muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

My Top Muffin Tips

Do not over-mix your batter. Lumps are good. Even itty bitty bits of flour still showing are fine. Muffin batter should be lumpy and ugly. Your self-restraint will be rewarded when you bite into a tender, fluffy muffin. If you over-mix you will have a tough, dense, heavy muffin.
Allow muffin batter to sit for 20-30 minutes before baking to get nice, domed tops. OR even overnight - see make ahead instructions above as well as in the recipe card.
And finally, don't over-bake your muffins. I err on the side of underdone as they will have a little bit of carry-over cooking. Around the 15 minute mark, press the tops just lightly with your finger. If they spring back, they are done. If they leave an indentation, give them another minute or so. You can also check with a toothpick; just insert and if you see a few moist crumbs they are done. If you see wet batter, give them a little more time.
This goes for any baked good: If adding citrus zest, rub it into the sugar with your fingertips to release the natural oils and create a more pronounced citrus flavor.

tray full of cinnamon sugar sourdough muffins some mini and some regular sized with a small dish of cinnamon sugar

FAQ

Do I need to feed my sourdough discard before baking?

No, you do not need to feed your sourdough discard before baking if you are using a recipe that is written specifically for sourdough discard such as these muffins.

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