Sourdough banana muffins are the gourmet version of my popular banana muffin recipe. Rest the batter before baking for the tallest muffin tops! Recipe includes a how-to video!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Bakery-style results: those tall, sugar-sparkled muffin tops really make these sourdough banana muffins feel straight from a bakery display case. Bake them in parchment paper muffin liners to really sell the look!
- Depth of flavor: between the overripe bananas, rich vanilla extract, and tangy sourdough discard, these might just be the most flavorful banana muffins you’ll ever try! Seriously, the taste is unmatched.
- Ease: no mixer needed, and in fact, please do NOT use one! Quick bread batters (like banana pancakes and banana bread) are sensitive to over-mixing and must be combined gently. Skip the mixer today and instead use your whisk and spatula–easy peasy!
- Make-ahead friendly: this muffin batter benefits from a bit of a rest before baking, so it’s perfect for prepping in advance.
Soft and tender sourdough banana muffins are the latest addition to my growing collection of sourdough recipes. This recipe incorporates sourdough discard into a rich banana muffin batter for a soft and fluffy, tender, and incredibly flavorful experience. They may look modest, but the taste is amazing and truly straight out of a bakery!
A bit of backstory: it took me an obnoxious amount of time to get this recipe right, especially considering how straightforward and simple it is. It took a bit more work than simply modifying my classic and well-loved banana muffin recipe, and I probably went through 100 bananas getting it just right 🤯
What You Need
- Bananas. It is very important that you use super ripe bananas for the proper moisture, sweetness, and flavor/texture. Truly, the riper the better! 3-4 brown, spotty, and soft bananas are what you are looking for here.
- Sourdough discard. If you are taking care of a sourdough starter, you’ll have some of this on hand. If you don’t have sourdough discard, check out the FAQ section below.
- Egg. Only one today, and if you can remember to set yours out ahead of time, that’s even better (so it’s at room temperature when you’re ready to use it)
- Vanilla. A hefty pour of vanilla adds depth of flavor and pairs so well with the bananas (just like in banana pudding!).
- Coarse sugar. Optional, but highly recommended for the prettiest, most bakery-style muffins! We’ll sprinkle this over the muffins before they go in the oven. Turbinado sugar, baker’s sugar (like the kind I use on my banana bread cookies!), or even organic cane sugar will work nicely here (or just use regular granulated).
SAM’S TIP: If you like add-ins, you can stir in up to 1 cup of nuts/fruit/chocolate chips before portioning the batter into liners. I highly recommend toasting any nuts before chopping and adding them to the batter; I have a tutorial on how to toast pecans you can follow for that.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Sourdough Banana Muffins
Make & rest the batter
Whisk together the wet ingredients in a large bowl, then combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined, being careful not to over-mix. Over-mixing the batter will cause dense, dry muffins!
Resting the batter at this point isn’t mandatory, but letting it sit for 30 minutes or so will help the tops rise even better than they would otherwise (and makes the muffins lighter and airier, I use this technique in my chocolate chip muffins, too), so I do recommend it.
Portion into liners
Divide the batter into your muffin liners. I like to use an ice cream scoop for this–it makes it so clean and easy!
Sprinkle your muffins with coarse sugar, if desired. I like the extra crunch and sparkle it adds (not to mention the extra sweetness). You could skip the topping entirely or alternatively top with my homemade streusel or with vanilla glaze.
Bake
Bake for 8 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature and bake for another 7-8 minutes or until lightly golden brown. This two-temp baking method encourages the muffins to rise tall with the initial high temperature and then bake through with the reduced temperature. If you were to bake the muffins at 425F the whole time, they’d rise high but would also be more dry than we want them to be. I use this technique in many of my muffin recipes, including my blueberry muffins.
Let the muffins sit in their tin for a few minutes before removing them to a cooling rack. Removing them will prevent those soggy, greasy muffin liners.
SAM’S TIP: Want to make banana bread with your sourdough discard? Try my sourdough banana bread!
Frequently Asked Questions
If you are ready to jump on the sourdough bandwagon, check out my posts on how to make a sourdough starter and the care and keeping of your sourdough starter; both will help you start your journey. Or, if you just want to make some really tasty banana muffins without any sourdough, make my classic banana muffins.
Yes they do! Wrap them well in plastic wrap before freezing in an airtight container for up to a few months. When you are ready to enjoy, thaw at room temperature or place in the microwave for a few seconds.
Yes! Just make sure to measure with a scale (or stir it down first if measuring with cups).
I have another exciting sourdough recipe coming for you very soon! 🍩 Just brace yourself, it ended up being my longest video I’ve ever filmed 😬
Enjoy!
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Sourdough Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups (312 g) well-mashed ripe bananas usually 3-4 bananas
- ½ cup (110 g) sourdough discard
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter melted
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (67 g) light brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 large egg room temperature preferred
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups (190 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- Coarse sugar for sprinkling tops
Recommended Equipment
- 12 count muffin tin
Instructions
- Note: I like to let the muffin batter rest for 30 minutes before baking it, this helps give us nice tall muffin tops. If you want to skip the rest, preheat your oven to 425F (220C) here.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together mashed bananas, sourdough discard, butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla extract.1 ¼ cups (312 g) well-mashed ripe bananas, ½ cup (110 g) sourdough discard, ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, ⅓ cup (67 g) light brown sugar, 1 large egg, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a separate, medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.1 ½ cups (190 g) all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon table salt
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and use a spatula to gently fold together until just combined. Be careful not to over-mix or muffins could be dense and dry!
- Cover batter with a dry towel and let rest for 30 minutes. While the batter rests, preheat your oven to 425F (220C) and line a 12-count muffin tin with paper liners.
- Once 30 minutes has passed, divide batter evenly into muffin tin. Sprinkle tops with coarse sugar.Coarse sugar
- Bake muffins in preheated oven for 8 minutes, then without opening the oven door reduce oven temperature to 350F (175C) and continue baking for another 7-8 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out dry or with a few moist crumbs.
- Allow muffins to cool in muffin tin for 5-10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.
Notes
Sugar
I like to use organic sugar, turbinado sugar, or coarse baking sugar for the tops as its coarser and gives a nice subtle crunch, but you can just use regular granulated sugar if that’s all you have.Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Kristin
These were amazing!!!! I followed the instructions exactly and they came out perfect. Absolutely delicious.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Kristin! 🙂
Maridele
I have some fairly new sourdough starter and I’ve been saving the discard. It’s not aged too long so I don’t think it has the funk you refer to in the description. This is my first recipe that I’ve tried with the discard and while the muffins are beautiful and have a good texture, I don’t think they’re anything special over other recipes. I was kind of surprised that there wasn’t any spice in them, at least cinnamon.
Cindy
Just made these as I had some sourdough discard to use up. So good! I love your regular banana muffin recipe and now this will be a new favorite!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Cindy! 🙂