These sourdough blueberry muffins have an incredible texture and flavor thanks to sourdough discard! My recipe takes just 30 minutes from start to finish and makes a dozen beautiful muffins.
Sourdough Discard Blueberry Muffins
Before I talk about these sourdough blueberry muffins, I think I should admit that I might have a bit of a blueberry muffin obsession. If you’ve been following along, you know that I recently shared a recipe for blueberry muffin cookies that is simply incredible (if I do say so myself). I also have classic blueberry muffins, plus blueberry cream cheese muffins. How many blueberry muffins recipes is too many?
Correct answer: the limit does not exist.
Now back to today’s recipe, which I absolutely love. Not only are these muffins full of blueberries, but they have a truly amazing texture; they are so, so, SO soft and tender. The sourdough discard is a key player in creating this lovely texture, and of course, it also adds a beautiful depth of flavor too.
What to love about this recipe:
- Comes together fast.
- No mixer needed (seriously, please don’t use one!).
- Beautiful tall muffin tops, thanks to my special muffin trick (also used in my banana muffins).
- Amazing flavor and texture from sourdough discard.
What You Need
Most of these ingredients are pretty standard, except for the sourdough discard–obviously! Here are the most important ones:
- Sourdough discard. You should have some of this lying around if you’re feeding an active sourdough starter! If you don’t, check out the FAQ section below.
- Melted butter. Not only does melted butter make this recipe super easy to mix together by hand, but it also yields a buttery flavor too.
- Blueberries. Fresh or frozen blueberries will work here, but just know that frozen berries will dye your batter purple. If I’m using frozen berries, I prefer to thaw and drain them before adding them to the batter.
- Sour cream. Similar to buttermilk, sour cream adds moisture, tenderness, and flavor.
- Room temperature egg. It’s important that your egg is at room temperature so it incorporates easily; otherwise, you might end up over-mixing your batter. If you forget to set yours out ahead of time, read my post on how to quickly bring eggs to room temperature.
SAM’S TIP: For a pretty, bakery style look I recommend sprinkling some extra granulated sugar on top of your sourdough blueberry muffins just before baking. Or, if you’d really like to take your muffins to the next level, skip the sugar and add some streusel!
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 Blueberry Muffins
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
- Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until the batter is 50% combined.
- Add the blueberries and keep folding until just combined. Do not over-mix!
- Portion the batter into a lined 12-count muffin tin. I like to use an ice cream scoop for this!
- Sprinkle granulated sugar over the tops (if using) and bake for 8 minutes at 425F.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 350F (don’t open the door!) and bake for an additional 12 minutes or until cooked through.
- Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.
SAM’S TIP: Using two oven temperatures ensures our muffins will have a beautiful rise. We’ll start off high, then reduce the temperature (without opening the door!) to finish baking. You’ll see this technique used in most of my muffin recipes, including my bakery style chocolate chip muffins.
Frequently Asked Questions
These sourdough blueberry muffins were carefully designed to be moist and tender, so they should not be dry at all. If yours are, it’s possible that you over-measured your flour (it’s easy to do!), over-mixed your batter, or simply baked them too long.
Over-mixing will doom any quick bread, muffin, or pancake; it makes them dense and dry. To avoid this, make sure you stir everything together by hand (do not use a mixer!) and stop once everything is just combined.
Sourdough discard is actually a byproduct of feeding/maintaining a sourdough starter. Before you feed your starter, you always discard half of what is in the jar. Instead of wasting that discard (it still has lots of nutritional benefits), I like to use it in other recipes, like these muffins or my sourdough crackers or sourdough pancakes.
If you are interested in baking with sourdough, check out my post on how to make a sourdough starter!
Yes! Just make sure to wrap them really well in plastic wrap beforehand and store in an airtight container. They’ll keep this way for a few months.
To thaw, you can let your muffins sit at room temperature, or you can microwave them for a few seconds.
The muffin liners I’m using here today are my parchment paper muffin liners! They are so easy to make and instantly elevate the look of your muffins.
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Sourdough blueberry muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (187 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter melted
- ½ cup (105 g) sourdough discard
- ¾ cup (180 g) sour cream or plain full-fat Greek yogurt
- 1 large egg room temperature preferred
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups (210 g) fresh blueberries
- Granulated sugar for topping optional
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F (220C) and line a 12-count muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.1 ½ cups (187 g) all-purpose flour, 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon table salt
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together melted butter, sourdough discard, sour cream, egg, and vanilla extract until ingredients are evenly mixed.½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, ½ cup (105 g) sourdough discard, ¾ cup (180 g) sour cream, 1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add wet ingredients to dry and use a spatula to gently fold together. Once batter is about 50% combined, add blueberries and continue to mix, gently, until blueberries are well-distributed and batter is just combined. Do not over-mix or muffins will be dense and dry.1 ½ cups (210 g) fresh blueberries
- Evenly divide batter into prepared muffin tin. If desired, sprinkle with granulated sugar.Granulated sugar for topping
- Transfer to center rack of 425F (220C) oven and bake for 8 minutes, then, without opening the oven door, decrease oven temperature to 350F (175C) and bake for 12 minutes longer/until muffins are baked through. The tops will be beginning to turn a light golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean or with moist crumbs.
- Allow muffins to cool for 10 minutes in the muffin tin before carefully removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
Blueberries
Frozen blueberries will work but may streak your batter blue/purple. I typically thaw and drain the berries before using.Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Muffins may also be tightly wrapped (after cooling) and frozen 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.
Kristy
This was my first sourdough recipe to try and my family and friends loved them.
April R Metzger
So easy to make. These muffins are to die for. I made a double batch to freeze some for later date.
Bobbi
Excellent muffins, I made some changes based on what we had and what we eat in our family but I appreciated the recipe as an outline.
120g all purpose einkorn flour
67g whole wheat flour
No refined sugar, subbed 1/4C (90g) honey with the wet ingredients, plenty sweet
Used about 90g melted, salted butter in the recipe, the rest to grease the pan
Full fat Greek yogurt
Subbed strawberries for blueberries
Added Meyer lemon zest and about a TBS of juice
Made mini muffins baked 8min at 425, reduced to 350, rotated pan, 4 more minutes and they were perfect
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks for sharing your modifications, Bobbi, we’re glad you enjoyed them 🙂.
Dani
Could we add lemon juice to this recipe?
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Dani! We haven’t tried it, but others have commented they have added lemon juice with success!
Daydrian
These muffins were a HIT! My family and I gobbled them up. I will be using this recipe a lot going forward. 🤎
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so glad you and your family loved them, Daydrian! Thanks for the review!
L
Way too sweet- more like a cupcake than a muffin! They were delicious (and easy!) otherwise, though! I will reduce the sugar by at least 1/3 next time I bake these.
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re glad you still enjoyed them! Just note that by decreasing the sugar the muffins will be less moist!
Nicki
I always find American recipes too sweet so I decreased the sugar by half. I also didn’t have an egg so I replaced with 1 flax egg. I can report that they were delicious and although I was concerned it might effect the texture, the muffins were light and moist. Very much a hit and I will be making them again – thank you Sam!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Nicki! Thank you for the feedback using your substitutions. 🙂
Jordyn hass
Is there a way to add protein powder, if so how much would I add?
Can I also use this same recipe and swap the blueberries for chocolate chips?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Jordyn! Unfortunately we aren’t sure how the protein powder would work here, but you should be fine to swap in the chocolate chips. We also have a recipe for sourdough chocolate chip muffins, if you’d rather just follow that one!
Sarah
The best sourdough muffins! We use it for all our muffin recipes and interchange the cup of blueberry with other fillings! Always delicious!
Lee
I followed this recipe exactly except for the fact that I did a long ferment with the batter in the fridge overnight. They came out perfect! I let the batter sit out for about an hour or so to come back slightly to room temperature, and them baked them according to the recipe. Definitely an amazing recipe for discard!
Jenny
Hi Lee! I want to do a long ferment as well! Did you mix ALL the ingredients and then long ferment or just her discard portion?
Thanks!!
Jenny
I did the long ferment with all ingredients and let them come to room temp the next day and they came out amazing! I also used sprouted spelt flour and loved them!
Debby
Delicious! I topped them with a lemon glaze and a candied lemon slice. Just wonderful!
Donna
Very flavorful and delicious. Used Greek yogurt.
Tiffany
I just started using sourdough but am too scared for bread just yet, haha. These muffins were perfect though and my kids and I love them! I’m about to make my second batch for the week.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed the muffins, Tiffany! Also, when you are ready to try sourdough bread, definitely check out my sourdough bread recipe, it’s very beginner friendly! 🙂
Gretchen Machacek
I have been looking for a creative way to use my discard and this recipe is perfect!!
The texture of the muffins are amazing- I am definitely going to be using this recipe often!!
Amy
Super easy to make and delicious. I’ve made these quite a few times and they are consistently great. So moist.
I love the crunch top when you put a little sugar before baking. Reheats quickly in the air fryer. Freezes well too. I’ve use Greek yogurt and sour cream and notice no difference, so use whatever is on hand.