Sourdough Blueberry Muffins
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure policy.
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
Equipment
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
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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
This is a hit and a family favorite!!!! I use frozen blueberries (from costco) and make it to 500 g, or half frozen and half fresh 500g blueberries.
I rubbed 1 tablespoon of lemon zest into the sugar before adding the rest of dry ingredients. also added a teaspoon of lemon extract and a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice to the liquid ingredients (still added the vanilla extract, too). I love lemon and blueberries!
YUM! These were a huge hit- even by our gluten-eating friends!
Delicious!! Does it matter if the baking powder is “double-acting” or not? I read somewhere that if it is, the dough should rest some before baking. Mine is, so I was wondering if maybe that’s why they went flat after baking, bc I followed the recipe exactly. Still tasted awesome, but I also want them to be pretty when I share with others 🙂
Hi Pam! Mine in the photo were not rested and I use double acting baking powder. If your discard was a little old it could cause the muffins to not be quite as tall.
I used lowfat greek yogurt in place of sour cream for added protein and less fat. It turned out beautifully 😍 I love this recipe!
Delicious and easy. Thanks for a great recipe. I just thought a little lemon juice might add a nice touch, but delicious as is.
Exceeded expectations. First sourdough discard recipe I’ve ever tried and these didn’t last a full day in my house!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much! 🙂
This looks like a great recipe! Do you think lemon juice or zest would compliment it?
Hi Hana! I think some lemon zest would be delicious. 🙂
I have made these muffins several times now, and the complements are astounding!
Great recipe to use our bountiful blueberries!
Made these with buttermilk instead of sour cream, they came out very nice I do them in jumbo muffin pan so I only had 6 which is perfect. First time using starter discard I only had 40g and they still came out very good.
I made these this morning. I wanted a lemon flavor added. I tested half a large lemon that equaled about 1 tablespoon of zest. I squeezed that half juice and added 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, and added 1 teaspoon of lemon extract. I like it lemony. To balance the batter out I added 3 tablespoons of flour.
These muffins were amazing! Probably would have been perfect without the lemon additions. Great recipe! Thank you!
We’re so happy you were able to adapt the recipe, Ginger! Sounds tasty 😋
I have made these over two dozen times. The past two times I have made them they don’t rise fully and are flat on top not rounded. When I take them out they fall in the center like I poked a hole in them. Any ideas?
I’m so sorry to hear this is happening, Amanda! Is your baking powder/soda still good? Is your sourdough starter performing properly? Are you over-mixing the muffins? Are you opening the oven too early? Could your oven be potentially acting up? I would think one of these things could solve your issue. I hope this helps! 🙂
Note- I did just notice when rereading the directions that I forgot to lower the temperature of my oven. I’m not sure why the temperature couldn’t just be set to 350 from the beginning… I’m sure that was the cause for the rising issues. Oh well.
Hi Lauren! The initial high temperature gives the muffins their rise then the lower temperature allows them to finish baking without burning.
I am also having the issue of the muffins coming out flat with holes in the center. They are cooked through… but not the prettiest. I’m sure they will still taste good though.
Loved the ease and the taste of this recipe! It will be a regular.
Came out beautifully!! We went blueberry picking and this was a perfect way to use some of the loot.
We’re so happy you enjoyed them, Shelly!
My family loves this recipe it. My husband even commented that it was better than bakery muffins. I’ve shared it so many times and everyone love it. The only change I make is the flavoring. Whatever I have on hand will decide if it will be blueberry, lemon poppy seed, chocolate chips ect.
I’m so glad everyone has enjoyed it so much, Jessica! 🙂
These turned out so yummy, thank you! Also, I love that you put the ingredient amounts in the instructions, that made it so much easier! 🙂
Thanks for giving them a try, Danielle! Enjoy 😊
Can you make batter ahead of time and refrigerate, will it turn out different? And any procedures like letting it come to room temp if I do this?
Hi Danielle! I haven’t personally tried it, but I think it could work. 🙂
I wondered the same thing I wanna make the dough and then bake them tomorrow did you actually it
Omg yum!! First time I’ve ever made muffins and these turned out delicious!