Sourdough Blueberry Muffins
Sourdough discard works great in classic blueberry muffins. This sourdough blueberry muffin recipe features a streusel topping for an added crunch. These easy muffins are done start to finish in about 40 minutes. They make a great addition to your breakfast or brunch spread. These delicious muffins can also easily be made vegan if desired.
Why You Will Love These Sourdough Discard Blueberry Muffins
These muffins are easy to make and can be made with fresh or frozen blueberries. As a registered dietitian, I love adding blueberries to my recipes (also check out my sourdough blueberry cinnamon rolls and my sourdough blueberry scones). Blueberries are packed with antioxidants and fiber among other health benefits.
This is also a great sourdough discard recipe if you have a lot of sourdough discard to use. It uses an entire cup of sourdough discard! If you need another sourdough discard recipe that uses a lot of discard, check out my sourdough lemon bars.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Flour: I recommend all purpose flour but you could also use bread flour. Bread flour will result in slightly tougher muffins.
- Salt
- Baking Powder
- Lemon Zest: Do not substitute lemon juice for the lemon zest in this recipe. This will result in too much moisture. If you do not have any lemons, simply omit the lemon zest from the recipe.
- Blueberries: You can use fresh or frozen blueberries in this recipe. If using frozen, wait to mix the blueberries into the flour until right before adding the liquid ingredients. This will prevent them from turning the batter blue or green.
- Butter: I recommend unsalted butter. If using salted butter, reduce the salt by 1/4 teaspoon.
- Sugar: You can substitute brown sugar in this recipe if that is all you have. It will make the muffins more moist but they will still be delicious.
- Sourdough Starter: These sourdough muffins are technically a sourdough discard blueberry muffin recipe. You can use active sourdough starter or sourdough discard straight from the fridge in this recipe. Either works great. You will find that sourdough discard that has been sitting in the fridge for awhile will have a tangier flavor. This recipe already has a bit of tartness from the zesty lemon and tart blueberries. You will not notice much of a difference between active sourdough starter and true discard.
- Milk: You can use whatever milk you have on hand in this recipe. I generally prefer 2% milk or whole milk but I have made these with dairy free milk as well. For a dairy free option, I recommend oat milk or Ripple milk for the best results.
- Vanilla Extract: I highly recommend using pure vanilla extract but you can also substitute imitation vanilla if that is all you have.
- Eggs: If you have an egg allergy or need an eggless recipe, you can make these using a vegan egg replacer. I love the Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer but you can also make a vegan egg. To make 1 egg, mix 1 tablespoon ground flax seed or chia seeds with 3 tablespoons water. Let sit for 5 minutes.
For the Crumb Topping
These blueberry muffins use the same crumb topping that I use on my sourdough discard banana nut muffins. It is such a simple addition but makes such a yummy and beautiful topping that will convince your friends these muffins came from a bakery.
- Butter
- Brown Sugar
- Salt
- Lemon zest
- Nutmeg
- Flour
- Cinnamon
- Rolled Oats
How to Make Sourdough Blueberry Muffins
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin liners. Set aside.
Step 2: Make the streusel topping. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Stir in the brown sugar, salt, nutmeg, lemon zest, and vanilla. Stir until fully combined. Stir in the flour and oats. Stir until the mixture comes together into medium-large clumps. Remove from heat and set aside.
Step 3: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, lemon zest and salt. Stir in the blueberries. If using frozen blueberries, wait until just before adding the wet ingredients to stir them in.
Step 4: In a separate medium or large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, vanilla extract, sourdough discard, milk and eggs. You want to add the eggs and milk last so the eggs don’t cook in the melted butter and the butter doesn’t solidify with the addition of cold milk.
Step 5: Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients. Stir until mostly combined. Then, add the blueberries. Stir until just fully combined. The batter will still be somewhat lumpy.
Step 6: Divide the batter among the lined muffin cups. Fill to just the top of the muffin liners. I highly recommend using tulip cupcake liners. These not only look beautiful, but also contain the batter and streusel well. This creates a bakery worthy presentation. If you have extra batter, use an extra muffin tin to bake any remaining muffins. Sprinkle the tops of the muffin batter with streusel topping.
Step 7: Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center.
Sourdough Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest about 1 large lemon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup sourdough discard
- ½ cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups blueberries
For the Streusel Topping
- 2½ tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ cup brown sugar packed
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons rolled oats
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Prepare muffin pan by lining a 12 cup muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners.*Please see notes about recommended cupcake liners for this recipe.
Make the Streusel Topping
- Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan.
- Add the brown sugar, salt, nutmeg, lemon zest, vanilla extract and stir until well combined.
- Stir in the flour and oats until just combined and medium clumps form. Do not over-mix. Set aside while preparing muffin batter.
For the Muffins
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, lemon zest and salt.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, sourdough discard, milk, eggs, and vanilla.
- Pour the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and stir until mostly combined. Add the blueberries and stir until fully combined. There will still be some clumps in the batter, but no dry streaks of flour should be present.
- Divide the batter among 12 muffin cups lined with cupcake liners.
- Spoon the streusel topping over the muffins.
- Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean with no raw batter when done.
