Blueberry season is one of my favorite times of year, and this easy Sourdough Discard Blueberry Muffins recipe puts freshly picked blueberries and leftover sourdough starter to delicious use! The sourdough discard in the batter creates a slight tang that pairs perfectly with the sweet, juicy pop of the blueberries.
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"I have so much discard in my fridge and my husband likes to buy a blueberry muffin every morning so decided to make these for him. We both love them and I will make again!"
-Sarah ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Why We Love These Sourdough Blueberry Muffins
- They aren't overly sweet like many homemade muffin recipes can be.
- It's one of the best ways to use your sourdough discard instead of tossing it in the trash. Other great ways to use it up is with these sourdough chocolate chip cookies and sourdough discard banana bread!
- It works well with both fresh or frozen blueberries, so you can make it all year long!
- The coarse demerara sugar on top creates the perfect sweet crunch on top of these fluffy, jumbo blueberry muffins.
- Bakery-style sourdough blueberry muffins make for an easy homemade breakfast all week long! Make my sourdough discard pancakes to go along with them!
- They take less than an hour to make and freeze super well!
Ingredients
- Baking powder helps give these muffins the perfect bakery muffin top.
- Sourdough discard is the leftover sourdough starter that doesn't get fed. Instead of letting it go to waste, it can be used to make these delicious blueberry muffins! This muffin recipe uses ½ cup of sourdough discard. If you don't have your own starter at home, stop by a local bakery and see if they'll share some with you.
- Sour cream is used to add extra moisture and tanginess.
- Fresh blueberries work best in these muffins, but frozen blueberries can be used as well. If you go this route, do not thaw them ahead of time.
- Demerara sugar is an optional topping to give them an extra sweet crunch!
See recipe card below for all ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions & Variations
- For a blueberry almond twist on these sourdough starter muffins, add ¼ teaspoon almond extract to the wet ingredients, and sprinkle the top of the muffins with sliced, toasted almonds.
- Next time, try lemon blueberry muffins by adding a teaspoon of lemon zest to the we ingredients.
- You can substitute other berry varieties in place of the blueberries, or use a combination of multiple berries.
- Use chocolate chips in place of the blueberries for sweet bakery-style chocolate chip muffins!
- These sourdough discard muffins can be made into regular or mini muffins as well! Follow the instructions in the recipe card notes below.
This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you replace or add any ingredients, please let us know how it turned out in the comments below!
How to Make Sourdough Blueberry Muffins
Step 1: In a large mixing bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Then add blueberries to the dry ingredients and toss to coat.
Step 2: In a separate medium bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, vanilla, sour cream, milk, and sourdough starter discard.
Step 3: Fold the wet mixture into the dry mixture until just combined.
Step 4: Using a large cookie scoop or spoon, fill 6 jumbo muffin liners about ¾ of the way up with muffin batter. Sprinkle demerara sugar on top of each muffin (optional).
Bake at 425°F for 6 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and continue baking about 15-20 minutes more until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Leave in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Expert Tips
- Place your oven rack in the center of the oven for the most even baking. Make sure it's fully preheated to 425°F before placing the muffins inside. I recommend using an oven thermometer so you know it's accurate!
- When tossing the blueberries in the flour mixture, do so very gently so you don't smash the blueberries which will bleed into the batter.
- Use a kitchen scale to weigh the flour in grams. This will help ensure that the muffins have a light and fluffy texture, since flour is easily over-measured in measuring cups which often yields dry, dense muffins.
Recipe FAQs
To keep a sourdough starter alive, it requires a daily "feeding" of flour and water mixed with a small amount of starter from the day before. The sourdough discard is the leftover sourdough starter consisting of flour, water, and natural yeast that you can reserve for recipes like these sourdough muffins.
Yes. Substitute equal parts flour and water in place of the sourdough discard, or see if your local bakery has some to spare.
Demerara sugar is a raw, coarse sugar that helps create a crunchy topping on top of the batter. You can commonly find Sugar in the Raw at your local grocery store.
This helps prevent the berries from sinking to the bottom of the muffins.
Storage
Room Temperature: Store sourdough discard blueberry muffins in an airtight container on the counter for up to 5 days.
Refrigerator: These are best stored at room temperature or in the freezer.
Freezer: Individually wrap each cooled blueberry muffin in plastic wrap and store in a freezer bag for up to 1 month.
Did you try this recipe?
Let us know what you thought by leaving a comment below and sharing it on Instagram, Facebook, & Pinterest!
Thank you!
-Kayla
📖 Recipe
Sourdough Blueberry Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin liners
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring spoons
- Whisk
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour weighed in grams (see metric tab) or spooned & leveled
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon (12 g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3 g) salt
- 1½ cups blueberries fresh or frozen
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup (118.29 ml) vegetable oil or other neutral oil
- ¼ cup (59.15 ml) whole milk room temperature
- ½ cup (120 g) sour cream room temperature
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup (130 g) sourdough discard room temperature
- ¼ cup (50 g) demerara sugar optional, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F and fill a jumbo muffin pan with parchment liners (or coat with non-stick spray)
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Toss in the blueberries.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the eggs, vegetable oil, milk, sour cream, vanilla extract and sourdough discard.
- Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until the flour streaks disappear.
- Fill the muffin liners ¾ full with batter and then sprinkle demerara sugar on top (optional).
- Bake jumbo muffins at 425°F for 6 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 375°F and continue baking until a toothpick comes out clean (about 15-20 more minutes; 21-26 minutes total).
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I've baked blue berry muffins for years and years and this amazing recipe tops them all! Thanks for posting it. I've used it 3 or 4 times now and received rave reviews each time. Keep these great recipes coming. I love what you're doing.
Oh wow, what an honor!! Thank you, Rosemary! I'm so happy you're loving the muffins 🙂 I appreciate your support!
Can these be made with Cashew milk instead of whole milk?
Thank you!
Hi Aleks! I haven't tried cashew milk but would love to hear how they turn out if you do! I'd guess it'd affect the texture and flavor of the muffins.
Love these muffins!! I sub. maple syrup for sugar and they were delicious! Can I swap out whole wheat flour for the white flour?
I'm so happy you enjoyed them and the syrup sub worked well!! I haven't tried them with whole wheat flour but I'd think it'd be fine 🙂 let me know if you try it!
These were great! I changed a couple things. Used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and I used wheat flour because it was all I had at the moment.
Delicious, says my harshest (daughter) critic. They are crispy on the outside and really blueberry tasty and light on the inside. I made minor changes: I used 1/2 cup sugar (as I prefer less), and yogurt instead of sour cream (none available).
These actually remind me of the best blueberry muffins I ate years ago, and not again until this past weekend. (I used 1/2 cup sugar, by the way.)
I love this recipe! I added a few ingredients to make them lemon blueberry muffins, but the base recipe is fantastic! Such a great way to use up discard!
An acquaintance recommended this recipe so I decided to try it. They turned out nice and fluffy, but I found them to be bland and lacking in flavor. I did appreciate that they weren't overly sweet as most muffin recipes are so I didn't have to adjust the sugar amount myself. If you're looking for a light, blueberry muffin with a vanilla undertone then this might be for you. If you appreciate a more dynamic flavor experience with your muffins then you might want to try a different recipe or modify this one. Personally, I didn't find it good enough to make again.
I appreciate you trying my recipe and sharing your feedback! Are there any specific modifications you'd recommend?
These muffins are amazing! So moist and flavourful. The starter discard tones down the sweetness. My husband doesn't care for muffins, and he ate 6 of them within 2 days. I'm writing this review as I wait for my ingredients to warm to room temp so I can make another batch. Definitely a new favorite!
That is amazing!! I'm so happy you both love them so much! Thank you for trying my recipe and leaving a review 🙂
These are the best blueberry muffins I've ever made! Moist and delicious, only changes I made, I used Greek vanilla yogurt instead of sour cream because I didn't have any on hand and I just left out the vanilla extract. Next time I'll be sure to have sour cream on hand to see if there's any difference!
My second time making them and they are so delicious! My husband said it's his favorite of all the things i've tried with my sourdough starter. Thank you for a great recipe!
Thank you for sharing!! I'm so happy you're both enjoying them 🙂