A simple discard recipe for sourdough blueberry muffins, with a sweet streusel topping and plenty of blueberries. These one-bowl blueberry coffee cake muffins are lightly sweet, delicate, and perfect for afternoon tea or coffee. This recipe uses sourdough discard but you can use freshly fed starter - see below for more tips on that.
One of our readers, Amber, comments: "I’m new to the sourdough world and am currently in the rabbit hole 🤣 I made these this evening and these are by far the best blueberry muffins I have ever had!!! Love this recipe! Amazing 5+ ⭐️s!"
Another reader, Elizabeth, said: "Seriously amazing muffins! Will make again, and I gifted some they were so delish!"
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Ingredients
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Blueberries: both fresh and frozen berries work well. We recommend wild blueberries for their small size (more blueberries in each bite) but it doesn't matter. Raspberries and blackberries also work well.
- Oil: sunflower oil is great here for its neutral taste, but avocado oil, organic canola oil, and grape seed can all be used instead. Melted butter will likely be fine but we haven't tested these with it.
- Cinnamon: replace the cinnamon with half the amount of cardamom, or use a spice blend you like. Nutmeg is nice here too.
- Flour: if you want a slightly more wholesome muffin, whole wheat pastry flour can be used instead of all-purpose.
- Make it dairy-free: the recipe card provides instructions for making the streusel dairy free, and the muffins can be made with dairy-free milk (like oat or almond) if you prefer.
If you have plenty of discard to use, try our sourdough morning glory muffins, flaky sourdough biscuits, or one-bowl sourdough chocolate cake.
Method
Make the streusel topping first and set it aside so that it's ready when you need it. If you want to let the muffin batter rest in the fridge, the streusel can be made later.
Step 1: whisk the milk, discard, oil, eggs, and vanilla together in a large bowl.
Step 2: add the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt, and mix until just combined. Add the blueberries to the muffin batter and carefully fold them in.
Step 3: spoon the batter evenly into each muffin cup.
Step 4: top with the streusel topping and bake for about 22 minutes.
Top Tips
- Don't thaw the berries: if using frozen berries, use them directly from the freezer to reduce the purple colour leaching into the muffin batter too much. This batter is thick enough that the berries won't sink to the bottom, so there's no need to coat in flour beforehand.
- Omit the streusel: the muffins are on the sweet side with the addition of streusel, so if you prefer a less-sweet muffin, you may want to leave the topping off. Or, if making the streusel seems like a bit much, you can also sprinkle the tops of each muffin with a little coarse sugar instead.
- Use liners: we prefer using muffin liners for fruit muffins because added fruit can sometimes burn when it's in direct contact with the muffin tin.
Recipe Notes
If you want to make a muffin with a stronger sourdough flavour, or you want the starter to do some more work in making these a little easier to digest, chill the batter. Simply mix everything in a large bowl and then refrigerate, covered, for up to eight hours. Scoop into the cups and bake as usual.
How to Store
Storage: keep the muffins in a sealed container at room temperature for 3-4 days. If your home is very warm, refrigerate them instead, as the fruit spoils more quickly. The streusel usually softens a bit over time.
Freezing: transfer fully cooled muffins to an airtight container and freeze for up to two months. Thaw at room temperature.
FAQ
Can you save sourdough discard to use later?
Discard can be kept in a sealed container in the fridge for months to use in recipes like this. It will get more sour over time, but it's always good to have as a backup just in case something happens to your starter.
What is the secret to making moist muffins?
The trick to really moist muffins is to use oil rather than butter. Make sure you don't over-mix, which will make the muffins tough.
Should I coat blueberries in flour for muffins?
It depends on the recipe. Most blueberry muffin recipes will make sure the batter is thick enough that the blueberries won't sink, but if you're making changes to the recipe or it calls for the blueberries to be coated, then do so.
More Sourdough Discard Recipes
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Sourdough Blueberry Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel
Equipment
- 12-cup muffin tin
- muffin cups
- Mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Wooden spoon
- Measuring cups and spoons or a digital kitchen scale
Ingredients
Sourdough Blueberry Muffins
- ¾ cup whole milk
- ½ cup oil
- ½ cup sourdough discard
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 ½ cups wild blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, coat in 1 tablespoon flour to prevent colour bleeding)
Cinnamon Streusel
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ cup salted butter, can be cold or room temperature
Instructions
- Start by making the streusel. Mix the flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a medium bowl, then add the butter. Use your hands to mix until a crumbly mixture forms, then set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line or grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
- In a large bowl, whisk the milk, oil, discard, eggs, and vanilla until fully combined and slightly frothy.
- Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt to the bowl. Use a wooden spoon to mix until no streaks of flour remain in the bowl.
- Add the blueberries to the muffin batter and carefully fold them in to incorporate throughout.
- Spoon an equal amount of batter into each muffin cup, then cover each with the streusel topping.
- Bake the muffins for 22-24 minutes, or until the top is lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.
- Cool the muffins in the tin for five minutes before removing and cooling fully on a rack. The muffins will keep for a couple of days at room temperature, but are best on the day they're baked.
Notes
- The amount of sugar has been increased from ½ cup to ¾ cup. This makes the muffins sweeter, so if you prefer a less-sweet muffin, reduce the amount.
- Be sure to use wild blueberries and not standard, as noted in the recipe card.
- Don't skip the streusel topping. Because the muffin batter is made with oil instead of butter, adding the streusel brings some buttery flavour to the muffins and boosts the overall flavour.
- We have doubled the amount of vanilla in the muffin batter.
- We have increased the amount of blueberries added.
- We have reduced the amount of streusel topping because it made too much for 12 standard muffins.
- Add the zest of an orange if you'd like.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate and is provided as a courtesy. For precise nutritional data, please calculate it independently using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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If you happen to see this before u make these: please read the notes from the baker on changes they’ve made before mixing. I wasted a lot of time and money to basically get pale/semi sweet (borderline bland) muffins evidently made with the wrong kinds of blueberries and thought I was going mad. PLEASE look before you make a quart of streusel and throw it away. I wish the author would just change the recipe above bc it doesn’t quite make sense to leave a pretty rough recipe up.
Hi Callie, those are the changes we made to update the recipe, not suggested changes. The recipe card clearly states (twice) to use wild blueberries. I'm not sure how you ended up with over a litre of streusel from this recipe when the raw ingredients going in are less than 250 grams. Sorry the recipe wasn't to your taste - it is a pretty standard blueberry muffin with added sourdough discard.
I baked these muffins for my wife using my whole wheat sourdough starter. They are more of a cake than a muffin but taste very good. My wife likes them and I'll make them again. Next time I'll try refrigerating the dough over night.
I came from Pinterest. Great recipe. Lots of great reviews on Pinterest. My hubby loved the muffins. Jen
A little bland and way too much crumb topping.
Beautiful muffin recipe. My kids are drooling while I make them wait to try. 🫐