Sourdough Chocolate Chip Muffins

Sourdough chocolate chip muffins, made with discard and yogurt for a big bakery-style muffin. Using a mix of half melted butter and half oil gives both a nice flavour boost and moist texture to these soft, sweet muffins. Bake right away or refrigerate for a stronger sourdough taste.

How This Recipe Works

We use sourdough discard in a lot of recipes, but you can also use active sourdough starter in these muffins if you mostly use the levain method. Any 100% hydration starter can be used, whether it's made with white flour, whole wheat, rye, and so on.

These are big, fluffy muffins, started in the oven at a high temperature and filled right to the top of the cups for a muffin that rises far over the muffin cups. The idea is a bakery-style muffin and starting at a higher temperature is the best way to achieve that.

With butter, yogurt, brown sugar, plenty of vanilla, and of course sourdough starter, it seems like a simple muffin but packs a big flavour punch. They freeze well for future snacks and we really liked having them around during the testing process! I developed this recipe and Kelly also tested a couple times.

Ingredients You'll Need and Why

These are straightforward muffin ingredients, but you'll use both oil and butter plus a bit of yogurt. The combination is well worth it, we promise. These are our notes from recipe testing and you can find the full recipe card below with complete measurements and instructions.

• Sourdough starter: this is a sourdough discard muffin recipe but you can use active starter (we recommend weighing in that case). Try to avoid really old discard that's been in the fridge for a month – it's a bit too sour.
• Sugar: a mix of granulated white sugar and brown sugar make for both the best texture and flavour. With all white the muffins are slightly bland, and with all brown the texture isn't as pleasant.
• Flour: all-purpose flour is best, but cake flour works too. Note that cake or pastry flour will make the muffins slightly less sturdy.
• Chocolate chips: if you'd like sweeter muffins, you can use milk chocolate chips. Chopped dark baking chocolate can be substituted for chips.
• Butter: salted is best. If using unsalted, add an extra ¼ teaspoon of salt to the dry ingredients. Since these are made with melted butter you can replace the butter with brown butter but be sure to measure after browning as some of the liquid evaporates.
• Make it dairy-free: use a good vegan butter that comes in stick or block form, non-dairy milk (we recommend soya), and dairy-free yogurt.

Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the printable recipe card with full ingredient measurements and complete instructions.

How to Make Sourdough Muffins

There are no extra steps involved in making muffins with sourdough discard, unless you do decide to chill the batter. Otherwise it's a mix-and-bake recipe like any other muffin.

Step 1: Add the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine. In another bowl, whisk the wet ingredients until smooth. When we tested this recipe in one bowl, they turned out a little rubbery - stick to two.

Step 2: Add the wet ingredients to the large bowl and stir until almost combined, then add the chocolate chips and mix to incorporate. Over-mixing at this point will result in tough muffins, so be sure to stir just enough to mix in the chips.

Step 3: Divide the batter equally among the muffin cups and optionally top with an extra few chocolate chips. The cups will seem unusually full, but they should be filled right up to the top of the liners.

Step 4: Bake until lightly golden, starting at a higher temperature and reducing once you place the muffins in the oven. No need to set two timers this way, as ovens take time to cool down anyway!

Expert Tips for the Best Muffins

• Room temperature is best: if possible, try to use ingredients at room temperature (the eggs, dairy, and starter). The butter will solidify when the cold ingredients are mixed in otherwise and your muffin batter might curdle.
• Don't over-mix: adding the chocolate chips partway through the mixing time helps prevent the muffins from being over-mixed. Mixing too long results in chewy muffins that don't rise as well.
• Fill them up: most muffin recipes will call for the muffin cups to be filled only part of the way, but here you do want to fill right up to the top of the liner. The muffins will rise without spilling over the edge and make a nice tall dome.
• Chill overnight: if you'd like a stronger sourdough flavour or prefer to long-ferment your discard recipes, chill the batter in the fridge for up to 12 hours before baking. In testing we didn't find that this had much effect on the taste or texture of the muffins (either positive or negative) so it works well either way.

More Sourdough Discard Recipes

If you make this Sourdough Chocolate Chip Muffins recipe or any other sourdough recipes on the Baked Collective, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more baking, follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.