Sourdough Blueberry Muffins
It’s hard to know which is better: the moist muffins with plenty of berries or the cinnamon sugar topping. Vegetable oil (or melted butter) makes this recipe moist and easy to make. There’s no need to lug out the stand mixer for this recipe, a hand mixer will work perfectly, or even a whisk.
All that really matters is this is the best recipe for sourdough blueberry muffins. Yes, better than all the ones you’ve already tried. Let me prove it to you.
Of all the sourdough discard recipes I bake, I turn to this one the most.
Sourdough Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
Muffin Batter
- 1Ā¼ cups all-purpose flour
- Ā¾ cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking power
- Ā½ teaspoon salt
- ā cup vegetable oil can substitute melted butter
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons milk
- Ā½ cup starter
- 1Ā¼ cup blueberries
Crumb Topping
- ā cup all-purpose flour
- Ā¼ cup butter cubed
- Ā½ cup white sugar
- 1Ā½ teaspoons cinnamon
Instructions
- Prep. Preheat oven to 400 degrees with the rack in the center. Prepare a muffin tin with paper liners.
- Combine wet ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, combine the vegetable oil, milk, and egg.
- Add dry ingredients. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a separate mixing bowl. Pour in the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Do not over-mix.
- Add sourdough starter. Pour sourdough starter into the batter and mix, scraping the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated. (The batter will be thick.)
- Add blueberries. Add the blueberries and gently stir until mixed in.
- Scoop batter into muffin tins. Fill the muffin tin with batter about 2/3 of the way to the top. You can place a few extra blueberries on top if you'd like.
- Make the topping. Cut the butter into the flour in a medium mixing bowl, using two knives or a pastry blender, until it resembles small peas. Stir in the sugar and cinnamon. Equally distribute the topping on top of the muffin batter.
- Bake. Bake in preheated oven for 18-23 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Finished muffins will have golden tops. Remove from oven and allow them to cool on wire rack. Serve warm or room temperature. Muffins will stay fresh two days at room temperature or can be frozen up to one month.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
The tang from the starter gives the muffins a little extra something, and the blueberries are always perfectly juicy and sweet. We seriously can’t get enough of them! They’re the perfect treat for breakfast or a snack. I always make a double batch just so we can have some leftovers to freeze and enjoy later.
What You’ll Need for the Best Sourdough Blueberry Muffins
While this recipe uses mostly pantry staples, here are a few items you might want to pay special attention to:
- Sourdough starter. This is what gives these muffins their unique flavor and texture. If you don’t have your own starter, you can often find it at local bakeries or online.
- Muffin tin. You’ll need a standard muffin tin to bake these muffins. If you don’t have paper liners, you can grease the cups with butter or cooking spray.
- Blueberries. Fresh or frozen blueberries work equally well in this recipe. If using frozen, there’s no need to thaw them first.
I don’t have any sourdough starter. Can I still make sourdough discard recipes?
While the sourdough starter adds a unique flavor, you can try substituting it with an equal amount of buttermilk or plain yogurt. The muffins won’t have that signature tang, but they’ll still be tasty!
Can you make blueberry muffins with a different fruit?
Of course! Raspberries, blackberries, or even chopped strawberries would all be delicious in these muffins.
How can I make a sourdough muffin recipe vegan?
You can substitute the egg with a flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed mixed with 3 tablespoons water), and use a vegan butter alternative for the topping.
Does my sourdough starter need to be active for discard recipes?
Nope! The rise in these muffins comes from the baking powder, so discard starter straight from the fridge is perfect.
More Sourdough Quick Breads + Muffins:
I hope you give this recipe a try. They’re a delicious way to use up extra starter, and the combination of flavors and textures is truly irresistible. Whether you’re enjoying them for breakfast, brunch, or a snack, they’re sure to be a hit.
By Katie Shaw
Katie shares simple, reliable recipes from her home in Virginia, where she lives with her husband, three daughters, a chocolate lab, and over thirty chickens.
Is this made with the sweet sourdough starter that has the potato flakes in it or the flour and water starter?
flour and water š
so delicious and moist!
This was what my blueberry heart was searching for!!! This recipe is that sweet classic blueberry muffin and it’s even better if you use frozen Wild Blueberries!!
These are fantastic best I made yet.
I sure do wish I could try these muffins, plus a number of other recipes you’ve graciously shared that require something called sourdough starter. I don’t bake bread (live alone, too old, too heavy, too … lazy?), so I’ll never have that starter ingredient. So sad about that. But maybe some happy day you’ll port this lovely sounding recipe to one that doesn’t require an ingredient I’ll never have?
Thanks for all you do!
Just made the lemon loaf with lemon glaze and it was awesome. Sourdough can make poop amazing though I swear.. thank god we all aren’t too lazy to mix flour an water togther š¤£ love the recipes tho š„
How long do you ferment the flour (how long do you proof the muffins for)?
Is it active starter or discard thatās used in this recipe?
discard š
This sourdough blueberry muffins and really easy to make and turned out really delicious! Will surely have this again, super highly recommended!
These muffins are to die for!. Amazing tastes n texture. Just the best blueberry muffin! I had a very taste lemon blueberry muffin recipe. But with sourdough, it definitely takes it to a new level. Thank you!
Making the peach upside down cake next n I can’t wait!
I’m sorry the peach cake must be another site… š¤ But I’m here again b/c I’m making these muffins again…š
Can you make these as chocolate chip muffins?
Yes! But I. think the streusel might be too sweet. I’d just do coarse sugar! š
OMG – just made a batch of these and as I did not have any blueberries, I substituted them for frozen fresh cranberries left over from Christmas. They are delicious and I love being able to use up sourdough discard. This will definitely be my go to recipe in the future. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Lyn (Wales, UK)
Lyn I am so glad you enjoyed them and thank YOU for the idea of adding cranberries to the muffins! Great idea š
We made 5 times this recipe as we have an XXL family and were planning to give some away as thank yous.
Though the batter looked gorgeous, I’m going to admit that I was a little nervous when I first tasted tested the batter and thought that the muffins were going to end up tasting too sourdoughy and might be a scratch. But… I knew I had already used a metric ton of blueberries so I decided I might as well just go ahead and full send it.
They smelled A-MAZ-ING while they were baking and ended straight up, probably being the best blueberry muffins our family has ever eaten! Which says a lot for our family. Good job!
yay! this makes me so happy to hear! i get what you mean about the batter. whenever i bake with buttermilk i think the same thing but it ends up being okay.
Yep, our family has decided that we pretty much always absolutely MUST have these on hand!
I made these yesterday and they were so good! I only got 7 large muffins and they were gone before I turned around. You definitely need to line with paper cups, I didn’t and it was tricky getting them out even though I sprayed the pan. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Sharon Ii’m so happy the muffins were a success! I will add a note to use liners for sure!
Seems like the directions in the article are different then the printed recipe…
(ie) cinnamon have no idea how much goes in the topping
a
hi liz! it’s 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, i’m adding it back in now. the directions and printed recipe should be the same, just written in a different tone.
Love this recipeā¦ not too sweet, not too sour. The batter was very thick, but the muffins turned out moist and scrumptious! Thank you for sharing your recipe!