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Sourdough discard chocolate muffins
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Deliciously chocolatey sourdough discard chocolate muffins that are incredibly easy to make and even more tasty to eat. Taking only 20 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to bake. This recipe will make 12 magnificent muffins, making them ideal for breakfast or on the go.
What Is Sourdough Discard?
If you’ve ever made your own sourdough starter, been gifted one, or bought one ready to use, chances are you’re eager to bake bread. Bread might be the main reason for creating a starter, but it’s certainly not the only one. The portion you remove during feeding – known as sourdough discard – can be used in a wide range of bakes, adding a delicious depth of flavour thanks to the natural fermentation of the culture.
Whenever you feed your starter, whether to prepare for baking or simply to keep it healthy and active, the portion you remove from the jar is called sourdough discard. You might use it for bread, crackers, pancakes, or other recipes – but technically, it’s all discard. In reality, it’s still just sourdough starter; it’s simply given the name “discard” because it’s the part taken out of the jar during the feeding process.
Baking with Sourdough Discard
Sourdough discard can be added to almost any bake, but it’s important to consider the balance of flour and water it already contains when adapting a recipe. Because discard is simply unfed starter, it contributes both liquid and dry ingredients, so adjustments are often needed to maintain the right consistency.
One of the easiest and most satisfying ways to use it is by making anything cake based with discard. The recipe is wonderfully simple and also doesn’t require complicated calculations. While many discard recipes involve reducing some of the flour and liquid to compensate for the starter, these muffins worked out incredibly well and relatively similar in recipe to my ‘normal’ muffin recipes. The oil helps with moisture, but the added liquid from the discard contributes to wonderful muffin texture.
Wet ingredients for the muffins
For these sourdough discard chocolate muffins, I used discard that was straight out of the fridge and hadn’t been fed. You can use fed starter, but you honestly don’t have to. It looks a little weird when you mix everything in the bowl at first, but as you have to break down the discard which is quite thick, it’s not surprising.
- Oil – I tend to use a flavourless oil such as vegetable or sunflower oil when it comes to a bake as I don’t want the flavour profile changed, but olive oil does also work if you want
- Buttermilk – you can easily make this at home with a full-fat milk and lemon juice added in (125ml milk + 1 tsp lemon juice mixed in 5 minute before using in the recipe)
- Eggs – I use two medium eggs, but you can use large eggs as well
- Flavours – I tend to add vanilla extract into everything as I love it
- Starter – I count this as a liquid even though it’s a mix of flour and water
Dry ingredients
I generally always mix the liquids together until combined with a hand whisk as you want it all incorporated together, and then I add my dry ingredients in and fold through with a spatula. The dry ingredients want to be mix in as little as possible to get a better texture to the muffin
- Sugar – I wanted to use light brown soft sugar as I adore using it in all of my chocolate based bakes, but any sugar works
- Flour – plain flour is important as you want to control the raising agent later in the recipe compared to using self raising
- Cocoa – I like to use a strong cocoa powder to really fuel the flavour profile – I generally avoid hot chocolate powders as they are often too sugary
- Raising agents – I use a small amount of baking powder to help lift the muffins texture
- Salt – this is optional, but I really do adore a little sea salt added into a bake as it’s much tastier in my opinion
- Chocolate – you can use chopped up bars of chocolate, chocolate chips, and of any flavour – I tend to use white chocolate and then also milk or dark for a mix
FAQs
What can I use as a substitute for buttermilk?
If you don’t have shop-bought buttermilk, you can easily make a quick substitute at home using full-fat milk and fresh lemon juice or white vinegar. Simply mix 125ml of milk with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, stir gently, and leave it to sit for 5 minutes to curdle before adding it to the bowl.
Can I use fed sourdough starter instead of discard?
Yes, you can use active, fed sourdough starter if that is what you have on hand. However, using cold, unfed discard straight from the fridge works just as well and is the best way to prevent kitchen waste without needing to wait for your starter to peak.
Why does my muffin batter look a bit lumpy at first?
Sourdough discard is naturally thick and stretchy, so when you first whisk it with the oil, buttermilk, and eggs, it may look slightly split or uneven. Don’t worry, whisking the wet ingredients thoroughly before gently folding in the dry flour and cocoa will smooth everything out into a perfect batter.
Can I make this recipe in a mini muffin tin instead?
Yes, it adapts beautifully to smaller sizes. If you want to make mini muffins for lunchboxes, divide the batter across a 24-hole mini muffin tray lined with mini cases and reduce the baking time to 12 to 15 minutes, checking until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Sourdough Discard Chocolate Muffins
Deliciously chocolatey sourdough discard chocolate muffins that are incredibly easy to make and even more tasty
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Servings: 12 muffins
Ingredients
- 125 ml vegetable/sunflower oil
- 125 ml buttermilk
- 2 medium eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 125 g sourdough discard
- 175 g light brown soft sugar
- 200 g plain flour
- 50 g cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch of sea salt
- 100-300 g chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200ºc/180ºc fan and prep 12 tulip muffin cases in a muffin tray
- Add the oil, buttermilk, eggs, vanilla and sourdough discard to a bowl
- Whisk to combine until smooth
- Add the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt and mix as little as possible to combine with a spoon/spatula
- Stir through the chocolate chips
- Split between the 12 cases evenly
- Bake for 25-28 minutes and leave to cool for 15 minutes before enjoying
Notes
- These last 2-3 days once made
- These will freeze for 3 + months
Storage and freezing
While these easy sourdough discard chocolate muffins taste fantastic when served fresh and warm from the oven, it is a well-known secret that the flavours actually improve and become much richer after sitting in an airtight container overnight as the moisture settles. Leftovers can be cooled completely and stored securely inside an airtight tin at room temperature for up to three days.
To freeze simply wrap the fully cooled individual muffins securely in clingfilm or place them into heavy-duty freezer bags and freeze safely for over three months.
Related recipes
I have recently been baking like a mad scientist with sourdough discard as my main ingredient. If you like the sourdough discard recipes, why not try my Sourdough Chocolate Brownies, or the delicious Sourdough Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.
It’s worth remembering that none of these bakes would be possible without a strong sourdough starter, you can learn how to create your own sourdough starter before trying these bakes. Beware, sourdough is addictive.