Sourdough Blueberry Muffins

These sourdough blueberry muffins are light and moist with a tender crumb, bursting with blueberry flavor, tangy sourdough, and lightly sweetened with sugar. Perfectly served as an easy breakfast, a midday snack, or even dessert!

Summertime is a busy season, lots of excitement and activity. School is out for several weeks, and although I am home, it still means I have to come up with a lot of make-ahead snacks and simple meals for the kids, knowing I’ll be wrapped up with work and homemaking throughout the day.

I’ve experimented a bit with different sourdough muffin recipes, this one is hands down the best one yet!

All of my kids agreed, and I have since then doubled the recipe each week to try and keep up with their constant need to have a snack in hand for what seems like all hours of the day.

The mild tang from the sourdough starter adds remarkable flavor to these muffins and it is one of the best ways to use up some of your sourdough starter. They’re lightly sweetened with a burst of blueberry flavor, which shouts spring or summer.

These sourdough blueberry muffins are also perfect when coupled with a hot cup of coffee to start off your day.

You can use this recipe to make a variety of different flavors, by replacing the blueberries with your desired alternative. Chocolate chip, double chocolate chip, strawberry, and cinnamon chocolate chip sourdough muffins are all some of our favorites.

These Sourdough Maple Snickerdoodle Muffins are also a family favorite.

Sourdough Blueberry Muffins Tips

You can use fresh or frozen blueberries for this recipe. Frozen blueberries stay more intact throughout the baking process, but they may turn your muffins more purple colored. (Just cosmetic though, it doesn’t change the flavor, they will still taste great!) I like to toss my blueberries in a little bit of flour before adding them to the batter to help prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin while baking.

You can use an active sourdough starter or sourdough discard, either will do! I often use my sourdough discard for this recipe, straight from my fridge.

To ensure that your muffins will be moist and tender, don’t over-mix your batter and do not over bake. Overmixing will cause the gluten strands to strengthen too much, resulting in a much tougher muffin, while overbaking will make your muffins dry.

If you want to make dairy-free sourdough blueberry muffins, just swap out the butter for melted coconut oil.

You can substitute the sour cream with Greek yogurt.

Tools you may need:

Stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a large bowl with a whisk

Muffin tin – I have a 6 count and a 12-count muffin tin, I used a 6 count this time, but recipe is the exact same for a 12 count (just subtract about 5 mins from the cook time)

Muffin liners – optional.

Measuring cups and spoons

Sourdough Blueberry Muffins Ingredients

Flour – I used all-purpose flour for this recipe.

Sugar – I normally use white granulated sugar for this recipe, you can also use honey for a more natural sweetener.

Butter – could also substitute melted coconut oil or avocado oil.

Eggs – room temperature incorporate easier, but you can use eggs from the fridge.

Sourdough Starter – Active and bubbly starter or sourdough discard can be used for this recipe. I often use my discard straight from my fridge – discard is simply just unfed starter.

Salt – brings out the flavors in baked goods. One would think it isn’t really a necessary ingredient, but it actually enhances the sweetener.

Leaveners – baking powder and baking soda are used to give the muffins their rise.

Vanilla Extract – natural flavor enhancer

Sour Cream – adds moisture and tenderizes gluten strands.

Corn Starch – for soft and fluffy tenderness.

Blueberries – Fresh or frozen will do. If you’re using frozen blueberries for this recipe, make sure to pull them straight from the freezer. Don’t let them thaw, or else they might release too much juice and you will have purple muffins.

BAKERY STYLE CRUMB TOPPING:

If you would like to be a little extra with these sourdough blueberry muffins, may I suggest that you top them with a layer of buttery sweet and crunch goodness!

To make the crumble: use a fork to gently stir the flour and sugar into the melted butter until just combined into wet chunks.

Spoon the crumb topping into each muffin well and press gently just enough for them to adhere to the batter.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE SOURDOUGH BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line your muffin tin with liners or grease generously to prevent your muffins from sticking.

In a bowl of a stand mixer, or large sized bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cornstarch.

In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients: butter, eggs, sourdough starter, sour cream, and vanilla. Then, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Gently stir the mixture together until just combined- you don’t want to overmix!

Spoon the mixture evenly into a 12 or 6 count muffin tin.

Add 4 or 5 blueberries into the batter of each muffin tin.

Gently fold the blueberries into the batter.

If you want the crumb topping, now would be the step to combine the melted butter, flour, and sugar. Then gently spoon it into each muffin well, topping off the batter.

Bake the muffins at 350 degrees for 30-35 mins (timing may vary a bit, depending on the size or count of the muffin tin you have) or until toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

How to Store, Freeze, and Reheat

You can store these muffins in an air-tight container. They’re best if eaten within 3-5 days. You can also store them in the freezer in a zip-lock bag for up to 3 months.

I love to double or even triple this recipe and have one batch for now and freeze the rest for later.

When you want a quick and easy snack or breakfast, just pop these into a 350-degree oven for 5-10 minutes or until they are thawed completely and warm.

Q&A

Do you cut blueberries for muffins?

I don’t. It’s not really necessary to cut blueberries for muffins. Just use them whole, unless you just want to chop them up.

Should you wash blueberries before baking?

If you’re using fresh unfrozen blueberries, wash and dry them right before you’re ready to add them to your muffin batter. Since blueberries have thin skin, they tend to spoil more quickly after washing. Just make sure your berries are dry before adding them to the batter.