Sourdough Banana Muffins are simple to pull together, using sourdough discard from your sourdough bread starter! Whip these lofty muffins up in about 15 minutes (hands on time) using a bowl and spoon, no mixer needed. They feature all purpose or whole wheat white flour, brown sugar, walnuts, and a hint of vanilla. Like in my Everyday Sourdough Banana Bread, sourdough discard creates the most flavorful, and tender baked recipes!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: “I pretty much bake these weekly now. The fluffiness is unreal.” ~ Esti
Highlights of Sourdough Discard Muffins
After creating this reader favorite Moist Banana Bread Recipe, I wanted to add another banana bread recipe to the Vanilla And Bean collection, sourdough style! And, when there’s sourdough discard in the house, Sourdough Discard Recipes are on the agenda. That’s where these irresistible muffins come in!
Tender. Fluffy. The magic is in the discard! Save it after feeding your sourdough starter, then hold on to the discard and repurpose it. Sourdough starter discard is delicious in baked goods! Let’s make the most of it.
If you’ve made these Moist Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins or my Lemon Bluberry Sourdough Muffins, you know you won’t find dry muffins around here! Moist and tender, these banana muffins aren’t very sour, as the sourdough flavor is subtle. But, the magic can be found in their tender and fluffy texture.
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How to Make Sourdough Starter Banana Muffins
step by step
About Key Ingredients
Most of the ingredients are pantry staples, but here are a few that stand out.
- Brown Sugar: to make these muffins so fluffy, I employ dark brown sugar, however, you can use dark or light brown sugar. There’s not too much difference in texture, but dark brown sugar offers a bit more molasses, caramel flavor, and richness, and renders a slightly darker muffins. I find that the rise is a bit more even and lofty with dark brown sugar. But the difference is subtle.
- Melted Coconut Oil: tenderizes the muffins. You can use refined or unrefined. Unrefined carries the coconut flavor while refined is more neutral in flavor. I use unrefined. You can substitute canola oil if desired.
Resting the batter helps hydrate the flour and supports a lofty muffin. It’s worth the wait!
Knowing the temperature of your oven is key for best baking outcome. Use an external oven thermometer (dial or digital) to know its true temperature and adjust as needed.
Traci’s Tips for Fluffy Muffins
Muffin Pans: if you have two muffin pans, use them, alternating muffin cups so that every other cup is empty. This helps all the muffins rise more evenly, with a domed top. Baked in one pan, the center muffins don’t have quite as high of a dome as the outer muffins.
Muffin Cups: this recipe creates extra tall sourdough muffins so tulip muffin liners give them the support they need. Tulip cups can be purchased or follow the Kitchen’s DIY method for homemade!
Note the Temperature Change: we’re preheating the oven at relatively high temperature, but as soon as the muffins are popped in the oven, the temperature is lowered slightly.
Why? I tested this recipe at a starting temperature of 375F and then also at 400F, and found the high starting temperature helps give these muffins their loft and a nice domed shape. It allows the oven to recover to the baking temperature of 375F quickly even after the oven door is opened to put the muffins in the oven.
Fluffy Sourdough Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 C (80g) Walnuts, whole
- 1 1/2 C (215g) Whole Wheat White Flour, or Unbleached All Purpose Flour
- 1/2 tsp Fine Sea Salt
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon, ground
- 3/4 C (155g) Dark Brown Sugar, packed or sub light brown sugar*
- 2/3 C (135g) Coconut Oil, melted, warm to the touch or use canola oil
- 2 Large Eggs
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 1/4 C (305g) Mashed Bananas, about 3 very ripe bananas
- 1/2 C (160g) Sourdough Discard, 100% hydration, stirred down
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F (205C) and set oven rack in the center. Line a standard muffin pan with 12 tulip style muffin cups or DIY your own. Tip: if you have two muffin pans, use both, leaving every other cup empty. This helps all the muffins rise to their full potential and helps create a nice dome.
Toast the Walnuts:
- Place the walnuts in a pan and set them on the center rack in your just turned on pre-heating oven. They'll toast for 15-18 minutes while the oven is heating (keep an eye on the walnuts since they're especially sensitive to heat and because ovens vary in how fast they pre-heat). Transfer toasted walnuts to a board and rough chop once cooled. Set aside a few tablespoons for sprinkling on top if desired. Chop fine. Set aside.
Make the Batter:
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Whisk the ingredients. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the sugar, warm coconut oil, eggs, bananas, and vanilla extract. Whisk until the ingredients come together. Add the sourdough discard and whisk again until no white streaks remain.
- To the wet ingredients, add the dry ingredients all at once. Using a silicone spatula, fold in the dry ingredients and mix until no dry flour patches remain. Fold in the chopped walnuts, holding out the small portion for sprinkling on top. .
- Set batter aside to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes.
- Scoop an overfilled large cookie scoop (#20) or about 1/4 C each with batter and transfer to the muffin liners. Distribute leftover batter evenly among cups. Sprinkle with remaining walnuts if desired.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 375F (190C). Place the muffins in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. Use a toothpick to test several muffins starting at 25 minutes. Once the toothpick comes out clean with a few crumbs attached, the muffins are ready.
- Transfer the muffins to a cooling rack and cool completely. Once cool, cover for up to four days at room temperature. To Freeze: allow muffins to cool completely. Place individual muffins on a parchment lined sheet pan and freeze. Once frozen, transfer to a lidded container for up to two weeks. Thaw at room temperature.To Rewarm: rewarm muffins in a 350F oven for 10-15 minutes.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
Made it? Leave a comment below!
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Delicate airy crumb, rich flavors
… and im not even such a fan of bananabread but these muffins are delicious.
I replaced the brown sugar with coconut sugar.
Works beautifully 🙏🏻
Thanks for this great recipe
Thank you for your note and coconut sugar tip, Amaryllis! So glad you’re enjoying the muffins.
I made these vegan with ground flax mixed with water instead of eggs. They turned out beautifully! The sourdough discard gives it a wonderful tang.
Love hearing this, Liv! Thank you for sharing your tip and five star recipe rating!
These are amazing! I love that it calls for coconut oil. I also use coconut sugar instead, works beautifully.
Love hearing this Cindy! Thank you for your note, tip and giving these fluffy muffins a go!
Delicious! I used canola oil since I didn’t have coconut oil, and topped with some pearled sugar because I’m feeling extra today. They are moist and very yummy. Will definitely make again.
Love that extra feeling! Thank you for your note, Raquel, and giving the muffins a go!
Love it!!!
But How come 160g is half a cup ? I usually use a scale, but in cups its way more
Hi Cynthia! This is why professional bakers always use a scale. Volume cups vary in size, there’s no standard. But measuring in grams is always accurate, and reason I provide ingredient weights and recommend weighing your ingredients using a digital scale. I measure each recipe in cups and grams while I test, so in one recipe you may see 1/2 cup sourdough discard, for example, weigh a little more (or less) than in another recipe.