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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Can flax egg be used instead of a regular egg in this recipe? I want to make it for someone who does not eat eggs.
Hi Linda! I’ve not tried flax egg in this recipe so I’m not sure if it’ll work. If you give it a go, please keep us posted!
Made these for my 80yr old dad – whose tastebuds are really picky these days. He complains my sourdough is too sour! These were a hit! I didn’t pack the brown sugar, but lightly spooned it to reduce sugar level, and added dark chocolate chips (1/3 cup). Used 1/2c whole wheat bread flour, 1c AP flour
Baked in our air fryer/convection oven on the convection bake setting – took 21 min
Just made the fluffy sourdough banana muffins. OMG, absolutely delish!! Thank you for sharing
Hooray, Karla! thank you for your note :D
This is my go to discard using recipe! I’ve taken liberties; I add 1/4c mixed nut butter and fill up to 2/3c w/ coconut oil. I add 1/3c of chocolate chips and 1/3c of craisins, too. I don’t measure my discard; it’s about a cup. Makes fabulous fluffy muffin beasts!!!
Super happy to hear, Lisa! Love your nut butter and chocolate chips tip – SO yumm! Thank you for your note!
I really like the idea and texture of these muffins but all I can taste is coconut oil. They don’t even taste like banana muffins because the coconut is so overpowering. I can even feel it on my tongue after. Canola oil is an awful oil to use so I didn’t want to try crap oil. I think I’d even try yogurt or applesauce long before this much coconut oil again. Definitely change something up if you don’t want to take pure coconut.
Hi Samantha! I’m so sorry to hear these didn’t meet your expectations. I’m curious about the brand of coconut oil you used?
I’m not sure as I used the rest of it and it’s in my recycle bin now. I use this brand for everything and I’ve never had issues. I will try your recipe again but I will definitely alter it. I wanted to give a review for those who may not love something with a coconut taste. I’ll update once I try again.
Loved these! I used honey instead of sugar (1/2 cup) and decreased the oil to 1/3 cup and they turned out great!
Super happy to hear, Natalie! Thank you for your note and tips! Oh myyyy with honey… that sounds amazing!
They were good, not sour, with discard straight from refrigerator. But they were very sweet! (all ingredients were weighed) Next time I will cut down on the sugar
Hi Angela! Thank you for your note and giving the recipe a go! Indeed, using sourdough discard in recipes isn’t generally for the flavor (like in sourdough bread), rather for texture and using up discard. To tease more sour flavor from these muffins, you could let them rest for an hour or so.
Could this batter be made ahead of time?
Hi Taylor! I’ve not tried it with these muffins, but have with others (non sourdough). With this recipe, there’s a lot more baking soda than baking powder. My concern is that as the baking soda sets, it looses its leavening power. But at the same time, you’ve got sourdough in there. So, some experimentation is in order. I’ll give these an overnight rest next time I make em, and update here. Otherwise, I’m just not sure it’ll work with this recipe. If you play with the timing, please keep us posted!
Maybe I’ll try it leaving the baking soda and powder until before I bake them? I’ll try a few things in the future and keep you posted.
I like that idea! Kinda like overnight pancakes. Looking forward to learning what you find! Thank you, Taylor!
Thank you for such an easy and DELICIOUS recipe! It was moist and fluffy and light.
I did adjust the recipe slightly:
– no walnuts
– half a lemon’s zest (so fragrant)
– 1 cup all purpose and 1/2 cup whole grain flour
Turned out super well!
Delicious! This is my go to recipe for using sourdough discard. I am in the UK and added 1/2 a tsp of biscoff spread (like caramel) for a hidden centre. ‘Best thing you have ever made’ was one of my family’s comments.
Hooray! What a complement :D Thank you for your note, Bethany… the biscoff spread sounds amazing for a hidden center!