Sourdough Discard Apple Muffins
These Sourdough Apple Muffins were requested by a reader who asked for an apple muffin recipe packed with apples. They are quick and easy, coming together in under 30 minutes.
The fruit seems to be an afterthought in too many apple muffin recipes. That’s not true for these sourdough discard apple muffins with over one cup of apple in eight muffins.
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Ingredients
Baking with apples
Unfortunately, there’s no single apple varietal that works best in every apple recipe. Sometimes you want an apple that falls apart easily, like in this strawberry applesauce, apple lemon curd, or apple pie baked beans. And sometimes you want an apple that remains crisp even after cooking, like in this pork tenderloin with bourbon apples or dried apple rings.
The best apple for these sourdough discard apple muffins is one that remains firm when cooked and has a strong apple flavor. Using a tart apple like a Granny Smith or Pink Lady will increase the tang even more.
Baking with sourdough discard
Sourdough discard is what you are left with after you feed a sourdough starter. Instead of throwing it away, you can use sourdough discard in any recipe with flour and liquid. The discard will give your recipe a slightly sour or tangy taste, which is particularly great in recipes with buttermilk.
You can obviously use your sourdough discard to add flavor to yeast breads like this sourdough discard sandwich bread or purple sweet potato sourdough bread. But you can use sourdough discard in pancakes, sourdough discard waffles, sourdough discard pretzels, sourdough discard biscuits, and cakes like this sourdough apple cake.
To use your sourdough discard in any recipe, just calculate the amount of flour and water in your starter and reduce the amount of flour and liquid in your recipe by that weight. It’s easy if you have a 100% starter that’s equal amounts of flour and water.
Tip from the wise quacker: If you don’t have sourdough starter, you can still make this recipe. Use an additional 2 ounces (57 grams or one-third cup) of flour and an additional 2 ounces (one quarter cup) of buttermilk or other liquid.
Please see the recipe card below for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations and substitutions
- Substitute yogurt, milk, or an unsweetened non-dairy milk for the buttermilk.
- Decorate your sourdough apple muffins by adding coarse decorating sugar to the top about 10 minutes into baking.
- Make a cinnamon glaze with a cup of confectioners’ sugar, teaspoon of cinnamon, and a tablespoon or two of buttermilk, cream, or milk. Or use the maple glaze from my maple donut cake.
Baking ratios
The base of this sourdough discard apple muffin recipe is from Michael Ruhlman’s Ratio. According to Ruhlman, the standard formula for muffins and quick breads is 2 parts flour to 2 parts liquid to 1 part egg to 1 part butter by weight.
If you are interested in how baking ratios can be applied in practice, check out other ratio-based recipes, including my lemon lavender cookies and blackberry lemon bread. Or look at other muffin recipes like my blueberry chocolate chip muffins, orange poppy seed muffins, or even savory spinach and feta muffins!
Recipe tips and tricks
Brown butter adds a deeper, caramel and nutty flavor to your baking. If you prefer, you can melt the butter and stop before the browning stage.
Muffins are typically made using the “muffin method” where you combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl and then add the wet ingredients. Contrast this with the “creaming method” that I use in my so-called banana chocolate chunk muffins, where I start out by creaming butter and sugar together.
Using the muffin method for these sourdough apple muffins, you first whisk the dry ingredients. Then combine the buttermilk, brown butter, egg, and vanilla in a large measuring cup and add them to the dry ingredients.
Like with other muffins, waffles, and pancakes, mix your sourdough batter only until the dry ingredients are completely moistened. Then add the chopped apples and scoop into your prepared muffin tin.
Bake in a 375 degree Fahrenheit oven until the sourdough apple muffins are firm and a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Cool in the pan for five minutes then turn the sourdough muffins out onto a cooling rack to cool completely before making the optional glaze or topping suggested in the variations.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you’ll need to calculate the amount of water and flour in your starter. And add flour and liquid to get to 4 ounces of each.
You should always make muffins, pancakes, and waffles soon after you make the batter. It’s always better to bake muffins and then freeze them if you want to make them in advance.
Yes! Muffins freeze well. Put cooled muffins into a freezer bag and remove all of the air. You can let them warm at room temperature, or pop them in a warm oven to defrost.
Related apple recipes
Got apples? Check out other sweet and savory apple recipes from the Ugly Duckling Bakery archives like:
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-heart 💜💜💜💜💜 rating in the recipe card below. Let me know how much you loved it, or any problems you had, in the comments section further down.
Recipe
Sourdough Discard Apple Muffins
Ingredients
- butter for greasing or muffin liners
- 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter
- ½ cup (57 grams) bleached all purpose flour
- ¼ cup + 1 teaspoon (57grams) granulated sugar
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 4 ounces (113 grams) 100% hydration sourdough discard
- ¼ cup (2 ounces) buttermilk, shaken
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 medium apple, cored, peeled, and chopped into ¼ inch cubes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Butter eight cups in a twelve-cup muffin tin or line it with muffin liners.butter for greasing or muffin liners
- Brown the butter by melting and cooking it over a medium-low heat until it starts to leave brown bits at the bottom of the pan, swirling or stirring occasionally. This is right about when the bubbling sounds stop. Let cool slightly.4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter
- Combine the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda) in a medium-large bowl.½ cup (57 grams) bleached all purpose flour, ¼ cup + 1 teaspoon (57grams) granulated sugar, ¾ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- Combine the sourdough starter, buttermilk, egg, and vanilla in a small bowl. Add the cooled butter, and then add this mixture to the dry ingredients.4 ounces (113 grams) 100% hydration sourdough discard, ¼ cup (2 ounces) buttermilk, shaken, 1 egg, slightly beaten, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Stir just enough to wet the dry ingredients, and then add the apple and mix to stir.1 medium apple, cored, peeled, and chopped into ¼ inch cubes
- Use a large cookie scoop or large spoon to fill the muffin cups about two-thirds of the way full.
- Bake for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the muffin comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition
Bored with the recipes you’ve been cooking and baking lately? Get inspiration here:
Wonderful taste! This recipe gives a full, rich taste with sourdough and buttermilk.
Thanks! I’m so glad you loved these sourdough apple muffins!
Just made these muffins – they came out scrumptious! I used yogurt instead of buttermilk (it’s what I had on hand) and added 1/8 tsp allspice, just to warm things up a bit. So yummy! Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Christina – I love your substitution and addition. I’m so glad you enjoyed them!