Tangy Sourdough Muffins studded with fresh strawberries are delicious for breakfast brunch, afternoon tea, snack, dessert, you name it.
Sourdough and fresh berries are a wonderful combination, tangy and sweet. These muffins are perfect for spring and summer when strawberries are at their best.
About Sourdough Starter
Long before sourdough became trendy it was the leavener of choice for pioneers, miners and other homesteaders. None of this "hydration" talk or "discarding" starter nonsense (throw away food?! heaven forbid!). You used it to cook with regularly and always saved a bit to keep the starter going for the next recipe.
If you do not have sourdough starter ask around to see if you can get some. Sourdough fans love to share starter, knowledge and recipes. Or you can make your own (it will take a week or more) with these easy instructions from my blogging buddy Erin at The Spiffy Cookie.
Adjust the recipe for you sourdough starter
Some people keep their sourdough on the thick side, almost resembling soft bread dough. Mine is usually much more liquid to the point I can pour it, more like Greek yogurt. But, sometimes it is thicker, I don't overthink my hydration levels.
I do account for the variations in the starter thickness when cooking with it starting with less flour and slowly adding more if needed. I have adjusted the recipe instruction to explain this.
If your starter is extra sour, you will want to add a bit more baking soda. These muffins are lightly sweet, add more sugar if you want them sweeter.
Can you use sourdough discard for this?
I am not a big fan of the term discard. The concept of throwing out food is a strange concept to me.
But yes, you can.
The sourdough is here for taste, the leavening comes from the baking powder and soda.
More Mother's Day Brunch Recipes from #OurFamilyTable
Celebrate the Mom's in your life with a lovely brunch including these delicious recipes:
Mother's Day Brunch Ideas
- Blueberry Buckle from Art of Natural Living
- Chef Salad Kebabs from Palatable Pastime
- Chorizo and Egg Breakfast Tacos from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
- Dutch Baby Pancake from Jen Around the World
- Hawaij Spiced Coffee Cake from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
- Rainbow Salad with Tandoori Dressing from Magical Ingredients
- The British Bloody Mary from Karen's Kitchen Stories
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Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup sourdough starter (see note)
- ยฝ cup sugar
- 4 tablespoons butter flavored coconut oil or shortening
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ยฝ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ยฝ cup fresh strawberries (sliced)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ยฐF. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin or line with wrappers.
- In a mixing bowl, combine sourdough, sugar, oil and egg.
- The mixture should be the consistency of pancake batter at this point. If it is too thick double the starter and do not add more flour.
- Stir in dry ingredients just until moistened - adjusting the amount of flour as needed so it the batter has the consistency of muffin batter.
- Fold in strawberries.
- Fill muffin cups ยพ full. Bake at 400ยฐF 20-25 minutes, until golden and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Notes
Sound fabulous? Share it!
Until next time, happy eating!
~Audrey
Christie
The sourdough sounds so interesting! I've never had a sweet sourdough muffin. I can't wait to try these.
Meredith
Is the sourdough listed in the ingredients, active sourdough or discard? Do you measure yours by weight (grams)? And do you have an alternative ingredient to shortening (is this Chrisco) or coconut oil? Thanks so much for the extra help. I'm excited to make these ๐ I'm really having fun exploring my options with sourdough!!
Audrey
I explain in the text above the recipe that you can use active or "discard" sourdough since the leavening comes from the baking powder and soda. I'll add it to the notes of the recipe as well to avoid confusion in the future.
No, I don't measure by weight. The recipe this is based on is from miners and homesteaders who wouldn't have had a scale or bothered to take the time to use one.
Use any fat you like if you don't want to use shortening or coconut oil: butter, margarine, cooking oil, etc. The original recipe makers probably would have used lard, haha!
Chloe
Made these today! Ended up having to adjust the recipe. Not sure if milk got left off of the recipe, but after one cup of flour my mixture was so thick I couldn't even stir it anymore. I ended up adding about a 1 cup of almond milk and only about 1 and a half cups of flour. I also last minute added some white chocolate chips, and then baked at 350ยฐ instead of 400ยฐ. With my changes, these ended up being soooo delicious. But, some changes definitely need to be made to this recipe. If followed exactly I would have had a floury mess.
Audrey
No, there is no milk in the recipe. The difference is probably in the thickness of the sourdough starter. Yours is probably much thicker than mine. I will add a paragraph explaining this and tweak the instructions a bit thanks to your suggestions.
The white chocolate chips sound divine with the strawberries.
Ms Gloria E Eren
Can I use butter in the place of oil
Audrey
Yes. This recipe is based on one from a pioneer cookbook, butter would have been a luxury. Oil was easier to carry and store. Luckily we aren't limited in that way today.