This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This Moist Sourdough Discard Banana Bread is a favorite of mine and readers. One of my friends mentioned that she had used the recipe to make muffins instead of bread and her 2-year old grandson LOVED them, as well of the rest of her family. What a great idea!
So I ran with that idea, having a jar of sourdough discard sitting in my refrigerator that needed to be used. I adjusted the leavening of the banana bread recipe just slightly for muffins so that they’d bake up a bit fluffier than the texture of a quick bread. Adding mini chocolate chips was an easy decision, because banana and chocolate are always a good combination.
These sourdough discard muffins are just the right amount of sweet, with flavors of ripe bananas and a lightly tropical undertone. The natural sweetness of the bananas shines through, and is complemented by the vanilla extract and melted chocolate chips in each bite. They bake up tall and lofty from a 30 minute rest, just like bakery muffins. I love their texture; especially soft and tender with a light crumb!
In order to keep an active sourdough starter for making favorites like Rye Sourdough Bread and Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls, you have to feed your starter to keep it alive. Before feeding your starter, you remove (discard), a portion of it each time to refresh the acidity levels. As a sourdough starter rises and falls it expresses acids and alcohol, that if not used or left in the jar, can negatively affect the balance of your starter.
Sourdough discard can be a magical ingredient, making cakes and baked goods fluffy and soft because it increases the acidity of the batter, which weakens the gluten in flour. I use it in my healthy sourdough discard zucchini muffins, too. Contrary to what one might think sourdough discard doesn’t make sweet recipes sour!
Because it has already been fermented, the gluten in the sourdough discard itself has been weakened, so additional leaving agents like baking soda or baking powder is used for the rise.
You can keep sourdough discard in your refrigerator for up to 10 days. The discard will be more sour the longer it stays in the fridge. So for something like these pumpkin scones or sourdough discard rhubarb cake where I don’t want the sourness to come through, I use discard that is less than 5 days old.
Your discard might accumulate a little liquid on the top while it’s in the fridge, which is called hooch, simply meaning alcohol that is the byproduct of fermentation. You can simply pour the liquid off into the garbage, then scrape the very top off and use the rest as discard.
Storing muffins on the counter (or in the fridge in the summer) in a sealed container or plastic bag lined with a paper towel helps capture extra moisture that may form on the top of the muffins, while ensuring the muffins stay fresh. When you’d like to eat one, reheat an individual muffin in the microwave for 15 seconds and they’ll be just as delicious as the day you made them.
Muffins also freeze extremely well. Line the muffins on a baking sheet and let them freeze individually, then put in a freezer safe bag. When you want to eat one, take out of freezer bag and reheat for 30-45 seconds in the microwave, or until the middle is warm.
SCALE:
tag @heartbeetkitchen on instagram and hashtag it #heartbeetkitchen
We don’t use those oils – prefer only butter, lard, coconut or avocado oil. Will any of these work?
Yes, coconut oil will work!
Awesome! Thanks!
My family thought it was a very nice recipe! The sourdough discard added lovely depth to the flavours, (we found it similar to using buttermilk for depth).
Hi Amanda, can I use canola oil in this recipe?
Thank you!
yes, canola oil works great here!
If allergic to nuts can this be made just with AP flour? Thank you!
Hello Judy! That will be fine to use all AP flour, the crumb will just be slightly different.
Thanks for the quick response!