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This recipe wears a superman/woman kind of cape that saves ingredients from spoiling…….
Like the speckled bananas sitting on the counter, currently collecting fruit flies. The zucchini spilling out of your summer garden, day after day.
And the sourdough starter discard you just really want to find a good use for, when you’re not baking my Everyday Sourdough Bread.
Together, these three make one heck of a soft and fluffy muffin that tastes like it was fully planned.
With sourdough baking, discarding some of your starter before you feed it each time can feel wasteful.
But you don’t have to throw it out! The great thing about sourdough discard is that it can be used in other recipes even after sitting in your refrigerator for 10 days.
I save mine in a separate jar in the refrigerator, and let it accumulate to make something delicious like 5 Ingredient Sourdough Discard Biscuits. They are super tall, and super flaky. I can’t recommend enough!
I’ve been experimenting with spelt flour, an ancient grain that’s especially high in protein, a bit more as well, and I really love its slightly sweet, nutty flavor composition.
I used it as the flour base in this recipe, with just a touch of oat flour and cornstarch to lighten the crumb. For texture and richness, walnuts were the answer. They’re also a tried and true flavor match to banana and cinnamon!
This recipe make exactly a dozen muffins, and keep well on the counter for three days. They freeze well too. Just wait for them to cool, wrap individually in tin foil, then put in a freezer ziploc bag.
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 this granola where I don’t want the sourness to come through, I use discard that is less than 6 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 simple pour the liquid off into garbage, and scrape the very top off, and use the rest as discard.
SCALE:
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Hello, If I sub AP for the spelt flour, should I omit the corn starch?
Hello! Do omit the corn starch. It softens the proteins in the flour too create a soft muffin texture.
So use AP flour, oat flour, and cornstarch?
correct!
Would another Gluten Free flour work instead of spelt? like almond flour?
Hi! I would suggest using Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 gf all purpose flour in the blue bag, in place of the spelt.
Used all purpose flour and they came out great. light and fluffy and lightly sweetend.
Love to hear that it worked well with AP flour!
This recipe is wonderful I use whole wheat flour ( didn’t have spelt) add butternut squash 1/3 cup ( no corn starch) coconut oil, the rest the same,it was amazing 💕💕💕love it
Fabulous! So glad you enjoyed these discard muffins.
I have all the ingredients except for cane sugar. Can I substitute coconut or regular sugar?
You could substitute regular sugar!
how do I convert grams of flour, etc to cups or Tablespoons, teaspoons?
hi Peggy! you’ll want to weigh the ingredients by grams to ensure the recipe turns out as tested. cups are volume, which is different than measuring by weight.
I don’t have spelt flour can you make another suggestion on the flour?
Thank you
Susan
all purpose flour should also work great!
Thank you
Good morning,
Thanks for your kind replay.
I would like to find a recipe for making savory muffins using sourdough
I always find sweet recipes.
Thanks again
Maria
Hello Amanda,
Can I replace fruit with vegetables?
I’d like some savory muffins.
Thanks
Maria
hello Maria! i haven’t tested these with a substitute for the bananas.
Hi Amanda! I don’t have spelt flour, can I use einkorn instead?
yes, that should work fine! einkorn and spelt have similar gluten content.
Thanks! It worked perfectly, and I’m on my second batch already :)
Love love love these!! Flavor is scrumptious and really happy with natural ingredients. Not too sweet – el perfecto!! Will definitely make again. Thank you for sharing.
So glad you liked the discard muffins, Dawn!
Would this work with other summer squashes? I love the idea of using discard and zucchini, two things in abundance right now!
Yes, you can use any type of summer squash!
These are lovely! I used King Arthur Whole Wheat instead of spelt flour, and quick oats instead of oat flour, and added a pinch of nutmeg to enhance the spice. I also toasted the walnuts before I added them to the batter. They came out moist and delicious, with the perfect amount of sweetness.
I’m so glad you liked the recipe! I can’t wait to try a raspberry version of them this summer.
I love your muffin liners! Are these DIY liners? While waiting for your answer, I am cutting my parchment papers.
Whoa! These are delicious. I was sure they would be (got my starter from you!), but they are so fluffy and the perfect texture. Yum!!
Yay! I’m so glad you liked the recipe! These are some of my favorite muffins. Can’t wait to make them again soon.
These are so gorgeous Amanda! I always hated throwing away starter when I was in sourdough mode – this is a genius way to use some of it up. The walnuts must add the perfect crunch! Also enamored with your muffin cup action!