These Sourdough Apple Muffins with a streusel topping are a perfect treat for those cozy fall days! These muffins are made with sourdough discard and come together in just a few minutes, so you'll be serving a tasty breakfast or brunch in no time!
Jump to:
Why you'll love this recipe
- This easy recipe comes together in with about 15 minutes of hands-on time. You'll have warm muffins on the table in under an hour. Perfect for a weekend morning!
- Try these Sourdough Discard Blueberry Muffins, too!
- This recipe is easy to adapt to make with different types of apples, pears, adding nuts, or a combination of all of the above!
- The cinnamon and nutmeg give these muffins a great nutty fall flavor that is so warm and comforting.
- If you're in an apple mood, try this Sourdough Discard Apple Pull Apart Bread and these Sourdough Discard Apple Cinnamon Rolls!
Ingredients
There are only a few key ingredients you'll need to pull these muffins together.
- Sourdough discard: The sourdough discard should be unfed and at room temperature for this recipe. This recipe is designed for a sourdough starter using a 1:1 ratio (when you feed your starter, it's with 1 part flour and 1 part water). If your starter uses a different ratio, you may need to adjust some of the ingredients in this recipe.
- Learn more about how to make a sourdough starter.
- Apples: I like to use Gala apples, but other types that work well are Jonagold, Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Fuji, Granny Smith, and Pink Lady apples. A small dice or even shredded apples will be best to get the apples evenly distributed in the muffins.
See full recipe below for detailed directions.
Substitutions & Variations
This is a very adaptable recipe and below are a few easy substitutions and variations you can try.
- Use pears - Use a combination of apples and pears, or only pears to make pear muffins!
- Add nuts - Fold up to ½ cup chopped nuts (such as walnuts, pecans or almonds) into the batter with the diced apples. Continue baking as directed.
- Add dried cranberries - Fold ½ of dried cranberries into the batter with the diced apples. Continue baking as directed.
I have not tested this recipe with other variations, but if you do, let us know how it turns out in the comments!
How to Make Sourdough Discard Apple Muffins
These muffins come together in a few easy steps! The full recipe with detailed directions is at the bottom of this post.
- Step 1: Combine the ingredients for the streusel topping and set aside.
- Step 2: Cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Step 3: Whisk together the dry ingredients and set aside.
- Step 4: Whisk together the wet ingredients and set aside.
- Step 5: Add the dry ingredients and wet ingredients to the creamed butter mixture and mix just until almost no dry spots remain. Fold in the diced apples.
- Step 6: Use a spoon or cookie scoop to fill a lined muffin pan with the muffin batter. Sprinkle generously with the streusel topping and turbinado sugar (optional), then bake!
Expert Baking Tips
- Line your muffin pan with muffin liners. You can either use store-bought muffin liners (or these silicone cups), or make your own parchment paper liners.
- Chop the apples to a small dice, or shred them. This way, it's easier to distribute the apples in the dough so you'll end up with apples in every bite of muffin! Also, no need to peel the apples.
- The streusel topping is optional, but adds some nice sweetness and crunch. If you want to skip it, I recommend sprinkling the muffins with some turbinado sugar before baking!
- A cookie scoop is the easiest way to fill the muffin cups. I like to use a 3-tablespoon cookie scoop, and then use a spatula to add any extra batter!
- Avoid overfilling the muffin cups. Better to make an extra 1-2 muffins rather than have overflowing muffins, or muffins that come out flat.
- In a fall baking mood? Try these Sourdough Discard Pumpkin Bagels and these Sourdough Discard Pumpkin Muffins!
Storage
Room Temperature Storage: Once cooled, store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can reheat them in the microwave for 15-30 seconds to make them warm and soft again.
Freezer Storage: These muffins also freeze very well. Let them cool completely, then transfer to an airtight container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. To reheat, let the muffins thaw at room temperature, or reheat in the microwave for about 60 seconds.
Recipe FAQs
Sourdough discard is what is left over after you feed your sourdough starter. You can either literally discard it (throw it away or compost it), or use it in sourdough discard recipes like this one.
If you are new to working with sourdough starter, check out these in-depth posts on how to feed sourdough starter, how to use sourdough discard, and tips for struggling sourdough starter.
Yes! This would work particularly well with other types of apples or pears.
I highly recommend using muffin liners to make it easier to remove the muffins from the pan. If you'd rather not use them, make sure to grease your pan well before adding the batter.
No! You can leave the peel on. A small dice, or even shredding the apples, works best so they distribute evenly throughout the batter (and you'll end up with apples in every bite of the baked muffins!).
More Sourdough Discard Breakfast Recipes
If you tried these Sourdough Discard Apple Muffins or any other recipe on my website, please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I'd love to hear from you! Happy Baking!
Sourdough Apple Muffins
Ingredients
For the Muffins
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 200 grams (about ¾ cup) sourdough discard unfed, at room temperature
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil or other neutral oil
- 2 Tablespoons yogurt non-dairy or regular dairy, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups diced apple about 1 large apple
For the Streusel Topping (optional)
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup old-fashioned oats
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 3 Tablespoons light brown sugar packed
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Turbinado sugar for topping
Instructions
Make the Streusel Topping
- In a small bowl, combine ⅓ cup flour, ¼ cup oats, 3 Tablespoons melted butter, 3 Tablespoons brown sugar, and ½ teaspoon cinnamon. Mix until combined and crumbly, and set aside.
Make the Muffins
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190℃) and line a 12-cup muffin pan with muffin liners. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, use a hand-held mixer on medium speed to cream together the softened butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, nutmeg, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a third bowl, mix together the sourdough discard, eggs, vegetable oil, yogurt, and vanilla extract until smooth and combined. Add the mixed dry ingredients and wet ingredients to the creamed butter mixture. Stir until almost no dry spots remain, then fold in the diced apples. Stir until just incorporated (no need to over-mix!).
- Use a spoon or cookie scoop to fill the lined muffin cups about ⅔ full with batter. Sprinkle generously with streusel topping and turbinado sugar (optional).
- Bake for 30-32 minutes until lightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then serve or transfer to a cooling rack to cool fully.
Shellie says
These muffins are absolutely delicious!
Lisa Wooley says
They taste good but were flat….
Kasey says
Love this recipe!
I used 100g of active starter and subbed the other 100 g with 50 g AP flour and 50g whole milk. Because I only had half the active starter, I also added half of the baking powder you called for in your recipe. It ended up cooking in 22-27 min and tasted wonderful! I think next time, I will only add 1/2 - 3/4 cup of sugar because the apples made it so sweet (in a great way!) Thank you!