Sourdough Banana Nut Muffins
A sourdough banana nut muffin recipe, chock full of nuts, ripe bananas and of course, sourdough discard!
You'll love how tender and moist these muffins are with the addition of a little sour cream. Perfect to make ahead and freeze for busy mornings!
I think I could eat these muffins every single day. They're not too sweet or too heavy, and the sourdough discard gives them that tangy flavor I crave!
If you've been throwing your sourdough starter discard away after feedings, STOP! Save that liquid gold!
It's perfect for adding that sourdough flavor to recipes just like this one. Even though we are not fermenting the batter.
This recipe for sourdough banana nut muffins is based off my sourdough banana bread recipe, with the addition of walnuts. (So if you want to make a loaf of bread instead of muffins, check it out!)
This recipe makes 12 large muffins that you can eat right away or freeze for later!
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Step by step instructions
This recipe couldn't be easier to make, so let's dive straight into the details!
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together.
- Remove the bananas from their peels and use a fork to mash them in a separate bowl until they are smooth.
- In a large mixing bowl, use a spatula to cream the butter and sugar. Add the rest of the wet ingredients, including the mashed banana.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir in the walnuts until just incorporated. (Make sure to reserve some walnuts for the top!)
5. Divide the batter into a 12 count, paper lined muffin tin and sprinkle the top of each muffin with chopped walnuts. You can also sprinkle a little extra brown sugar if you have a sweet tooth like me!
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let them cool for about 15 minutes before serving.
Tips for success
When using baking powder and baking soda as leavening agents, it's always best to whisk them into the flour before combining them with the wet ingredients. It ensures that they are evenly distributed throughout the batter and that they are not activated until right before you bake.
I also recommend checking the expiration date on your baking soda and baking powder. These are ingredients that lose their strength over time and cause baking failures!
Don't over-mix the batter once you've added the flour. Over-mixing at this phase can cause the muffins to be tough. So stir in the dry ingredients until "just" combined!
Don't have a kitchen scale to measure flour?
Use the scoop and level technique to measure your flour if you do not have a kitchen scale. To do this, use a spoon to fluff up the flour in the bag. Use a spoon to scoop the flour into a measuring cup until it is heaped on top. Take a butterknife and level off the top. This should give you the most accurate measurement for flour.
Because flour is measured by weight in these recipes, if the flour is scooped straight out of the bag with the measuring cup, there will be more flour than is called for in the recipe.
If you're craving banana nut muffins but you don't have overripe bananas on-hand, you can make your own! Place the bananas, in the peel, on a baking sheet and bake at 250 degrees for 30-40 minutes. You want them to turn a dark color. Let cool before using.
I recommend using "aged" sourdough discard for this recipe. I like to collect my discard in a separate jar in my fridge. I keep adding to it when I feed my starter. After about 2 weeks, the discard has a really strong flavor, which is what really makes this recipe so special!
I tested this recipe with white sugar, light brown sugar and dark brown sugar. At the end of the day, I preferred the flavor of the dark brown sugar. With that being said, any of the these sugars works well. I have not tested with any sugar substitutes.
Add-ins like walnuts and/or chocolate chips make these muffins even more tasty!
I used an ice cream scoop to divide the batter evenly into the muffin tin.
If you don't have muffin tin liners, grease the tin liberally before adding batter.
How to store and freeze
Store your cooled banana nut muffins, at room temperature, in an air-tight container or wrapped in plastic wrap. Let the muffins cool completely so that condensation does not build up inside of the container!
These muffins will stay good for up to 4 days on the counter if properly stored.
Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week. You can pop one in the microwave for 30 seconds to quickly reheat, but make sure you don't cook too long. It will become tough and rubbery!
If you'd like to freeze the muffins, wrap them individually with foil and place them in a freezer bag. Make sure you get all of the air out before sealing the bag in order to help prevent freezer burn. Freeze for up to 3 months.
To thaw, take as many as you'd like out the night before, or at least a few hours before, and let them thaw on your counter.
Reheat the muffins in the microwave for 30 seconds or in an oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until heated through.
We hope you love this sourdough banana nut muffins recipe as much as our family does. Leave us a message in the comment section below!
Other recipes you may want to try:
- Double Chocolate Sourdough Muffins
- Sourdough Morning Glory Muffins
- Sourdough Blueberry Muffins
- Sourdough Banana Bread
- Sourdough Zucchini Bread
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Sourdough Banana Nut Muffins Recipe
EQUIPMENT
- Muffin tin
- Mixing Bowls
- Spatula
INGREDIENTS
Wet Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons (113 g) unsalted butter (melted)
- 1 cup (200 g) dark brown sugar (see notes)
- 2 large eggs
- 3 (350 g) very ripe bananas (about 1 cup, mashed)
- 3 tablespoons (45 g) sour cream
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) vanilla extract
- ½ cup (125 g) sourdough starter discard
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) fine sea salt
- 1 cup (125 g) walnuts (chopped)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C) and line a 12 count muffin tin with paper liners, or lightly grease.
- Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda together in a bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, use a fork to mash the bananas until smooth.
- Melt the butter in a mixing bowl and add the dark brown sugar. Use a spatula to cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs, mashed banana, sour cream, sourdough discard and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with the spatula until just combined. (Do not over mix!) Gently fold in ⅔ cup of the chopped walnuts.
- Divide the batter into the muffin tin and sprinkle the remaining ⅓ cup of chopped walnuts on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack.
NOTES
- Dark brown sugar can be replaced with either light brown sugar or white granulated sugar.
- Use the scoop and level technique to measure your flour if you do not have a kitchen scale. To do this, use a spoon to fluff up the flour in the bag. Use a spoon to scoop the flour into a measuring cup until it is heaped on top. Take a butterknife and level off the top. This should give you the most accurate measurement for flour.
- Store at room temperature in an air-tight container for up to 4 days.
- Freeze individually wrapped in foil and placed in a freezer bag.
I forgot the eggs, saw them on the counter when taking the muffins out, but they were still so delicious! So if anyone is wondering if you can omit the eggs, the answer is yes lol
These were so yummy! I have so much sourdough discard, and I didn't want to make pancakes.
I added some lemon zest and blueberries to mine.
They're light and moist and fluffy and I might have eaten three.
Thank you!
I just made these this morning. Easy recipe. Good flavor. I followed exactly as written. I used light brown sugar and ripe bubbly starter per option notes.
This recipe makes a lot; I had 18 regular size muffins, lined with papers, filled almost 7/8 full. They crowned nicely as baked. I checked at 22 minutes, snd they were done at 24 minutes.
The starter made them light and fluffy, not sour at all.
I think next time I may substitute half the butter for oil so they will be a little more moist.
Also they stick to the paper, so next time I will spray the paper cups before filling. I think this batch also would make 12 giant muffins instead of 18 regular. If I was making this as a bread, I’d used two 8x4 loaf pans instead of one giant 9” loaf.
I noticed the only difference between this recipe and the bread version, is that this one uses 2 eggs, while the bread uses only one: so I’m curious about that. Why add an extra egg for muffins?
Wow!! These are sooo yummy! 😋
They are super moist and just the perfect amount of sweetness. I added mini chocolate chips to 1/3 of them and blueberries to 1/3 of them. Great recipe!
Outstanding! This one has replaced my long-standing banana muffin recipe. I always cut the sugar down by half; it's still plenty sweet and I really love getting a bit more of the sourdough-ish flavor. I've also subbed yogurt for sour cream, and half of the flour for whole wheat with success.
Great idea about adding some whole what and less sugar ....i will try that
Easy and delicious. I liked that this wasn't overly sweet, although that could have been due to one of my bananas not being completely mushy. Thank you for offering weight measurements for all ingredients - made for super easy cleanup!
I’ve made this recipe twice now. Both times they’ve been superb! Best banana muffins according to myself and my husband, as well as friends I have shared with. Rave reviews all around! Thank you!
Thank you for this recipe! I am new to sourdough and am on the lookout for recipes that use the discard and this one is a keeper.
I made just 3 changes:
1. Since my 3 bananas added more than a cup of mushiness, i added a cup of oatmeal to the batter.
2. Since I did not have dark brown sugar, I added a tablespoon of molasses to my cup of light brown sugar.
3. Instead of 2 c of white flour, I used 1 c of white and 1 c of whole wheat
They came out amazing! I am so pleased to have it and will make these often. As other said, they were not too sweet and used the sourdough and bananas (which I always seem to have!) in a creative, delicious way.
Ahhhhhhmazing! Moist and super delicious! My walnuts were stale so I used semi-sweet chocolate chunks...Thank you for sharing this scrumptious recipe and giving me another way to use my discard!
Beautiful recipe, thank you!!