Sourdough Chocolate Chip Muffins
This is the BEST sourdough chocolate chip muffin recipe with leftover sourdough starter discard. The muffins are quick, easy to make, and packed with decadent, melty chocolate chips.
Moist, tender, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious, they’re just like the ones from the bakery!
Just like our crowd-favorites double chocolate sourdough muffins and sourdough blueberry muffins, these delicious muffins are made with sourdough discard and a handful of wholesome, simple ingredients.
These muffins are perfect for breakfast, a midday pick-me-up, or even a decadent dessert. They hit the spot anytime.
This recipe yields 16 generously sized, bakery-style muffins that are sure to impress!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Chocolate Chips: Semi-sweet chocolate chips are a classic choice, but you can also use milk, dark, or white chocolate chips.
- Oil: We love avocado oil for its neutral flavor, but you can swap it with melted butter or coconut oil (make sure the coconut oil is melted, not solid, for smooth mixing). Vegetable oil also works if that's what you have on hand.
- Sour cream: Sour cream is our favorite for a tender crumb, but full-fat plain Greek yogurt is an easy substitute.
- Milk: We use whole milk to thin the batter, but skim or plant-based milk will do.
- Sourdough Starter: This recipe uses ½ cup of unfed sourdough starter, making it perfect for your discard. If your starter is active, that works, too—you will still need to use baking soda and baking powder for the muffins to rise.
- Flour: Stick with all-purpose flour for the best texture; avoid whole wheat or bread flour.
- Eggs, Baking Soda, Baking Powder & Salt: The eggs give the muffins structure, while the baking soda and baking powder ensure they rise beautifully—a pinch of salt ties all the flavors together.
- Add-ins: Toss in ½ cup of chopped pecans or walnuts for a nutty crunch.
How to make sourdough chocolate chip muffins
Preliminary Note: This recipe yields about 16 muffins. Since most muffin pans have 12 wells, you can use two or bake 12 muffins first, then bake the remaining 4.
Preheat the oven to 425°F (218°C) and place the oven rack in the center position. Line a muffin pan with paper muffin liners.
Step 1
Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
Step 2
In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients. Use a whisk to combine the oil, sugar, eggs, sour cream, milk, vanilla extract, and sourdough starter discard. Mix until the ingredients come together and are smooth.
Step 3
Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix the batter until it just comes together. Do not over-mix the batter.
Step 4
Fold in the chocolate chips using a spatula until they are evenly distributed in the batter.
Step 5
Use an ice cream scooper to fill the liners. The batter should come to the top of the liner for more oversized muffins.
Sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top of each one.
Step 6
Bake the muffins for the first 5 minutes at 425°F (218°C) in the preheated oven. Then, lower the oven temperature to 350°F (176°C) and bake for 15-18 minutes.
Carmyn's Tips
Don’t overmix the batter: Mix just until the dry ingredients are incorporated to keep the muffins light and fluffy. Overmixing can make them dense.
Fold in chocolate chips gently: Use a spatula to fold the chocolate chips into the batter to avoid overworking it.
Fill muffin cups generously: For that classic domed top, fill the muffin cups almost to the top.
Add a chocolate chip topping: Sprinkle a few extra chocolate chips on top of each muffin before baking for a bakery-style finish.
Customize: Don’t be afraid to mix in extras like nuts, shredded coconut, or even a sprinkle of cinnamon.
How to Store
Refrigerate: Store the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the fridge for up to a week.
Freeze: Wrap them individually in plastic wrap and place them into a freezer-safe container to avoid freezer burn. They will stay fresh for up to 3 months in the freezer.
More Sourdough Discard Recipes
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Sourdough Chocolate Chip Muffins
INGREDIENTS
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) salt
- 1 ½ cups (355 g) mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (120 g) avocado oil (any neutral-flavored oil, NOT olive oil)
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) vanilla extract
- ½ cup (125 g) sourdough starter (fed or discard)
- ¾ cup (185 g) sour cream
- ¼ cup (60 g) milk (whole, skim, or any plant-based milk)
- 2 eggs
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preliminary Note: We highly recommend measuring the ingredients in grams with a kitchen scale. Please note that if you use measuring cups, the taste and texture may differ.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (218°C) and place the oven rack in the center position. Line a muffin tin with paper liners (*see notes).
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1 teaspoon (5 g) salt. Set the bowl aside.
- In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients. Use a whisk to combine the ½ cup (120 g) avocado oil, 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar, 2 eggs, ¾ cup (185 g) sour cream, ¼ cup (60 g) milk, 1 tablespoon (15 g) vanilla extract, and ½ cup (125 g) sourdough starter discard. Mix until the ingredients come together and are smooth.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix the batter until it just comes together. Do not over-mix the batter. Using a spatula, fold in 1 ½ cups (355 g) mini semi-sweet chocolate chips until they are evenly distributed in the batter.
- Use an ice cream scooper to fill the liners. For bigger muffins, the batter should come to the top of the liner. Sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top of each one if you want even more chocolate flavor!
- Bake the muffins for the first 5 minutes at 425°F (218°C) in the preheated oven. Lower the oven temperature to 350°F (176°C) and bake the muffins for 15-18 minutes. When they are done, a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Remove the muffins from the oven and allow them to cool completely in the muffin tin.
Another fantastic recipe from Little Spoon Farm. My family loved these muffins! I didn’t have sour cream or avocado oil on hand so I subbed plain Greek yogurt and melted butter. They turned out great. Next time I plan to make them as written. Thanks for this recipe!
These were easy to make and tasted fabulous! I used mini chocolate chips this time and they worked great, I will make again!
Love these! I did actually use olive oil because that’s all I had at the moment and they still turned out great. Going to try a different oil on Christmas but wanted to test them prior to! Highly recommend!
These sourdough chocolate chip muffins are perfection! Quick and easy to make and absolutely delicious. Thank you for another incredible recipe!
You are so very welcome Katie 🙂
Amazing. Not too sweet. My daughter ate an entire one at breakfast. Crispy on top. Can’t say enough good things about them. And so easy!
Thank you Jennie 🙂
Outstanding. Best muffins I have ever made and entire family loved them. So soft and tasty! My wife requested that I make another batch for the Thanksgiving day feast. Thanks!!
Thank you, Frederick! We're thrilled to hear you and your family loved them!
Best chocolate mini muffins I’ve tried!
The grams measurement on the chocolate chips seems a bit off. I estimated a cup of mini chocolate chips to be 177 g, making 1.5 cups = 265 grams. That was a lot of chocolate chips. I can’t imagine 355 grams. I made these as mini muffins. I followed the baking instructions (425 degrees for five minutes, then 350 for 8 minutes). My three and five year old approved.
Thank you for sending this recipe. I have been eyeing it since I got my email. I always have the dilemma of baking it regular or trying gluten-free. My husband is gluten-free the rest of us are not. I decided to try them gluten-free. I have two sourdough starters. My gluten-free flour starter is made with brown rice flour from Vitacost and bottled water. So my discard is in the fridge. The flour I used is a mock Better Batter. I have to make my flour since Better Batter is not sold over here on the West Coast (or at least Southern California). There’s a website that gives you the ingredient list to make the Better Batter flour these muffins came out super good, moist and super yummy. I am going to make them with regular sourdough discard but I wanted to make some for my husband, so I tried the gluten-free way! The kids and I already tried one and they are very yummy. Very soft. So if there’s anybody out there gluten-free, this recipe was easily adaptable with the flours that I used. Also the sourdough discard blueberry muffins, I have made gluten-free also. But did not use the mock better batter I believe I use the Pillsbury gluten-free flour. Thank you again for all the yummy recipes that you guys post. Everything that I’ve made from you is very good. I forgot. I also made your sourdough brownies gluten-free also.
Hi Melissa! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your tips!
Can these be made gluten free? I bake for family members with celiac
Hi Martha, no they can not be made gluten free with a wheat sourdough starter.
I made this recipe gluten-free. I posted in the comments on the flours I used. The recipe came out very well for us moist soft, just like a regular muffin.. My husband is gluten-free the rest of us or not so I wanted to try making him something. Hope this helps you.
Another delicious recipe!! I used a bit less sugar (170g) and as per your substitution suggestions added some cinnamon and coconut. I had some left over coconut milk so I used that. I didn’t read the baking right so as soon as I put the muffins in the oven I turned it to 350*, so I ended up baking for a total of 22 min. They turned out perfect. Thank you so much!