These sourdough discard pumpkin muffins are a quick and easy fall treat to make. They’re perfect for using sourdough discard and sourdough bakers will appreciate the tang that the discard gives these muffins!
These sourdough discard pumpkin muffins are a slightly sweet muffin with a delicious sweet topping. They go great with hot coffee or tea. My kids loved eating them for breakfast!
If you need more Sourdough Recipes be sure to also check out these Sourdough Discard Apple Muffins and Sourdough Cinnamon Cookies.
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❤️ Why you’ll love this recipe
- Easy: This is a simple recipe that uses pantry staples.
- Perfect for fall: These muffins are the epitome of pumpkin spice.
- Breakfast or snack. These muffins are perfect for a quick breakfast or snack. They go great with a hot cup of coffee or tea too.
👩🏻🍳 Ingredients needed
To make these muffins, you will need:
- Flour: The base of the muffin batter.
- Brown sugar: To sweeten the muffins. This recipe uses all brown sugar which I think helps bring out the pumpkin flavor.
- Baking soda: To help the muffins rise.
- Salt: You’ll need just ½ of a teaspoon of salt.
- Cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger: To give the muffins some spice.
- Canned pumpkin: Be sure to use canned pumpkin and not pumpkin pie mix. If you want to use an entire can of pumpkin, simply double the recipe.
- Sourdough discard: You’ll need ½ of a cup of unfed sourdough discard. If you are new to sourdough baking be sure to read how to make your own sourdough starter with blueberries.
- Eggs: You’ll need two large eggs for this recipe.
- Vanilla extract: If you can, I recommend using pure vanilla extract.
- Milk: I used regular milk, I haven’t tested this recipe with almond or coconut milk. If you do try a milk alternative, please leave a comment and let me know how it turns out.
- Vegetable oil or coconut oil: You can also use safflower oil or another neutral oil.
For the topping:
- Cinnamon, brown sugar, and white sugar
⏲️ How to make these muffins (step by step guide)
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the ingredients for the muffins.
Mix with a hand mixer until everything is well combined (image 1).
In a small bowl combine the ingredients for the topping (image 2). Mix well with a fork or whisk.
Pour into a lined cupcake tin about ⅔ full (image 3). Be careful not overfill or the muffins will spill over while baking.
Generously add the topping on top of the muffins with a spoon (image 4). Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the middle.
🧾 Tips
- If you have an entire can of pumpkin to use, you can double the recipe.
- Baking times can vary oven to oven so I recommend checking the muffins around 16 minutes.
- The topping is optional, you can leave it out if you like.
- Be careful taking the muffins out of the oven because the topping can drop in your oven if you shake the pan. You can put a sheet pan under them to catch any crumbs.
♨️ Variations
You can add some chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, or nuts (like pecans or walnuts) into these muffins. About one cup of nuts or chocolate chips works great with this recipe.
Other sourdough recipes that you might like:
If you tried these Sourdough Discard Pumpkin Muffins or any other recipe on my site, please leave a ⭐ rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. I would love to hear from you!
Sourdough Discard Pumpkin Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin tin
Ingredients
For the muffins
- 1 cup canned pumpkin not pumpkin pie mix
- ½ cup sourdough starter unfed
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil or coconut oil
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cups brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
For the topping
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the ingredients for the muffins. Mix with a hand mixer until everything is well combined.1 cup canned pumpkin, ½ cup sourdough starter, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 2 large eggs, ½ cup vegetable oil, ¼ cup milk, 2 cups all purpose flour, 1 ¼ cups brown sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ginger
- In a small bowl combine the ingredients for the topping. Mix well with a fork or whisk.¼ cup sugar, ¼ cup brown sugar, ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- Pour into a lined cupcake tin about ⅔ full. Be careful not overfill or the muffins will spill over while baking.
- Generously add the topping on top of the muffins with a spoon.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the middle.
Aubrey says
I used this recipe to make strawberry muffins. I didn’t add any of the spices. I added and extra 1/4 cup of flour. Instead of pumpkin I used pureed strawberries. They turned out great!
Renee says
Absolutely scrumptious muffins! I seriously don’t think I’ve ever had a better muffin. I made up a little streusel topping and added that, but they are so moist and dense and rich and just full of flavor. This is going to be one I come back to again and again. Thank you!
Kate Mowery says
Hi, I really have to give a review on this recipe. My family has been on a diet and we were not able to have regular milk so I substituted the milk for coconut milk. It was delicious! My dad and brother are pretty picky and they loved them.
I used Thai Kitchen Organic coconut milk unsweetened. I did half of the amount, called for in the recipe, coconut milk and the other half water. I also used coconut sugar for regular sugar.
We thought it would have a strong coconut flavor. But to our surprise, after it sat and soaked for nine hours (note the eggs are organic and labeled free-range), there was no hint of coconut flavor even after they were baked. They actually came out with a creamy flavor texture that has been enjoyed by my family.
Hope this helps if anyone wants to try coconut milk.
Kate says
This is an amazing recipe! I think these muffins were the best I have ever made! I used 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour & 1 cup all purpose flour, plus my starter is a whole wheat starter. And then I also subbed oatmilk for the milk. And they turned out so good. Usually when I make even partially whole wheat muffins, they’re a bit dense or dry. These were perfect and soft. This will definitely be a recipe I keep around! Thank you!! 🙂
Audrey says
So glad you liked it!!