Skip to Content

Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins

Make Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins with your discard sourdough starter. These pumpkin muffins are light, tender and flavorful with just the right amount of pumpkin to make them a tasty Fall treat. Combining high quality, rich ingredients like milk, pumpkin puree, brown sugar and a blend of rich spices; these muffins rival even your favorite bakery muffins.

Sourdough discard has a well loved place in the world of baking, as it adds a delicious depth of flavor that balances out sweet baked goods. We have an extensive library of recipes using sourdough discard including pancakes, pie crust and even cookies. Be sure to take a look if you are looking for more delicious ways to use up your extra discard.

Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins Next To Winter Squash
Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins are so light, tender and flavorful! This recipe uses up your extra sourdough starter and creates amazing pumpkin muffins.

We love the moist springy texture and rich pumpkin flavor of these muffins. If you need to make a new starter try this Wild Sourdough Starter Method. This starter method is trusted and reliable for creating a rich flavor and strong base for all sourdough recipes.

Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins

What’s the secret to better muffins?

The method for making great muffins is like most baking, the secret is in the technique, ingredient prep, and execution. We are sharing our tips for how to create soft, fluffy, flavor filled Pumpkin Muffins that won’t be dry or dense.

  • Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately, waiting until the end to gently combine them.
  • Allow ingredients such as eggs and butter to warm to room temperature. This will aid in them combining with fewer lumps, cut down on mixing time and yield a creamier texture.
  • Wait to add extra flavors or inclusions until the very end, this prevents over mixing.
  • Be careful not to over mix, this breaks down the air pockets needed for a fluffy, soft muffin.
  • Line your pans with muffin papers, this ensures the muffins wont stick after baking.
  • Only fill your muffin liners to just over half full, overfilling will result in spillage and an uneven bake.
  • Use an ice cream or cookie scoop to fill your liners which will help ensure an even amount of batter.
  • Watch your muffins as they bake and when in doubt, bake at a lower temperature. This prevents the tops and edges from burning and helps keep the muffin from drying out after baking.
  • Follow the recipe measurements for the correct balance of spices and ingredients. A mis-measured recipe will affect the flavor, texture and overall integrity of the muffins.

How do I bake with Sourdough Discard?

Baking with your sourdough discard is a very easy and delicious way to ensure none of your precious sourdough starter goes to waste. When you bake with your sourdough discard you do not need to feed it first, the discard can be added to your recipe to add flavor as well as a leavening agent. Simply put, it is an ingredient similar to sour cream or yogurt, bringing a rich savory flavor, increased moisture, and giving the baked goods an additional rising factor.

For most recipes you can add 1 Cup of discard. This may vary of course depending on what you are baking, but as a general rule 1 Cup of discard will enrich most baked goods such as pancakes, muffins, cookies and similar treats. Because you are adding the discard as an additional ingredient, you will reduce the flour and liquids just a bit in your recipe.

Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins
Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins are moist and tender. Shelf life is great too!

Are Sourdough Discard Muffins healthy?

Sourdough Discard Muffins certainly can be made healthier, but the discard alone does not mean the muffins themselves will be healthier. To make a healthier muffin you would also need to change out some of the processed and refined ingredients often found in baked goods.

Some substitutions would include swapping out a white flour for whole wheat, using natural sweeteners such as raw honey or pure maple syrup in place of white granulated sugar, using coconut oil instead of the typical canola oil and so on. Sourdough discard can make a good base for a healthier muffin, but to achieve a healthier muffin also requires the use of better quality ingredients.

Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins
Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins have an open texture from the starter. Sourdough keeps the muffins tender, moist and fresh longer too.

Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins Recipe:

This recipe is perfect if you have extra sourdough starter that was fed within the last week and needs using. Simply pull out your jar of unfed starter and add the amount of discard needed to the recipe.

With the sourdough a fluffy, rich muffin full of delicious pumpkin flavors and a gorgeous tender crumb results.

The powdered sugar glaze is completely optional. Most of our family prefers these muffins without the glaze as it increases the sweetness significantly, but we chose to include it if you have the desire to dress it up.

How do I freeze Pumpkin Muffins?

Muffins of all kinds freeze and store very well making them excellent make-ahead treats, shareable food gifts, and the perfect grab and go addition for your travels. Once the muffins are baked allow them to cool fully, then wrap them individually in plastic wrap ensuring there are no holes or openings. The muffins can be stored in airtight freezer safe containers for up to 3 months.

To thaw and enjoy, remove them from your freezer and allow them to thaw on your counter or in your fridge. Once they have thawed all the way, you can warm them in your microwave if you desire.

Baking the muffins

  1. Preheat oven to 425 Degrees F.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice until combined.
  3. In a separate medium bowl, whisk the brown sugar and eggs together until combined.
  4. Gently add the pumpkin, oil, starter, milk, and vanilla into the sugar/egg mixture and stir to combine.
  5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
  6. Using an ice cream or cookie scoop, fill your lined muffin tins to just over halfway full.
  7. Bake large muffins for 5 minutes at 425F degrees. Keeping the muffins in the oven, lower the temperature down to 350F and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  8. Cool for 10 minutes in the muffin tin, then transfer to a wire rack to cool until ready to eat.

For mini Muffins preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 12 minutes until golden on top.

For the mini loaves bake 25 to 30 minutes after you reduce the heat to 350 degrees as instructed for the large muffins until they pass the toothpick test.

Making the glaze

In a 1 quart glass bowl

  • Add powdered sugar, vanilla and milk.
  • Whisk together and adjust consistency to your preference by adding in either more milk or sugar as needed.
  • The glaze will set up if left out in the air. If you cover the muffins with a lid or plastic wrap the glaze will stay wet.
Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins
Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins with the optional glaze

Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins

 NUTRITION INFO:

154 Calories / Serving

  • Fat
  • 12%      9 g
  • Carbs
  • 5%       17 g
  • Protein
  • 4%        2 g

Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins
Yield: 18 regular sized muffins

Sourdough pumpkin Muffins

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Adding sourdough starter to pumpkin muffins creates an incredibly tender moist crumb. The flavor of these muffins is all pumpkin spice. Perfect For Fall.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/3 Cup all-purpose flour  (for more cake like) otherwise 1/3 Cup as pictured. 160 grams for cakelike or 113 grams as pictured
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp.pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, 100 grams
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 Cup starter, 227 grams (unfed recently)
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree, 245 grams
  • 1/2 cup melted coconut (or avocado) oil, 60 grams
  • 1/2 Cup milk (Or greek yogurt), 70 grams
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/2 Cup chopped walnuts, fine chop in food processor recommended

For the Powdered Sugar Glaze

  • 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla
  • 1 tsp. milk
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon, Optional

Instructions

For the muffins:

  1. Preheat oven to 425 Degrees F.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice until combined.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk the brown sugar and eggs together until combined.
  4. Whisk the pumpkin, oil, starter, milk, and vanilla into the sugar/egg mixture.
  5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Set aside.
  6. Pour the walnuts into your food processor (Or fine chop with a large knife). Pulse several time until the walnuts are a very small chop.
  7. Add the chopped walnuts to the muffin batter and hand stir until just combined.
  8. Pour the batter carefully into either greased or cupcake papered (preferred) muffin tins. This recipe makes 12 large and 24 mini muffins or some combination of the two sizes.
  9. Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425F degrees. Keeping the muffins in the oven, lower the temperature down to 350F and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  10. Cool for 10 minutes in the muffin tin, then transfer to a wire rack to cool until ready to eat.
  11. For mini Muffins preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 12 minutes until golden on top.
  12. For the mini loaves bake 25 to 30 minutes after you reduce the heat to 350 degrees as instructed for the large muffins until they pass the toothpick test.

For the OPTIONAL GLAZE:

  1. In a 1 quart deep bowl
  2. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and milk.
  3. Whisk together and adjust consistency to your preference by adding in either more milk or sugar as needed.
  4. The glaze will set up if left out in the air. If you cover the muffins with a lid (like a cake cover) the glaze will stay wet.

Notes

These muffins can be frozen in an airtight container when tightly wrapped. They will last several weeks up to two months in the freezer. Defrost at room temperature.

Please note: Your starter consistency and how recently fed will both make a difference in how this recipe works for you. I originally used only 1/3 Cup flour for the starter consistency I used in the two batches I made with the results you see pictured. Others have needed more flour. Feel free to adjust the flour amount as best fits the starter you are using. The muffins will rise higher and be more cakelike with more flour. 

Nutrition Information

Yield

18

Serving Size

1 muffin

Amount Per Serving Calories 154

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

Looking for more muffin ideas?

Blueberry Muffins with Flax and Coconut Oil

Apple Pumpkin Seed Muffins

Fresh Apple Spice Muffins

Savory Zucchini Bacon Cheese Muffins

Rhubarb Cardamom Streusel Muffins

 King Arthur Flour- adding  Sourdough to recipes- suggestions by PJ Hamel

Follow Us:

We enjoy meeting you on our social networks. Follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram . Tag us with your pictures of our recipes and comment on how it went for you. We would love to see what you do with them.

We often like, comment and share your posts of our recipes on our daily Instagram stories.

Ask questions and rate the recipe in the comments section below. Please share what you did with this recipe. We are always looking for more and better ways to make homemade food. Other cooks love your ideas!

Recent Posts:

Glazed Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins-Pin Image
Make Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins with your discard sourdough starter. These pumpkin muffins are light, tender and flavorful! Create amazing pumpkin muffins for your family with that discard.

Elaine Brawn

Tuesday 13th of February 2024

My husband is a diabetic so I switched out the brown sugar I used Stevia ‘s brown sugar it worked great I used 1/2 reg sugar and 1/2 Stevia. The muffins were great! Thank you!

Diane

Tuesday 13th of February 2024

Hi Elaine, Its great to know these muffins work well with stevia replacing part of the sugar. That information will be very helpful to other low sugar bakers too. And thanks for the great review. We love to know you and your Husband enjoyed them. All the best!

Mary

Wednesday 15th of September 2021

Delicious muffins. I used spelt flour, butter and the entire can of pumpkin. Came out great! Thanks for the recipe!

Diane

Wednesday 15th of September 2021

Hi Mary, Your very welcome. I'm so happy you made it work for you with spelt. Thanks for letting us know. Happy Baking!

Megan

Sunday 21st of February 2021

Hello, These look super yummy! I am thinking of trying these using solely whole wheat flour and honey or maple syrup (instead of brown sugar). I have dietary restrictions that require the changes. Any recommendations on flour and sweetener amounts and which sweetener you might use? My sourdough starter tends to be on the thinker side, I think from using whole wheat flour in it and we would prefer these to not be cakelike. Thank you!

Diane

Sunday 21st of February 2021

Hi Megan, You can use WHITE whole wheat flour and get a better less dense muffin. The nutritional analysis is the same for both red and white berry whole wheat flours so I would start with that. Montana Prairie Gold is a good choice. King Arthur and Bob's Red Mill both also carry white whole wheat flour. You can use whatever sweetener works best for you. I have used organic coconut sugar to replace brown sugar in the past. Maple syrup is also going to add that extra rich maple flavor that will work great in this recipe. Hope this helps. Please let us know what you do. It's so helpful to other bakers with dietary restrictions. Have a wonderful weekend!

Helene

Tuesday 10th of November 2020

Really delicious muffins! I did just half of the amount, because 18 muffins sounded like a lot, but I guess these are tiny ones. I got 5 medium-bigger size muffins from half of the amount. I used the maximum amount of flour suggested and muffins turned out fluffy and soft. I´m gonna do another patch soon :)

Diane

Tuesday 10th of November 2020

Hi Helene, I'm so happy you enjoyed these sourdough pumpkin muffins. I use regular size muffin tins. If you make these again try the whole recipe. These freeze well if you want to hold some over for later. Happy Baking!

Bethany

Monday 30th of March 2020

I am also confused by the 2 different flour measurements, which don't correspond to the weights. Which amount of flour is correct? ?

Diane

Monday 30th of March 2020

Hi Bethany, The flour amount can be in a range for these muffins. I know that sounds a bit strange but your starter and its development will affect how much flour you need. Also how dense you want the cupcakes. I just made these a few days ago and used the larger amount of flour. They were delicious and more cakelike than you see here. So I'm trying o offer options in the recipe for you. I hope this helps.

Skip to Recipe