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Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Sourdough Discard Muffins

Sourdough Discard Muffins

As I've been daily refreshing my various wild yeast cultures, I've been looking again for ways to use up the discards again, and I came across this recipe for muffins from sourdough home.

I suppose it might be better if it were left to rise overnight, but it is not a bad muffin recipe that can be tossed together fairly quickly, possibly even before going to work, right after refreshing the starter.  It uses baking soda, so it is a quickbread, but I've had people say that the result looks like a loaf of bread.  Eat one of these and you won't need to eat for a while.

I'm not seeing a lot of rise in this muffin recipe, and wonder if I waited a bit longer, they might actually plump up some more.  Don't know though -- I'm not a huge fan of quickbreads, and muffins are new to me.  Maybe if I spooned them into a muffin tin instead of an ovenproof bowl, they might look more muffiny.

Liked the taste of this, except the baking soda was a bit strong: maybe this recipe uses too much?


Ingredients

  • 1 c sourdough starter
  • 1 c wwflour
  • 1/2 c berries (Here I've used blackberries, blueberries would be nice)
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 c oil
  • 1/4 - 1/2 c sugar
  • 1 tsp baking soda



Method

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Prepare ovenproof bowls with some butter.
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.
Stir in berries gently.
Combine wet ingredients separately.
Add dry mix to wet.
Mix but don't overmix batter.
(? Let it rise 30 minutes if you have the time)
Spoon into (3?) ovenproof bowls.
Bake for 30 minutes.


Notes to Myself

  • I'm happy with the lower amount of sugar, and I use brown turbinado sugar
  • Next time try a 30 minute rise once the baking soda is mixed in
  • Next time try with less baking soda, maybe even 1/4 tsp
  • First time I baked this without an egg.  That worked too, but it was a little dry and crumblier.

2 comments:

  1. How acidic was your starter? Acidic enough to activate the baking soda? Lemon juice would give the soda a boost and taste nice with the berries.

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  2. Should have been acidic enough, it is 24 hr old discard. But the lemon juice is a good idea, thanks.

    I've baked the recipe again (without the lemon juice) and backed off on the baking soda to 1/4 tsp and let it sit several hours, but although I saw some initial rise, it still looks more like a thick cookie than a muffin. I guess baking soda doesn't work like yeast and won't work with a long rise.

    I will try again, no doubt.

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