Your favorite bakery-style muffin, upgraded with tangy sourdough starter (discard or active), fresh blueberries, and bright lemon zest with vanilla. Moist and fluffy inside, with a perfectly crunchy top. Let the batter rest overnight and bake fresh in the morning. Yes, really!
Blueberry muffins are classic. Everyone loves them. After years of perfecting recipes- from blueberry cornmeal muffins and buttermilk blueberry crumb muffins– I finally nailed my favorite sourdough discard version.
These muffins are soft yet sturdy, perfectly moist, with bursts of juicy blueberries in every bite. The outside has a lightly crisp crunch, while subtle hints of lemon zest and vanilla add a fresh brightness that will make your heart sing!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Convenient Prep: Mix the batter, portion into a muffin tin, and chill overnight. In the morning, bake fresh muffins straight from the fridge for an easy, zero-effort homemade breakfast in under 30 minutes.
- Flavor: The slow overnight fermentation deepens flavor and enhances digestibility thanks to the added sourdough
- Texture: Balanced softness with a satisfying tender crumb
Tips for Success:
- All sourdough starters are different. The consistency of yours (thick vs. thin) will determine the texture of the muffin batter. Aim for a semi-thick batter similar to plain yogurt. This texture will suspend the berries evenly throughout the muffins, and fortify the overall structure once baked. If your batter is too thin, add more flour. Too thick, add more milk.
- Fresh is best. Compared to frozen blueberries, fresh blueberries they hold their shape better and they are not as wet and mushy after a lengthy, overnight fermentation.
- Zest or citrus oil? I’ve been playing around with citrus oils in my baking, specifically lemon and orange, and I’m in love. First, they’re super convenient to have on hand especially when you don’t have any lemons or oranges to zest. Second, a little bit goes a long way. They are very concentrated. I use Doterra citrus oils. King Arthur Baking also sells them.
How To Make Sourdough Blueberry Muffins {Step-By-Step Recipe}
- To start, combine the dry ingredients together. Mix sourdough starter and milk in a separate small bowl; set aside. Then cream the butter, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest together, adding the eggs one at a time- I like using a stand mixer for this. Alternatively, you can mix by hand. Just make sure the butter is truly at room temperature (soft) so that it’s easy to do!
- Now, alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk. Add the fresh blueberries.
- Portion the batter into a muffin tin lined with paper cups. Choose to bake right away or ferment overnight. To bake: 375°F (190°C) for about 25-28 minutes, then cool before serving and dusting with powdered sugar. The are so light and delicate!
Note: for the purpose of this blog post, I transferred the muffin batter into a large blue bowl pictured above so you could see the texture better. You do not need to do this if using a stand mixer.
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Moist Sourdough Blueberry Muffins (Overnight Option)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 28 minutes
- Total Time: 38 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
- Category: Sourdough Discard Recipes
- Method: Oven-Baked
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Your favorite bakery-style muffin, upgraded with tangy sourdough starter (discard or active), fresh blueberries, and bright lemon zest with vanilla. Moist and fluffy inside, with a perfectly crunchy top. Let the batter rest overnight and bake fresh in the morning. Yes, really!
Ingredients
- 200 g all purpose flour (1 1/2 cups)
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 60 g sourdough starter (active sourdough starter or sourdough discard)
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 115 g (8 tbsp.) unsalted butter, at room temperature (soft)
- 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 2 large eggs
- 165 g (1 heaping cup) fresh blueberries, plus more for decoration
- Powdered sugar, to serve
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 F/ 190 C. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
- Sift the flour, baking soda and salt together in a small bowl; set aside.
- Whisk the sourdough starter and milk together in a separate small bowl; set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or by hand with a wooden spoon): cream the butter, sugar, vanilla extract and zest together. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Working in batches, add 1/2 of the flour mixture. Once absorbed, add half of the milk mixture. Repeat until everything is used up and the batter is smooth and well incorporated.
- Gently fold the blueberries into the bowl with a rubber spatula. Make sure to evenly distribute the berries throughout the batter (check the bottom of the bowl!).
- Fill the muffin pan, about 3/4 of the way full. Top with a few berries if you like, making sure to tuck them in so they don’t pop out during baking.
- At this point, you can bake right away or chill overnight, for 12+ hours.
- To bake now: place the tin on the center rack and bake for 25-28 minutes.
- To bake later: remove the tin from the refrigerator; discard the foil. Bake straight from cold for 25-28 minutes.
- Cool the muffins in the pan for 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling so the bottoms don’t get soggy.
- Serve warm or at room temperature with powdered sugar.
Comments
Lisa M Kalinski says
Can I use Monk fruit sweetener in place of cane sugar in this recipe?
Emilie Raffa says
Ooo great question! I’ve never tried it, so I’m unsure. If you experiment though, please let me know and I’ll update the notes here :)
Jessica says
I used monk fruit and it worked great!
Nicky says
Hi Jessica would you mind sharing how much you used?
Mikelle says
I used 1/2 cup monk fruit and 1/2 cup sugar and it turned out great! I bet you could substitute the whole cup
Sandy says
I’m a total newbie using a sourdough starter and can’t wait to try this recipe. When using citrus oils, do you mean Essential Oils? And how much do you use?
Mel says
I think she means the zest of the lemon.
Rachel says
These muffins are amazing!!! This was my first sourdough recipe I have made. I am brand new to sourdough and needed to make something to hold off the hungry family while my sourdough bread was cold proofing in the fridge.
They were so moist and delicious! I was missing lemons, so I added cardamom instead. They turned out great! I woke up to them missing this morning because my dad took them all to the job site. I am already been getting requests to make more.
Thank you for such a great recipe!
Laura says
I really wanted a truly fermented sourdough muffin so I did change up the method of this a bit and the results were outstanding! I know there is the overnight option as presented here but I’m just not convinced that anything would truly ferment in my cold fridge overnight. So what I did was creamed the butter and then added the flour in 3 batches alternating with the milk and then scooped that out into a separate container. I worked with my hands a bit to make sure all the flour was incorporated. It felt almost too thick to ferment or rise but I did let it sit out overnight on the counter covered and the next morning it looked bigger and the texture was lovely. So then I proceeded to make the muffin batter with the rest of the ingredients – I used brown sugar instead of white and beat it, I added a splash of avocado oil because the rest of the fat is already with the flour and milk, just to help it cream up a bit. Added the eggs one at a time, the vanilla, the salt, baking soda, the lemon zest, then I add-libbed and put in a heaping teaspoon of cinnamon and a tablespoon of ground flax. Beated until smooth. Then I mixed in the sourdough flour mixture until completely combined, stirred in the blueberries and spooned into the muffin liners and baked as directed.
These are honestly the best, fluffiest, moist, most delicious muffins I have EVER had. It’s definitely this Clever Carrot recipe that makes them so good even without my changes because I tried another muffin recipe with a countertop flour sourdough ferment and they were nowhere near as good as these. I think it’s the butter!
Laura says
This is Laura again, SORRY I forgot to mention the starter. I mixed the starter with the milk and then incorporated with the flour into the butter in batches and let ferment. Next day did the eggs, sugar, soda, etc. This recipe is amazing and I’m sure it’s just as good with the authors overnight method.
Kiri says
Thank you so much for posting this as I was after a proper fermented muffin. I followed your instructions including the ground flax seed and added strawberries and chocolate and they turned out amazing. The only thing I did different was I beat the eggs and sugar together then added in the baking soda and fermented flour part. I did it in stages so not to overload the mixer.
James says
Delicious. These muffins are very good, and the recipe is easy. I really enjoy being able to use some of the sourdough discard in something rather than tossing it out.
I will repeat this recipe.
I did make a couple of substitutions, because of what was in the fridge. I used some leftover coconut milk instead of dairy milk, because it was running out of lifespan, and I used chocolate chips instead of blueberries because it’s spring break!
I think these would be even better with blueberries, so I will be trying that next time.
Kristen S. says
I only had frozen blueberries, so I made the batter and stuck the whole bowl in the fridge overnight and folded in the blueberries before portioning in muffin tins. They baked up beautifully!
I had extra batter (after 24 cupcakes) and no more time to bake before work… so I shoved it back in the fridge and baked the next morning. All the berries in batch 2 were still suspended and no bleeding into the dough!
This recipe is a definite keeper.
Sophie Rodr says
Hi!
Going to make these tomorrow
I don’t have a lemon to zest. But I do have lemon oil
How much should I use for subbing zest ??
Anonymous says
Anonymous says
Jen says
Will most definitely make these again! I tried to follow the recipe closely but did sub coconut oil for half the butter. I also fermented the batter in the bowl overnight in the fridge and folded in frozen berries in the morning (because that’s what I had available on this cold March morning). Of note, the batter did not become too wet before or during baking with the frozen berries. Baked for 20 minutes. They came out beautifully and were enjoyed by the whole family.
Emilie Raffa says
This is great feedback, thank you. Love the coconut oil sub… the flavor must have been lovely!
Helen says
Hi Amelie, Thank you for posting this lovely looking sourdough blueberry muffin recipe on your website.
I am excited to try this recipe.
Is baking soda ‘bicarbonate of soda’ or baking powder please? I live in the UK and we name a few American things differently.
Also, I have a fan oven which is °c I often have to convert fare height to Celsius for correct oven temperatures. Fan ovens are hotter and quicker than conventional ovens too, what temperature would you suggest me baking these muffins at in my fan oven please?
Many thanks, Helen.
Calli Ramler says
My kids love these! Perfect for busy mornings or on the go!
A few things that I changed that worked well-
I reduced the sugar to 3/4 c. (Im going to replace with honey next time) and used 2% milk instead of whole.
I also used a mini muffin pan and replaced some of the blueberries with chocolate chips!
Thanks for the recipe!
Misha says
Did you happen to make these with honey instead of sugar and if so how much did you use for it?
Laurel says
I really wanted to like these. I was excited by the idea of an overnight ferment (though in reality it probably didn’t ferment that much in the fridge).
I jumped into making them, but things were looking weird to me almost immediately. Sifted flour, added incrementally, beaten batter (‘until smooth’, exactly the opposite of what muffin batter usually is!). Sooo much fat, SOOO much sugar!
In the end, they were okay, but they’re way too sweet and more like a cupcake than a muffin (and I don’t really like cupcakes). I considered trying again and reducing the sugar, but I think this is just not the ‘muffin’ for me.
Calli Ramler says
I reduced the sugar and they tasted great!
Jill says
Best blueberry muffins I’ve ever made! Thank you for the recipe.
Emilie Raffa says
You’re very welcome, Jill! Appreciate the feedback :)
Edy says
Absolutely delicious, easy and no need to ever look for a another Sdough muffin recipe. Perfect texture and taste and can use any fruit as substitute. I did use half the butter and oil to make up the difference. Prepared a double batch and it was not a problem. As an “old school” kind of cook I like to wing it a lot and see what happens. That can bite me sometimes when doubling but this recipe came out great.
Thank you!
Yocheved Fehler says
Can I freeze these muffins?
Diane says
The BEST muffin recipe, by far! As a super busy working mom, I love the efficiency of whipping up the batter at night (takes 5 minutes and I sometimes add the frozen blueberries in at night too), leaving the bowl with batter in the fridge overnight, and then scooping out the batter into muffins and baking in the morning. I now often make these for work friends and it is so easy to have them ready for early morning meetings. What a great way to start the day :)
I have made these many times using oat milk, almond milk or whole milk–all work well! I use a little bit less sugar in the batter but sprinkle a little bit on top before baking. Thank you for this wonderful recipe—finally, a keeper that I can count on!
Jamie Hiles says
These were so good! I tried a different long ferment muffin recipe that last week that hsdme fermenting just the milk, flour, and starter…..and then the rest of the ingredients never really mixed in.
THIS recipe where you mix it all and ferment it was great.
I played around with a flour blend (100g AP, 25 g Whole Wheat Einkorn, and 75 g Almond flour) and I reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup (1/2 granulated and 1/4 brown sugar).
Everyone loved them and gobbled them up. My one issue was that in the half I did chocolate chip, mm y chips sunk. My blueberries did not though. Will keep working at it!!
I wonder if anyone has tried mixing and fermenting all ingredients except eggs and baking soda and salt (and add those in the morning) and how that worked out?
Cherlyn says
It you toss the chocolate chips (or blueberries) with a little flour before folding them into the batter, they won’t sink :)
Jan says
New to sourdough & this recipe helped me make the best muffins ever. At 6,000 feet near Santa Fe, New Mexico, they puffed up nicely and were done in 20 minutes. Baked right away, not the overnight version. A great basic recipe where variations are easy. Pecans next time. Thank you
Vicky says
I made this recipe yesterday, and everyone loved it. I reduced the amount of sugar to a half cup and added about 4 tbsp of maple syrup, also I used half and a half instead of whole milk because it was what I had on my fridge, 4 tbsp of butter, and 4 tbsp of avocado oil. It was delicious thank you.
Deborah says
Just used this recipe again, this time with frozen berries. Here’s what worked…half spelt flour, half AP; 150 g sugar; chilled the entire bowl of batter overnight (as Emilie suggested in an earlier post) and folded in frozen berries in a.m., just before filling the muffin pan. The rest of the ingredients were added as listed in the recipe. I used a pan for 6 larger muffins. These turned out great, not really huge (although I’ve enjoyed an occasional huge muffin…). Thanks, Emilie…love this recipe!
Erin says
I read through the comments to see if it had been asked but didn’t see anything….
Thoughts on how to incorporate honey or monk fruit sugar was a sub for white sugar?
Erin Kane says
Can I leave batter in bowl overnight then put in cupcake pan??
Emilie Raffa says
Yes. Chill the whole bowl in the refrigerator overnight.
Elisa H says
Your muffins look amazing! Would these work with a plant based milk and plant based butter?
Emilie Raffa says
Absolutely! The taste and texture will change slightly. However, it’s totally doable. Omit the salt in the recipe if your plant-based butter contains salt.
Emily B says
I tried these. THEY ARE THE BEST muffins I have ever made. Thank you for sharing this!!
Emilie Raffa says
You are very welcome! I’m so glad you liked the recipe.
Denise says
I can’t wait to try this recipe. I was wondering if Almond Milk can be used instead of whole milk. Thanks for all your delicious recipes!
Emilie Raffa says
Sure thing! Just make sure it’s unsweetened. Enjoy xx
Johanna says
As a dry ol German I used a lot less sugar (150g – which was still a tad bit much for my taste). Still turned out perfectly! One of the yummiest muffins I ever had. Thanks so much!
Emilie Raffa says
This is great to know! Thank you for sharing this! You also made me laugh :)
Christy says
If I want to use dried zest, commercially bought from the spice aisle, do you have a recommended measurement or added measure for preparing? The spice I have =1 teaspoon Lemon Peel = 1 teaspoon fresh. Thank you
Emilie Raffa says
Great question. You know, I don’t. I’ve never worked with store-bought dried zest, only fresh. My recommendation would be to use 1/2 tsp. instead. That’s what I’d do. This way, if the flavor is strong, the muffins won’t be ruined (you can always add more next time).
Melanie B says
Omg these are incredible! The batter is so incredibly textured- spongy, fluffy, I’m not sure how to best describe it but it’s magical. I want to use this base for all sorts of different muffin flavors. They were definitely a hit, thanks for this one Emilie!
Emilie Raffa says
I LOVE how you’ve described it…. magical. Yes! You can totally use this as a base for muffins and cakes. I plan to experiment myself. Let me know how it goes if you play around too :)
Noelle says
These were perfect! My 1 year old and I just ate them and we both approve. I decided to mess around and use freeze dried strawberries instead of blueberries and they were divine. I also halfed the sugar and added half a cup of coconut sugar, love the flavor profile! Thank you Emilie!
Emilie Raffa says
This sounds really good! I’ve never baked with freeze dried strawberries before. I’m going to try this… I think Trader Joe’s carries freeze dried strawberries? PS: I love strawberry and coconut together. Sometimes I put a tiny bit of coconut oil in my son’s oatmeal with strawberry compote. So good.
Rebecca says
This recipe is incredible as written! I have modified it a bit because my toddlers like to eat for breakfast: I halved the sugar (100 grams) and doubled the eggs (4 total) and it still works great! We also make with diced frozen cherries instead of blueberries. Fabulous recipe, thanks!
Emilie Raffa says
Excellent tips! I’m loving all of the variations. Thank you so much for sharing :)
Joce says
I used date sugar instead. With date sugar you are supposed to use 25% less flour. It’s my first time baking with date sugar, so I read this in the package after mixing. The dough was super thick and I thought they were ruined. Please be mindful I think I burnt my cheap hand mixer. 🤦🏽♀️ Yes I should have added more milk but didn’t. Omg… let me tell you this recipe is amazing. 25min using reg size cupcakes. I used frozen blueberries and it did not disappoint!!! Happy new year everyone!!!
Megan says
Did you let the frozen blueberries defrost bfire using them?
Emilie Raffa says
OMG! What a turnout! I thought it was going all downhill until I got to the bottom, lol. Thrilled for you :)
Kristine Skiff says
These were delicious! I used the base recipe and made apple cinnamon muffins. They were amazing!
I only cooked them for 18 minutes. They definitely did NOT need 25+ minutes to cook regular cup cake sized muffins.
Emilie Raffa says
Ooo yum. Did you use applesauce? Or reg. chopped apples?
Kristine says
I replaced most of the oil with Apple sauce and then I rehydrated some dried apples rings (cut up) in water, 1tsp vanilla and 1 tsp cinnamon on the stove and once they were the texture I wanted I drained the apples and put them in the mixture. I did add cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom to the mix.
Just made the recipe for the blueberry and it was fabulous! Thanks again!
Best muffins ever!
Sharlene Pflugrad says
OMG!!! These were the BEST homemade blueberry muffins EVER! I made them & sourdough banana bread muffins for my grandson & he asked for more so I had to make more! I kept a couple to eat & sure glad I did! I’ll be making again tomorrow! Thank you!
Barb.G says
Delicious! I substituted fresh cranberries by weight, cut in half, and orange zest for the lemon, then juiced the orange and added milk to equal 1/2 cup. I did the overnight rest and baked them up for breakfast the next day. They are bright, tangy and sweet all in one. My husband loved them. Thank you Emilie.
Joanna says
Deb says
Hey Emilie!
I made these yesterday, but substituted blueberries with Cranberries (Craisins, actually) and orange extract plus orange zest. They are delicious!
Christine says
Love this recipe! I really appreciate the overnight option, which allows me to have fresh muffins in the morning but do all the work the day before. I have made them twice with blueberries and once with chocolate chips–my kids were thrilled!
Emilie Raffa says
Me too. I’m so glad you liked it. Nothing beats popping a tray of muffins into the oven on a busy morning.
Rachel says
I made these with starter discard and brown sugar instead of white sugar. They turned out fantastic! I love how they’re a little crunchy on the outside but super fluffy and light on the inside.
Laura says
this recipe is excellent! i whipped it up last night and baked them this morning. topped with a little turbinado sugar for a little crunch. thanks for the recipe- i will definitely use it again!
Autumn says
Can I substitute oil instead of butter?
Annemarie Torrez says
Yes, I did with avocado oil in same weight measure. They were perfect.
Shar McCoy says
I made 4 batches of banana muffins! I mashed one banana in a measuring cup then added only enough milk to equal 1/2 cup (sometimes just slightly more). To two of the batches I folded in a cup of mini chocolate chips.
Tomorrow I plan to make waffles again. Thank you, Emilie, so much for working out these recipes!
Shar McCoy says
I love this recipe! I tried a few variations beside making the blueberry batch and they worked out wonderfully! I did Chocolate -Choclate chip by reducing the flour by 2 Tablespoons and replacing it with same amount of cocoa powder and adding chocolate chips instead of Blueberries. I did apple Cinnamon, and chocolate chip. Going to try banana!
Emilie Raffa says
Love, love, love this! Thank you sharing your tips!
CJ Tinkle says
Can I use buttermilk with this vs regular milk, or will it go wild with the baking soda?
Michelle says
These are absolutely delicious! I’m not even a huge muffin fan but these changed my mind. My whole family loves them. I tried them using blackberries from the farmer’s market, too, and those were also a hit! I love how I was able to mix them up and put in the pan the night before so in the morning I could just put them straight into my preheated oven. It made the morning so easy. I was curious how that would work and I was very pleased. Thank you for sharing this recipe! I ordered your sourdough cookbook because I loved all the recipes using sourdough starter. I feel like it’s healthier to use that in my baked goods but I needed ideas. Wonderful. I’ve already made the cheddar dill bread and used it for BLTs. Yummy!
Korni says
I made these but used dried cranberries and orange zest! They turned out really soft and delicious. They are almost as good as my regular muffins (fresh) and actually they still tasted pretty much the same after 3-4 days which is absolutely not the case for regular muffins. So i actually think these are better for meal prep!
Also appreciated how they could be baked from cold and prepped in the evening. In the case of regular muffins using baking powder, you just can’t do that. I really want to try a savory version!
Audrey says
Oh my! These are fabulous muffins. Did the overnight method and they are light and delicious! Will definitely be making these more often as our blueberries ripen!
Erin says
The weights on the flour and sugar are wrong. You state 200 grams for each but sugar 1 cup and flour 1 1/2 cup. I didn’t catch it first time I made these as I likely didn’t weigh them out but caught it on my second time. Anyways they are excellent muffins!
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Erin! The weights are correct. It’s the conversion to cups that’s not equal. It’s not supposed to be. This is because flour and sugar weigh different amounts, respectively. For example, 1 cup of flour usually weighs 125- 130 g. 1 cup of sugar usually weighs 200 g. Hope this makes sense!
Pam says
OMG!!!! I seriously can’t speak right now! I just made these blueberry muffins and I think I’ve died and now in heaven!! That was THE BEST thing I’ve ever put in my mouth!!! My hubby agrees!!! I’m getting ready to make more now and freeze!
Nan says
The muffins are incredible—the perfect balance of flavor along with a very smooth texture. The recipe creates a beautiful treat that you’ll be happy to share with others. Thank you for your hard work and persistence in creating this recipe. I’m certain it’s one that will be used frequently!