Cherry Sourdough Muffins

If you are like many others who enjoy playing with sourdough, this cherry sourdough muffin recipe is a great way to use your starter discard and try something different. There's nothing better than a light and fluffy muffin packed full of flavour and that's what the sourdough starter discard provides. It's not overpowering, just that special unmistakeable sourdough flavour.

In these sourdough muffins, we've combined the best of the best in flavours: almond, cherry and white chocolate. Whether you switch out your favourite blueberry muffin at breakfast for these cherry sourdough muffins or change them up with the customisations suggested below, you'll love this recipe!

We love hearing from you, so let us know how much you love these muffins in the comments and rate the recipe too! Don't forget to follow the links below to get to the information you need.

Once you have an established sourdough starter, it needs to be fed regularly in order to keep it happy and healthy and ready for baking. If you keep your starter at room temperature, this feeding will most likely need to be done twice a day, possibly even more if it's especially warm in your house.

Unless you want to end up with a giant jar of sourdough starter, you will need to discard most of it each time you give it a feed. Whilst you can of course throw away this discarded portion, we would definitely recommend keeping it in a separate jar or container in the fridge and using it in a variety of recipes instead, like these cherry sourdough muffins!

Almond flour - cherries and almonds are the best combination, we use a blend of all purpose flour and almond flour to create a wonderful light nutty texture to these sourdough muffins.

Sourdough starter discard - we recommend using a fresh sourdough discard which will not be too acidic, you'll still get the distinct sourdough flavour but the longer the discard sits around it becomes more acidic, which can result in a much more sour flavour profile.

Melted butter/oil - we like to use a blend of oil and butter in these sourdough muffins for the optimum texture and flavour, but you can use either/or.

Cherry jam - we're going to swirl the jam gently throughout the batter - use a good quality jam as it's so worth it! Our favourite is Bonne Maman.

Here are some options to switch up and customise these cherry sourdough muffins.

Change the jam - this sourdough muffin recipe is perfect for adapting, so switch out the cherry conserve with your favourite. Blueberry works well or even strawberry. Mix and match to your taste.

No starter discard - If you don't have sourdough starter, you could instead use 250g all-purpose flour and 225ml milk - though we haven't tested the recipe this way. If you do try this, let use know how it goes in the comments!

Chocolate - not a fan of white chocolate? Throw in some dark chocolate chips instead or just omit the chocolate if you don't fancy it.

1. In a medium mixing bowl mix together the all purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder, granulated sugar and fine sea salt until combined.
2. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the sourdough starter discard, eggs, milk, sunflower oil, melted butter and vanilla extract until well combined.
3. Pour the dry ingredients mixture on top of of the wet ingredients in the large mixing bowl.
4. Gently fold together the two until just combined, the mixture can have a little of the dry showing as it will be finished mixing in later.

5. Gently fold the white chocolate chunks into the sourdough muffin batter.
6. Dollop the cherry jam on the top of the sourdough muffin batter in individual piles.
7. Gently swirl the jam in to the muffin batter leaving a beautiful marble. Don't over mix as you'll lose the swirl and end up with a pink batter.
8. Split the cherry sourdough batter between twelve muffin cases and top with a little more jam to swirl and flaked almonds. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C/350F for 25 minutes.

To guarantee your success with these cherry sourdough muffins, follow our expert tips!

Don't overmix - as we're using a blend of all purpose flour and almond flour, over working the muffin batter will build the gluten and make your muffins tough and chewy. Gently fold the mix only. A few lumps of dry mix are absolutely fine.

Swirl - run the spoon through the jam into the batter once or twice, that's it. Otherwise you will end up with a bowl of pink batter. We want lovely swirls of cherry jam.

Sourdough discard - use fresh discard from when you've just fed your main starter. If you store it in the fridge for a few days, that's OK. You just don't want it stored until its really loose, it becomes too acidic and the muffins unpalatable.

Bake immediately - once you've combined all the batter together and divided between muffin cases, bake immediately. If not, you'll find the sourdough muffin discard will grow and your muffins will overflow in the oven. This recipe works VERY well if you bake immediately.