The Best Healthy Sourdough Banana Muffins

Sourdough banana muffins not only taste delicious but are full of nutrients and are also a great way to use up some discard and ripe bananas. Bake this healthy snack to keep on hand during the week or as a sweet treat.

Sometimes I find it weird that in order to write a recipe blog post I have to come up with a personal story for a baked good. But coming up with a reason why these muffins mean so much to me will not be difficult.

I have a friend. Her name is Kristi. Let me tell you about my Kristi.

She’s the most vibrant woman you’ve ever met. She loves Jesus with her entire heart and mind and soul and strength. Wow does that woman know him. He just radiates off of her; it’s actually quite blinding.

She teaches me so much about being a person who walks with him. And I want to walk through life with anyone who will point me to Jesus. So I asked her if she would work with me on the Starter + Salt recipes. This graduated our friendship to a partnership which will not only deepen our relational connection, but will result in some of the most delicious food you’ve ever made in your entire life.

These sourdough banana muffins are our first ever collaboration, and we think they’re perfect.

Why you’ll love these sourdough banana muffins

• Classic: When you think about any delicious banana bread you’ve ever had in your life, this recipe will take you back.
• Healthy: This recipe uses a olive oil as it’s fat. Not only is that a top tier healthy fat, but it gives a beautiful “crust” around the edge of the muffins that adds texture complexity to each bite. Applesauce is also utilized to add moisture and depth of flavor. These on top of the health benefits of sourdough make these muffins some of the healthiest snack choices you can make in your kitchen!
• Moist: Yeah I know. That word is the worst, but wow, it had to mentioned.
• Discard: As a way to keep your sourdough starter alive, use it as “discard.” This will give baked goods that sourdough flavor without worrying about the pressure of it being perfectly ripe and mature every time you bake

THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS WHICH MEANS I MAKE A SMALL COMMISSION AT NO EXTRA COST TO YOU. SEE MY FULL DISCLOSURE HERE.

What you’ll need

You’ll definitely need a muffin tin if you want to bake this exactly like the recipe, but you can bake it in a bread loaf tin as well. Either way, I prefer to weigh my ingredients when I’m baking for best results using a food scale.

If you go the loaf tin route, you’ll definitely need to increase your time in the oven to between 50-60 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when it comes to proper temp (around 200F or 95C). I like to use this instant read thermometer.

Muffin tin

Bread loaf tin

Food scale

Thermometer

Muffin liners

Make it your own

Bake the sourdough banana muffins

Start by preheating the oven to 350F or 175C. Then grab all your ingredients, and portion them out because this is kind of a dump recipe.

Mix Batter

For a long time I made great muffins without a stand mixer. I got by on hand mixers or just vigorous whisking. Do whatever you want. But when making this recipe, Kristi and I incorporated the oil and the sugar together first. Because we use oil and not butter, it doesn’t have the exact same affect, but mixing the fat and the sugar together first remains in the spirit of creaming. Learn more about that technique here.

Then we moved onto the wet ingredients. I prefer to start by mixing the bananas into the oil and sugar. Afterwards, I just dump the rest – eggs, discard, applesauce, vanilla – and mix.

Finally add the dry ingredients – salt, baking soda, baking powder, and flour. We also think it’s necessary to use a spatula to scrape down the sides to make sure all the flour gets incorporated.

Portion sourdough banana muffins

Place your liners in the tin. I’ve also done this with without liners. A liberal coating of coconut oil is all I needed.

Portion the batter into each cup, and fill it up about 3/4 of the way to give the muffin room to rise in the oven.

After about 30 minutes, check their doneness by inserting a toothpick. When it comes out of the center clean, they’re done. You can also check to see if the internal temperature of the muffins are around 200F or 95C using an instant read thermometer if you don’t trust your toothpick checking abilities.

When they’re finished, they should look something like this:

Looking for more discard recipes?

Try these acorn squash muffins or this chocolate cake.