Sourdough Discard Pumpkin Streusel Muffins
These soft sourdough discard pumpkin streusel muffins are brimming with fall flavor and feature a tall, bakery style muffin that your family and friends will love!
Simple and easy to make, these sourdough muffins feature a delicious crumb topping, making them a perfect breakfast, side, or treat for cozy fall mornings.
Jamie’s Summary! – Sourdough Discard Pumpkin Streusel Muffins
- Taste: Loaded with pumpkin and pumpkin spice flavor with an option for more cinnamon.
- Texture: Soft and tender, moist muffin with a sweet crumble on top.
- Total Time: 37 minutes
- Skill level: From beginner to seasoned cook.
- Tools needed: A large bowl, cupcake tin + liners
- Why is this recipe the best? These easy to make muffins come together in just a few minutes but feature a tall, bakery style muffin and a delicious crumb topping-they are the perfect fall treat to share with friends and family.
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The moisture in the pumpkin puree combined with melted butter, sourdough discard, and eggs makes these muffins incredibly soft and tender. This is a quick + simple recipe even beginners can make!
These are the best sourdough pumpkin muffins to make for fall! You can find the non sourdough version of this pumpkin muffin recipe here.
Muffin cravings? Try my sourdough zucchini muffins, easy sourdough pumpkin muffins, or mouth watering sourdough blueberry muffins.
Why You’ll Love Them
- These sourdough muffins freeze well and are the perfect treat to thaw during the busy months of fall.
- Sourdough streusel pumpkin muffins are quick to make and come together easily-just 4 easy steps to getting them in the oven.
- These muffins are tall and fluffy, full of fall flavor with a delightful, crunchy topping!
Ingredients
See the recipe card for ingredient measurements and details.
- Sourdough discard: Sourdough discard is any flat, unused portion of sourdough starter. The older the sourdough starter, the tangier the taste! I like to use discard that is 24 – 48 hours old for this recipe.
- Pumpkin puree: Make sure to use pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. You do not need to blot the pumpkin puree for this recipe- we need all that extra moisture for the muffin texture! I like using Libby’s pure pumpkin.
- Leaveners: Baking soda and baking powder work together to give these muffins the extra they need for tall, bakery styled muffins.
- Pumpkin pie spice: This spice mix adds all the festive fall flavor of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, and cloves. Learn how to make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice recipe here.
- Melted butter: Melted butter lends a rich and complex flavor to these muffins and contributes to a tender crumb.
Substitutions
Substitute any neutral cooking oil for the butter. Avocado oil, canola oil, or melted coconut oil will work. Keep in mind that the flavors will be more mild without the melted butter.
Variations
To take these muffins to the next level consider adding:
- pumpkin seeds sprinkled on top of the muffins
- chocolate chips mixed into the batter
- a pumpkin spice or maple glaze drizzled over the top
How To Ferment The Muffin Batter
Sourdough discard can slowly ferment the flour in these muffins, making them easier to digest. Simply cover the muffin batter when you are done mixing it, and set it in the fridge up to 24 hours. Continue with the recipe when you are ready to bake.
How To Make Sourdough Pumpkin Streusel Muffins
Line your muffin tins with paper liners before starting, and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Step 1. Whisk the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
Step 2. Mix all of the wet ingredients except the sourdough discard in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment until just combined. Add the discard and mix once again until just combined
Step 3. Add half of the dry flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Repeat with the second half of dry ingredients. Do not overmix. Fill each muffin liner to the top.
Step 4. Mix the dry ingredients for the muffin streusel in a small bowl. Add melted butter and mix with a fork until dry and crumbly streusel forms. Sprinkle the streusel on top of each muffin.
Baking Tip For Tall, Bakery Styled Muffins: Bake for five minutes at 400 degrees. Lower the temperature to 350°F and bake for an additional 15-17 minutes.
Jamie’s Expert Tips
- Be sure to use real pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling- pumpkin pie filling has extra ingredients and is not the same thing!
- Use a large cookie scoop to scoop out the batter for perfect, mess-free muffins.
- Cool the muffins on a cookie rack for best results. If the muffins are left in the pan to cool they will continue to bake and not be as soft!
- Do not over mix this muffin batter, or the muffins will be dense and tough.
- If you only have salted butter, simply reduce the amount of salt in the recipe by 1/4 tsp.
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How To Store These Sourdough Muffins
These muffins are easy to store, and can be baked in advance and frozen-perfect for busy fall days. Just set them out the night before to thaw!
Room storage: Cool the muffins before storing then transfer to an airtight container and store for 3-5 days on the countertop.
Freezing: Freeze in an air tight, freezer safe container for up to 3 months. To thaw, set the muffins on the counter over night.
Sourdough Pumpkin Streusel Faq’s
For moist sourdough pumpkin streusel muffins, don’t blot the pumpkin puree before adding it to the batter, and be sure to use melted butter or oil, which adds moisture to the batter.
A combination of chemical leaveners like baking powder and baking soda gives the muffins a strong rise, which results in a fluffy, tall muffin. Melted butter or oil will also help the crumb to be soft and tender.
More Sourdough Fall Recipes
I love the flavor and nostalgia of fall sourdough recipes. Here are a few more of my favorite pumpkin inspired recipes:
- sourdough pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting
- sourdough pumpkin focaccia
- pumpkin shaped sourdough bread
If you tried this sourdough discard pumpkin streusel recipe or any other recipe on my blog please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Sourdough Discard Pumpkin Streusel Muffins
Equipment
- 1 small bowl
- 1 stand mixer with paddle attachment or large bowl and rubber spatula
- 1 Cupcake tin
- Muffin liners
Ingredients
Muffins
- 1.5 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup sourdough discard
- 2.5 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
- 1/3 cup melted butter unsalted
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
Streusel
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 6 tbsp melted butter unsalted
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon optional
Instructions
Muffins
- Preheat oven to 400 degree F and line cupcake or muffin tin with liners.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.1.5 cups all purpose flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 2.5 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add the eggs, pumpkin puree, sugar, melted butter, and vanilla. Beat on the lowest setting until just combined, do not over mix. Add the sourdough discard to the batter and beat on lowest setting until just combined. (See notes below if you do not have a stand mixer).1 15 oz can pumpkin puree, 1/3 cup melted butter, 2 eggs, 1 cup white sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/2 cup sourdough discard
- Add half of the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix on the lowest setting. Add the second half and continue to mix until combined, being careful not to overmix!Fill each muffin liner to the top with batter.
Streusel
- In a small bowl whisk the flour, white sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon (if using). Add the melted butter and stir with a fork until small crumbles form. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with streusel, covering it completely.3/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice, 6 tbsp melted butter, 1/4 cup white sugar
Bake
- Bake at 400 degrees F for five minutes. Without opening the oven, reduce temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for an additional 15-17 minutes or until the muffins are no longer doughy and spring back when touched.
- Transfer the muffins to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!
Notes
- To long-ferment these muffins, cover the batter and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Continue with the recipe when ready to bake.
- Be sure to use real pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.
- Use a large cookie scoop to scoop out the batter for easy, mess-free scooping.
- Cool the muffins on a cookie rack for soft, tender muffins.
- Do not over mix this muffin batter, or the muffins will be dense and tough.
- If you only have salted butter, simply reduce the amount of salt in the recipe by 1/4 tsp.
These tall, bakery style pumpkin streusel muffins are one of my kid’s favorite fall treats. I like to make a batch ahead of time and freeze them, making for a quick breakfast or snack.
I made these muffins using a large muffin pan (6 muffins). They came out great! I changed the temperature to 375 for about 10 minutes and reduced to 350 for about 15-20 minutes.
Sounds delicious Lin, thanks for sharing the adjustments for large muffins!
Made mine without the streusel and did chocolate chips instead! Had to cook mine for about 19 mins. So yum!
Hi Haylee! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe. That sounds amazing, thank you for sharing!
Super delicious! I made mine extra big since my toddler got all my regular size liners full of mud lol. I had to cook them longer since they were bigger but they turned out great!
Thank you so much for sharing Grace! I’m so glad you loved the recipe! xo