Incredibly light and fluffy, these sourdough banana muffins are a dream! Loaded with ripe bananas, melty chocolate chips and a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg to make the muffins extra flavorful. An optional, but recommended, one hour ferment gives the leaveners and discard a head start, creating the most fluffy, tender and moist banana muffins with beautiful rounded tops!
½cupmelted butter(113 g, can substitute vegetable or canola oil)
½cuppacked brown sugar(112 g)
½cupgranulated sugar(100 g)
2large eggs
1teaspoonvanilla extract
½cupsourdough discard(125 g)
¼cupsour cream(60 g)
1 ½cupsmashed ripe bananas(375 g, about 3-4 bananas)
2cupsall-purpose flour(240 g)
2teaspoonsbaking powder
½teaspoonbaking soda
1teaspoonsalt
1teaspooncinnamon
¼teaspoonnutmeg
¾cupmini chocolate chips(plus extra for sprinkling on top)
Instructions
Add the melted butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar to a large bowl. Using a handheld mixer or a whisk, mix for 2 minutes to make sure the sugar and butter is well combined. This will help create tall, fluffy muffins. Mix in the eggs and vanilla, followed by the sourdough discard, sour cream and mashed bananas.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the dry ingredients and chocolate chips to the bowl with the wet ingredients and use a rubber spatula to fold together until just combined.
Cover the bowl and let it rest at room temperature for 1 hour (or overnight in the fridge) to allow the sourdough to ferment a bit and give the leaveners time to start working, resulting in a soft and fluffy muffin. NOTE: If you're short on time, you can skip this step and bake the muffins right away.
Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a muffin tin with paper liners. The batter makes about 15 muffins.
After the batter has rested, it should be light and fluffy; do not mix the batter. Scoop the muffin batter into the liners, filling each liner just shy of the top (an ice cream scoop works well for this). Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F, then reduce the oven to 350°F (leaving the muffins in the oven) and bake for another 9-12 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. I think muffins are best enjoyed warm, so let them cool for another 10-15 minutes, then enjoy with a smear of salted butter!