These Sourdough Chocolate Muffins are decadent, with a light and delicate texture. Sourdough discard and sour cream keep these muffins tender and add a delicious tang that complements their rich chocolate flavor. These are perfect for an indulgent breakfast or a rich dessert.
Olivia Says
I just made these, and they were literally the best chocolate muffins I've ever tasted! Thanks!
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Why you'll love this recipe
I’m all about simple recipes with a large payoff and this recipe ticks all the boxes.
- Rich chocolate flavor with a soft, fluffy texture
- Sourdough discard keeps the muffins moist and taste fresh for days longer
- Comes together in less than 1 hour
- Uses one bowl and simple ingredients
- Mix by hand - no special equipment required
What you need
Sour cream: Substitute yogurt or crème fraîche.
Sourdough discard: You can use your discard straight from the refrigerator for this recipe. Add 75 grams water and 75 grams flour to your batter if you don't have your own sourdough starter.
All-purpose flour: Imparts tenderness and structure to these muffins, don’t substitute whole wheat flour for this recipe
Cocoa powder: This recipe was created using Dutch-processed cocoa powder, since it’s alkalized, you shouldn’t substitute natural cocoa powder which is acidic and will react with the ingredients in this recipe
Espresso shot: If you can’t pull an espresso shot, use a strong-brewed dark roast coffee and if you don’t drink coffee, Earl Grey tea, black tea or water are great substitutes
See the recipe card for the full ingredient amounts.
Baking with sourdough discard
Sourdough discard adds a delicious tangy flavor to balance the rich flavor of these chocolate muffins. Since you’re not using it as a leavener, you can use your discard straight from the refrigerator. There’s no need to feed it or activate it before mixing it into your batter. Older discard will have a tangier, more acidic flavor than a freshly-fed sourdough starter. Both will work for this recipe, you’ll just get a slightly different flavor profile but your bake will still be delicious!
Step-by-step instructions
STEP 1. Whisk together the vegetable oil, sour cream, egg, sourdough discard and brown sugar
STEP 2. Sift the all-purpose flour, salt, baking soda and cocoa powder into the wet ingredients
Tip
In addition to getting rid of lumps, sifting makes flour lighter and easier to mix into the batter.
STEP 3. Pour the hot milk and espresso into the batter, this will thin out the batter
STEP 4. Fold the chocolate chips into the batter
Tip
Make sure your milk is hot when you add it with the rest of your ingredients, this creates a smoother batter that bakes into light, spongy muffins.
STEP 5. Divide the batter evenly into a muffin tin with paper liners
STEP 6. Preheat oven to 450 F, turn oven down to 375 and bake for 20 to 25 minutes
Tip
Don’t over bake your muffins or they may taste chalky and lose their rich chocolate flavor.
Baker's Tips
Make sure your leaveners are fresh: Most bakers don’t know that baking soda and baking powder have a shelf life and eventually lose their leavening powers. If yours have been in your pantry for a while, test them by combining a little bit with a drop of vinegar. If the mixture bubbles, then it will work, otherwise it may not be able to make your muffins rise.
Start hot and turn down the temperature of your oven: Preheat your oven to 450 F and then turn down the temperature to 375 F as soon as you put your muffin tin in the oven. The initial high heat will encourage your muffins to rise high, while baking at a lower temperature will gently bake your batter without drying out or burning your muffins.
No peeking!: Do not under any circumstances open the oven door. Heat escapes rapidly each time you open the oven door. If your muffins are not completely baked in the middle, this will cause your muffins to sink and become dense and gummy. The moment they sink, you’ll lose the airy, tender interior of your muffins and unfortunately, they will never recover.
Love sourdough muffins? Check out all of my recipes for Sourdough Chocolate Chip Muffins, Sourdough Banana Muffins and Sourdough Chocolate Zucchini Muffins.
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! Simply use the same proportion of freshly fed sourdough starter in the recipe. Your starter won’t add a strong tangy flavor to your muffins, but it will still work.
If you don’t have a starter, but still want to try out this recipe, simply add 56 grams of all-purpose flour and 56 grams of water to your batter.
There are a few reasons your muffins could have turned out flat:
1. Your baking soda and baking powder may be past their prime and not able to leaven your muffins.
2. You may have opened the oven door before the center of your muffins are fully baked, unfortunately, this would cause them to sink and the center to be dense and gummy.
3. You may have mismeasured your ingredients, weigh your ingredients to make sure your proportions are correct.
4. Your oven temperature may have been too low, high temperatures encourage the muffins to rise during the first few minutes of baking.
You may have developed too much gluten in your batter. It helps to fold your flour into the batter ⅓ at a time to ensure it is incorporated without over mixing.
Opening the oven door before your muffins are fully baked could also cause them to be too gummy. In this case, your muffins will sink and the interior will be gummy.
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Sourdough Chocolate Muffins Recipe
Equipment
- large cookie scoop 3 tablespoon
- paper liners
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Ingredients
- 113 grams vegetable oil or any neutral-flavored oil
- 113 grams sour cream
- 150 grams sourdough discard
- 200 grams brown sugar
- 1 egg large
- 180 grams all-purpose flour
- 7 grams baking soda
- 4 grams salt Morton's Kosher Salt
- 60 grams cocoa powder Dutch-processed
- 35 grams espresso or strong brewed coffee
- 170 grams milk hot
- 200 grams chocolate chips
Click US Customary to view volume measurements
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 450 F with the rack in the middle. Line a muffin tin with paper liners and spray the tin with nonstick baking spray to prevent the tall muffin tops from getting stuck.
- Make the batter: Whisk together the vegetable oil, sour cream, sourdough discard, brown sugar and egg, until no traces of discard or egg remain. Sift in all-purpose flour, salt, baking soda and cocoa powder, this gets rid of any lumps in the flour and cocoa powder. Gently fold the ingredients together until no traces of flour remain. Pour the milk and espresso into the batter, hot liquids will blend into your batter much easier. The batter will be quite thin at this point, this is totally normal.
- Add the chocolate chips: Fold the chocolate chips into the batter, and set aside a little bit to top your muffins.
- Portion out the batter: Using a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons), divide the batter into 12 portions, each cavity should be filled all the way to the top.
- Bake: Place the muffin tin on the middle rack of the oven, close the door gently and immediately turn the temperature down to 375 F. Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not open the door too soon or your muffins will sink! Let the muffins cool in the tin for 20 minutes before turning them out on to a wire rack.
- Enjoy and store: Serve the muffins fresh from the oven and enjoy! Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Tips
These recipes were developed and tested using grams for precise measurements. To increase your chances of success, I recommend investing in a kitchen scale. I've included rough volume estimates (in tablespoons and cups), but they might not be totally accurate.
Remember all ovens are unique, these recipes were tested in my oven which runs cooler than others. You might need to lower the temperature if your bake appears to be browning too quickly. Monitor your bake closely and make adjustments if needed.
Notes
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist or dietitian, any nutrition information provided is an estimate.
CHRISTI WALLACE says
These are the best chocolate muffins! My family is constantly requesting that I make these! I keep them in the freezer and pull them out for a snack, breakfast addition or dessert with ice cream. Great to have on hand and so easy to make! Thank you for the great recipe!
Hannah Dela Cruz says
That's such a great idea!!!
Jailyn Serrano says
I just made them and they are amazing!! i was super heavy handed with semi-sweet chocolate chunks and it created the amazing melty bite without being too sweet!
Hannah Dela Cruz says
No such thing as too much chocolate! Glad you loved them!
Michelle says
I have literally never commented on a recipe in my life.... these turned out beautifully!! Thank you for your precise gram measurements and tips. I'm a great cook, but I tend to measure with my heart and that's usually not conducive to baking. ha! 10/10 perfect recipe! I used instant coffee with water for the espresso, added a splash of vanilla, dusted the chocolate chips in flour before adding, and made 7 large muffins instead of 12 smaller ones. They were perfectly baked after 21 minutes following the recipe instructions.
Thanks again!
Hannah Dela Cruz says
So honored to be your first! I'm so happy you loved this recipe and your substitutions sound great.
Lish D says
They taste delicious and look beautiful but the only drawback is the batter is so runny all the chocolate chips sink and you just have a chocolate muffin with an overwhelming chocolate mound at the bottom. Which is also no good if you plan to use cupcake liners
Hannah Dela Cruz says
Oh no! Sorry you had this experience. If you'd like to try again next time, you could always toss the chocolate chips in flour before folding them into the batter.
Steph says
Do you think I could substitute applesauce for the oil???
Hannah Dela Cruz says
I don't know since I've never tried.
stephanie mckeown says
my go to muffin recipe, I substitute for coconut oil, always work out great, today I used peanut butter to swirl in the top 😋
Hannah Dela Cruz says
A peanut butter swirl sounds like a great addition! Thank you!
Cecilia Loeper says
My kids favorite so far.Followed everything what’s in a recipe.Will make another batch tonight as it’s all gone !
Melissa says
I just made these and wow are they decadent and delicious!! My family has already eaten half of them. I substituted 25% of the total flour for whole wheat, now they’re healthy right? Lol 😂
Came out perfectly! Will definitely be making again. Thanks so much 😊
Hannah Dela Cruz says
I've really enjoyed adding more whole wheat to my bakes and I'm so glad it works for this recipe! I'll have to try it myself. Thanks for sharing!
Olivia Lawrence says
I just made these, and they were literally the best chocolate muffins I've ever tasted! Thanks!
Hannah Dela Cruz says
I'm so happy you loved them!
Tess says
Hi! How would you suggest to substitute the egg in the recipe?
Hannah Dela Cruz says
Hi Tess,
Eggs play a large role in binding the ingredients and providing structure to these muffins. I'm afraid that they may turn out gummy if you remove them from the recipe. Since I've never tried a substitute, I'm afraid I don't have a suggestion for this one.
Hannah
Rebecca says
I am making the recipe and it is coming out of the oven shortly. it sound delish! i did have a question though. I wasn't sure whether the espresso was supposed to be the actual coffee as in ground coffee beans, or a mixture after making into a drinkable form. I decided to go with the actual coffee grounds, as it is a very fine grind, and thought that would impart more of the flavor. which did you intend?
Hannah Dela Cruz says
Hi Rebecca,
The recipe calls for a shot of espresso or strong brewed coffee. I clarified this in the recipe now! Thanks for your question.
Hannah
Rebecca says
thank you so much. i must say the recipe came out delicious, even with using actual espresso coffee - not brewed. I also needed to keep it non-dairy, so I used oat milk for the milk, and instead of sour cream, i used mayonnaise (I've done that substitution in other recipes)
Allie says
Bob’s Red Mill makes an egg replacer that works wonderfully in this recipe! I use 1 Tbsp + 2 tsp of the egg replacer powder and mix it with 3 Tbsp + 1 tsp water (you could also use more coffee in place of water to intensify the flavor). This is equivalent to the weight of one large egg in grams. I combine it in the large bowl for the wet ingredients, let it sit one minute, then add the rest of the wet ingredients. You would never know there was a substitution made!
These muffins are EXCELLENT, and so easy! Thank you for the recipe!
Hannah Dela Cruz says
Thank you for the suggestion! I am so happy you loved these muffins!
Irina says
What is a dairy free alternative for sour cream I can use in this recipe?
Hannah Dela Cruz says
You can try plant-based yogurt and I believe there are plant-based sour creams available on the market as well.
Mary says
Delicious!! I used Jovial einkorn all purpose flour in place of all purpose flour and reduced the milk, oil and espresso by 20%.
Also I used half dark chocolate and milk chocolate chips vs semi sweet chocolate chips.
They are moist and fluffy!!
Only question is can these decadent muffins be frozen??
thank you!
Hannah @ Make It Dough says
hi! glad the recipe worked with your substitutions. yes you can double wrap the muffins in foil, place them in a ziplock bag and freeze!
Jane says
Hi, can I add Zucchini to these muffins?
Hannah Dela Cruz says
I wouldn't add it to these muffins since they will add a lot of moisture and may make the muffins gummy and flat. If you really want to experiment - try using my carrot muffins recipe and substituting zucchini for the carrots and adding 30 grams of cocoa powder and adding chocolate chips instead of dates to your batter. See how that works and let me know how it turns out. I can't guarantee your results since I've never attempted these substitutions but it's fun to try!
https://makeitdough.com/sourdough-discard-carrot-date-muffins/
Vikki says
Hi, is there any way I could add over ripe bananas to this recipe? I think it would make this amazing recipe even better but I'm not sure what adjustments to make to the other ingredients. Thanks for your wonderful recipes!
Hannah Dela Cruz says
Try adding cocoa powder to my Sourdough Banana Muffin recipe instead. Add about 30 grams of cocoa powder and 14 grams of espresso powder (optional).
https://makeitdough.com/sourdough-banana-muffins/