There’s something so comforting about the smell of warm muffins baking in the oven, especially when they carry the gentle tang of sourdough and the sweet, cozy flavor of fresh apples. These Sourdough Discord Apple Muffins with Crumble are the perfect treat for autumn mornings, weekend brunches, or whenever you need a little homemade magic. With a tender, slightly tangy crumb and a sweet, buttery topping, these muffins are bound to become a favorite in your kitchen. Plus, they’re a fun way to use your sourdough starter beyond bread!
Sourdough Discord Apple Muffins with Crumble
Ingredients (makes 10–12 muffins):
For the Muffins:
1 cup (240g) active sourdough starter (100% hydration)
½ cup (120ml) milk (dairy or plant-based)
? cup (80ml) vegetable oil or melted butter
½ cup (100g) brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (190g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 large apple, peeled and diced (or 2 small apples)
For the Crumble Topping:
¼ cup (30g) flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp cold butter, diced
½ tsp cinnamon
Instructions:
Preheat & Prep: Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a 10–12 cup muffin tin with liners or lightly grease.
Mix Wet Ingredients: In a large bowl, combine the sourdough starter, milk, oil, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.
Mix Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Combine: Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just combined. Fold in the diced apples.
Make Crumble: In a small bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter with your fingers until it forms coarse crumbs.
Assemble: Divide the batter evenly into the muffin cups. Sprinkle crumble generously on top of each muffin.
Bake: Bake for 22–25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool & Enjoy: Let muffins cool for 5–10 minutes before digging in (if you can wait!).
Tips & Fun Notes:
Toss apple pieces in cinnamon and nutmeg for extra flavor.
Muffins freeze beautifully for a quick grab-and-go snack.
Serve warm with butter or nut butter for maximum cozy vibes.
Baking is about more than ingredients—it’s about creating moments of joy, comfort, and connection. These Sourdough Discord Apple Muffins with Crumble invite you to slow down, enjoy the warm aromas, and savor each bite. Whether you’re sharing them with friends, family, or treating yourself, these muffins are little reminders that the simplest ingredients can bring the sweetest moments.
If you love my content and want more tools for mindfulness & movement, check out my digital products on my digital storefront!
Looking for the tools and products I swear by? Visit my Amazon storefront for a handpicked collection of my favorite finds—from kitchen gadgets to wellness essentials. Click here to explore and shop my must-haves.
Interested in being part of my essential oil community and are ready to start using pure essential oils, shop here or email me for a free 1:1 consultation.
If you’ve ever had a banana crumble bakery muffin — you know, the kind that’s perfectly domed, tender on the inside, and topped with that irresistible crunchy crumble — you’ll be thrilled to make these Sourdough Banana Crumble Muffins at home. The sourdough adds just enough tang and so much moisture the muffins are tender and delicious.
Making sourdough banana crumble muffins are the perfect way to use up overripe bananas and sourdough discard, and they stay moist for days. Pair with your morning coffee or enjoy as an afternoon treat.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Bakery-worthy texture: tall, domed tops and tender crumb.
Sourdough flavor: discard adds subtle tang and depth.
Easy to make: no mixer required.
Freezer-friendly: great for make-ahead breakfasts.
Ingredients
Muffins
1 cup (240g) mashed ripe bananas (about 2–3 bananas)
½ cup (120g) sourdough starter discard (unfed)
½ cup (120ml) melted butter
½ cup (100g) brown sugar, packed
¼ cup (50g) white sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (190g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg (optional)
Crumble Topping
½ cup (65g) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (50g) brown sugar
¼ cup (50g) white sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
4 tbsp (55g) cold unsalted butter, cubed
½ cup (60g) chopped pecans
Instructions
1. Make the Crumble Topping
In a small bowl, mix flour, both sugars, chopped pecans, and cinnamon. Add cold butter cubes and use a pastry cutter or your fingertips to rub the butter into the mixture until it looks like coarse crumbs. Refrigerate while you prepare the muffin batter.
2. Preheat the Oven
Preheat to 375°F (190°C). Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease lightly.
3. Mix the Wet Ingredients
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together mashed bananas, sourdough discard, oil, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.
4. Add the Dry Ingredients
In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just combined. Don’t overmix — a few streaks of flour are fine.
5. Fill and Top
Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups, filling each about ¾ full. Sprinkle generously with crumble topping.
6. Bake
Bake for 18–22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
Tips for Perfect Muffins
Room-temperature eggs help the batter mix more evenly.
Don’t skip the crumble — it’s the bakery magic.
For taller muffin tops, start baking at 400°F (200°C) for 5 minutes, then reduce to 375°F (190°C) for the remaining time.
Storage & Freezing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Freeze muffins (without the crumble losing too much crunch) for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temp or warm in the oven for a few minutes.
If you love my content and want more tools for mindfulness & movement, check out my digital products on Buy Me a Coffee! Your support helps me continue creating.
Looking for the tools and products I swear by? Visit my Amazon storefront for a handpicked collection of my favorite finds—from kitchen gadgets to wellness essentials. Click here to explore and shop my must-haves.
Interested in being part of my essential oil community and are ready to start using pure essential oils, shop here or email me for a free 1:1 consultation.
Ever since I shared some sourdough discard crackers over on my instagram I have had a zillion questions about them. If you haven’t jumped into the sourdough craze you are definitely missing out. I will admit that at first it seemed like a LOT of work and time, but it really isn’t. I mean how much time do we spend mindlessly scrolling when we could spend a tiny bit of time eliminating garbage from our diet and making something soulful and delicious?
Before I share the super simple cracker process, let’s chat about sourdough.
What is sourdough?
Sourdough relies on a mix of wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria, rather than baker’s yeast, to leaven the dough. It’s richer in nutrients, less likely to spike your blood sugar, contains lower amounts of gluten, and is generally easier to digest than bread made with baker’s yeast.
Store bought bread has so many ingredients in it and most of them are useless ingredients that just add junk to our food. Homemade sourdough is flour, water, salt. Three ingredients compared to over twenty in a store bought version. Hmmm.
By using a special starter of wild yeast and bacteria, the positives of consuming sourdough far outweigh the negative ideas that we should be avoiding bread. Sourdough bread is a baking art form that is, by its very nature, a healthier choice – according to A Bread Affair in Vancouver here are the reasons why…and have to agree 100%.
The Benefits of Sourdough:
1. It is easy to digest.
The bacteria-yeast composition will start to breakdown the starches found in the grains before it even reaches your stomach. That means there is way less work to be done, making it much easier on your gut.
2. It has a lower glycemic index.
Compared to many other types of bread, sourdough is fermented in a way that depletes bad starches within it. This means that it won’t cause your blood sugar to rise so drastically upon eating it.
3. Better for gluten-sensitivity.
The longer prep time for sourdough bread means that much of the protein gluten is broken down into amino acids before you consume it. The extensive soaking, rinsing, and other preparation steps means that it is easier to eat and digest, especially if you have mild sensitivities to gluten.
4. More “good acid”.
Lactobacillus a kind of bacteria found in sourdough bread more so than other types of bread and it results in higher levels of lactic acid. This is important because it means there is less room for phytic acid, which can be potentially dangerous. Larger quantities of lactic acid also result in easier digestion and accessibility to more minerals.
5. Provides healthy bacteria.
Sourdough bread is fermented in a way that fosters more beneficial bacteria in the bread and in your body when you eat it.
6. Less yeast.
Healthy bacteria in sourdough bread works to reduce yeast populations, so the likelihood of infection and/or overgrowth is substantially lower.
7. Natural origins.
Sourdough bread made with whole flour, wild yeast and bacteria comes from a very “natural” origin. It is the oldest form of leavened bread; we have been eating it as part of a natural diet for a long, long time.
8. Fewer preservatives.
Sourdough bread contains acetic acid, which naturally prevent the growth of mold. It naturally preserves itself, meaning that toxic preservatives are not required to make it last. So it won’t go bad – and you can opt out of the hazardous build-up of preservatives in the food supply chain.
9. Good fuel.
Made from wheat, sourdough bread fuels the production of good bacteria in your gut – much like the inulin and oligosaccharides found in onions, leeks, bananas, garlic, asparagus, and so on.
10. It’s nutritious.
Sourdough contains a variety of vitamins and nutrients, making it super beneficial to your day-to-day health. Sourdough bread has small to moderate amounts of: iron, manganese, calcium, B1-B6, B12, folate, zinc, potassium, thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, selenium, iron, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, and vitamin E. What a great selection! Compared to other breads, sourdough maintains many of the original nutrients that are processed out of other kinds of bread.
11. The taste!
Sourdough bread tastes great on top of being a healthier alternative. What more could you want?
Crackers?? You got it! I also use sourdough to make all kinds of fun things like pizza dough, pancakes, cookies and this weekend I am making English muffins!
First, you’ll need some sourdough “starter”. This consists of flour and water that becomes the base for your bread and other baked goods.
Simply put: a sourdough starter is a live fermented culture of fresh flour and water. Once combined, the culture will begin to ferment and cultivate the natural yeasts found in our environment. A small portion is added to your bread dough to make it rise. Commercial yeast IS NOT required.
The Process of Sourdough:
At first I felt overwhelmed with having to “feed” something and initially wondered if I had a new child to worry about but realized I was way over thinking it.There are some sourdough people out there that measure everything to to the gram and while that does produce a perfect loaf, after awhile you do learn to eyeball things, especially feeding the starter. I usually just pour some out into my discard jar and add 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup water and call it good for the week. The day before I bake bread I do feed her a twice so she is extra happy.
For crackers, cookies, muffins, pizza dough and so much more you’ll need some of the “discard”.
Sourdough discard is the unfed portion of your sourdough starter that you remove before you add fresh flour and water. Because of its unfed state, it’s not used to bake the delicious bread you know as sourdough, but more often than not, used in sourdough discard recipes like crackers!
There are a zillion recipes out there but after a few times following one you might learn to wing it like me.
Sourdough Discard Crackers
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
In a small mixing bowl add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil or melted butter. To this add seasonings you love. I have been adding Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salutewhich is a smooth blend of onion, black pepper, celery seed, cayenne pepper, parsley, basil, marjoram, bay leaf, oregano, thyme, savory, rosemary, cumin, mustard, coriander, garlic, carrot, orange peel, tomato, lemon juice and lemon oil. The perfect savory flavor!
After combing the seasonings and oil, add 2 cups of sourdough discard and mix well.
Sprinkle Himalayan Pink Salt on top
Pour mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
Bake for 10 minutes and then score into bite size squares with a pizza wheel
Bake an additional 20-30 minutes or until crispy and golden brown
I store these once cooled in a sealed container or jar (if they last that long)
Other combinations include parmesan cheese and rosemary or making an Italian herb blend flavor. Some people love the everything bagel flavor but I find smelling like garlic for days to be a slight downside. I saw someone also make cinnamon sugar crackers that were cut slightly smaller for a cereal type snack!
You might be able to see how this can easily become a part time obsession and finding new ways to use the discard is constantly fun.
Stacie believes that it is her life purpose to share the gift of Yoga with anyone who is willing to say yes. In addition to raising a family and being an advocate for those with disabilities, Stacie is founder of Embracing Spirit Yoga which specializes in bringing adaptive Yoga into community centers and rehabilitation clinics. Bringing her depth of compassion to the mat–or the chair–she offers students the opportunity to grow as an individual in all aspects of their life.
Since I am a newer sourdough fanatic I have quite a bit of extra sourdough. Honestly, I try not to eat the whole loaf in a couple days so I usually have a quarter of loaf hanging around and found the perfect use of stale sourdough.. Sourdough CROUTONS!
Sourdough croutons provide the perfect crunch to a fresh salad. This homemade version of sourdough croutons does not contain any extra ingredients.
INGREDIENTS
6-8 cups cubed sourdough bread (at least one day old, or sliced and dried; ¾-1 inch cubes)
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ – 1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
¼ teaspoon black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
How to Make Sourdough Croutons:
Preheat your oven to 400ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
If you haven’t already, cut your sourdough bread into ½-1″ cubes.
Add the olive oil, garlic, salt, dried parsley, and black pepper to a very large bowl. Whisk to combine.
Add the cubed dried bread cubes and toss them until they are lightly coated with oil.
Spread the sourdough bread cubes out onto the prepared baking sheet in a single layer.
Bake until browned, 12-18 minutes (mine were done at 15), tossing halfway through baking to ensure even browning.
Allow your sourdough croutons to cool completely before transferring to an airtight storage container or ziploc bag.
