Double Chocolate Sourdough Muffins (Bakery Style and So Moist)
If you've ever bitten into a bakery double chocolate muffin and wondered how they get that deep, almost brownie like texture with a crackly domed top, I am here to tell you how! You can make that exact thing at home with your sourdough discard! I tested these double chocolate sourdough muffin recipe so many times to make sure they are exactly perfect! I bake these in my own kitchen almost every week to use up discard, and my family loves eating them for breakfast every morning!
If I am being honest with you, I truly am a full blown chocoholic! In high school I used to have a double chocolate chip muffin from the Costco almost every single morning before class. I'd cut it in half, toast it up a bit, and add some better. They were the kind with the shiny cracked top and the chocolate chips melting into every bite. I haven't found anything in a store that comes close to that memory, so I decided to recreate it myself with my sourdough discard.
These are the closest I have ever gotten. The sourdough discard adds a yummy tang that makes the chocolate taste even richer, and it keeps the crumb soft for days instead of drying out the way box mix muffins do. I love making muffins with my sourdough discard. Sourdough chocolate chip muffins and sourdough blueberry muffins are some of my family's favorites too! If you were also a chocolate muffin kid, this recipe is for you!
Jump to:
- Why This Recipe Works
- Ingredients to Gather
- Substitutions and Variations for Double Chocolate Sourdough Discard Muffins
- How to Make Sourdough Double Chocolate Muffins
- Getting That Bakery Style Cracked Top
- Troubleshooting Double Chocolate Sourdough Muffins
- How to Store Chocolate Sourdough Muffins
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More Muffin Recipes
- 📖 Recipe
Why This Recipe Works
- Sourdough discard replaces some of the flour's structure with moisture, which is why these muffins stay soft for days instead of going stale by the second day like a lot of quick bread recipes do. I love adding sourdough discard to my muffins! I love a sourdough corn muffin, sourdough apple muffin, and even sourdough pumpkin muffins!
- A hot oven start (425°F) followed by a lower finish (350°F) gives the muffins that tall, cracked bakery style dome instead of a flat top.
- Sour cream and oil together, not just one or the other, is what keeps the crumb tender without making the muffins greasy or dense.
- Two kinds of chocolate, cocoa powder in the batter and chocolate chips folded in, gives you righ chocolate flavor in every bite instead of chocolate flavor only where a chip happens to land.
Ingredients to Gather
- All purpose flour. This gives the muffins structure. I don't recommend swapping in whole wheat or bread flour here, it makes the crumb dense instead of soft.
- Cocoa powder. Dutch process gives a smoother, richer flavor, but natural cocoa powder works fine too if that's what you have. I always have Hershey cocoa powder in my pantry because it's so good!
- Baking soda and baking powder. Both are needed for a good rise, even though there's discard in the batter. The discard adds flavor while the baking soda and baking powder add leavening.
- Unsalted butter, melted. You can swap in the same amount of neutral oil like avocado or vegetable oil, but the muffins will be slightly less tender.
- Granulated sugar and brown sugar. The brown sugar adds a little moisture and a caramel flavor you won't get from white sugar alone.
Wet Ingredients
- Eggs. Room temperature eggs blend into the batter more smoothly than cold ones.
- Sourdough discard. Unfed, straight from the fridge is fine. You do not need to feed it first. If you only have active starter, you can use the same weight, just know the flavor will be a touch more tangy.
- Sour cream. This is the moisture secret. Full fat plain Greek yogurt works as a swap if that's what's in your fridge. If you've got some extra, make a sour cream banana coffee cake!
- Vanilla extract. Believe it or not, this helps enhance the chocolate flavor.
- Brewed coffee or a pinch of espresso powder (optional). This doesn't make the muffins taste like coffee, it just deepens the chocolate flavor. Skip it if you don't keep coffee on hand.
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips. As a chocolate lover, I always have semi-sweet chocolate chips in my pantry. I like to use semi-sweet, but, but dark or milk chocolate chips both work. Save a few to press onto the tops before baking for that bakery look.
Be sure to check out the printable recipe card for full recipe information on ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations for Double Chocolate Sourdough Discard Muffins
- You can swap the butter for oil, the sour cream for a dairy-free yogurt, and the milk for any plant-based milk, and this double chocolate sourdough muffin recipe still works well.
- For jumbo muffins. Fill a jumbo muffin tin about three quarters full. Bake at 425°F for 5 minutes, then lower to 350°F and bake for an additional 18 to 22 minutes, checking with a toothpick starting at 18 minutes.
- For mini muffins. Fill a mini muffin tin about two thirds full. Bake at 425°F for 4 minutes, then lower to 350°F and bake for an additional 6 to 8 minutes.
How to Make Sourdough Double Chocolate Muffins
- Step 1: Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Step 2: In a separate bowl, whisk the melted butter and both sugars together until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each. Whisk in the sourdough discard, sour cream, milk, vanilla, and coffee if using, until the batter is smooth.
- Step 3: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold together with a spatula just until no dry streaks remain. Overmixing is the number one cause of dense, tough muffins, so stop as soon as it comes together.
- Step 4: Fold in the chocolate chips, saving a small handful to press onto the tops. Let the batter rest for 15 minutes on the counter. This gives the flour time to hydrate and helps the muffins rise taller. If you want to long ferment, cover the bowl and place it in the fridge overnight instead, then scoop and bake straight from the fridge in the morning.
- Step 5: Fill the liners generously, all the way to the top. This is what gives you those big, bakery style domed tops instead of small, flat ones. Press a few extra chocolate chips onto each top.
- Step 6: Bake at 425°F for 5 minutes, then, without opening the oven door, lower the temperature to 350°F and continue baking for 14 to 16 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs, not wet batter. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Getting That Bakery Style Cracked Top
The two step oven temperature is the biggest factor here. The hot blast at the start makes the batter rise quickly before the structure sets. This gives you that crack across the top we are always looking for!
Filling the liners all the way full also matters. If you only fill them halfway, you'll get a smaller, rounder muffin instead of a tall one. If you can, resist the urge to open the oven door for the first 15 minutes of baking. A rush of cold air too early can cause the tops to sink instead of crack.
Troubleshooting Double Chocolate Sourdough Muffins
- Muffins turned out dry. This is almost always from too much flour (scoop and level, or better, weigh it) or a minute or two of overbaking. Start checking at the earliest time listed.
- Muffins are dense or gummy. This usually means the batter was overmixed, or the muffins came out slightly underbaked. Fold the batter just until the flour disappears, and make sure your toothpick test comes out with a few moist crumbs, not wet streaks.
- Tops sank in the middle. This is typically underbaking, or opening the oven door too early while the muffins are still rising. Give them the full bake time before checking.
- Tops are flat instead of domed. The liners probably weren't filled full enough, or the oven wasn't fully preheated to 425°F before the muffins went in.
How to Store Chocolate Sourdough Muffins
You can make the batter up to 24 hours ahead and store it covered in the fridge. Then scoop the batter and bake straight from cold. No need to bring it to room temperature first.
Baked muffins freeze beautifully. Let them cool completely. Then wrap each one individually in plastic wrap and store in a freezer safe bag for up to 3 months. To reheat, thaw at room temperature for about an hour, or warm a frozen muffin straight in a 300°F oven for 10 to 12 minutes. For a quick fix, 20 to 30 seconds in the microwave brings back that fresh baked softness.
Store cooled muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. You can also store them in the fridge for up to a week. If you're stacking them, a piece of parchment between layers keeps the tops from sticking.
Frequently Asked Questions
This usually means the liners weren't filled all the way. It also could mean the oven wasn't fully preheated to 425°F before the muffins went in. Both of those are needed for that tall bakery style rise.
Yes, use the same weight called for in the recipe. The flavor will be slightly more tangy since active starter has more fermentation happening, but the texture will still turn out great.
This almost always comes down to overmixing the batter or pulling the muffins out before they're fully baked. Fold just until the flour disappears and don't skip the toothpick test.
📖 Recipe
The Best Double Chocolate Sourdough Discard Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups All purpose flour
- ¾ cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup Butter Melted
- ¾ cup Granulated sugar
- â…“ cup Brown sugar
- 2 large Eggs
- ½ cup Sourdough discard unfed
- â…“ cup Milk whole milk, 2%, or your favorite non dairy milk
- ½ cup Sour cream Full fat
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 tablespoon Cooled coffee Optional but highly recommended!
- 1 ½ cups Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
- Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk melted butter and both sugars until smooth. Whisk in eggs one at a time, then sourdough discard, sour cream, milk, vanilla, and coffee if using.
- Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips, saving a few for the tops.
- Rest the batter for 15 minutes on the counter, or cover and refrigerate overnight. This helps get the crumb to be really tender and help make the muffins really tall.
- Fill liners to the top. Press extra chocolate chips onto each muffin.
- Bake at 425°F for 5 minutes, then lower to 350°F and bake 14 to 16 minutes more, until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
Notes
- For jumbo muffins, bake 18 to 22 minutes at 350°F after the initial 5 minute hot start. For mini muffins, bake 6 to 8 minutes at 350°F after a 4 minute hot start.
- If you only have active sourdough starter on hand, use that! It will work just perfectly.
- I like to use semi-sweet chocolate chips in this recipe, but you can use dark chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, or even white chocolate chips in this recipe.
