Cinnamon Sugar Sourdough Muffins

I’ve been making these cinnamon sugar sourdough muffins for years. They are simple but delicious – packed full of sweet cinnamon and sugar and made with sourdough discard. My kids love helping dunk the tops of these muffins in melty butter and cinnamon sugar giving the perfect sweet crunch to the tops of these muffins. I know you’re going to love them.

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Why You’ll Love Cinnamon Sugar Sourdough Muffins

You will love how simple and sweet these discard muffins are. While you can click here to see a version of these muffins without sourdough discard, making this a sourdough recipe gives these muffins a texture that is light and fluffy. I always love baking with sourdough discard because it adds moisture and flavor – just like in my sourdough discard English muffins! You will love the sweet cinnamon flavor and the crunchy cinnamon/sugar topping of these muffins.

Important Ingredients

• Sourdough Discard: Use 100% hydration sourdough discard in these muffins – starter that has been fed equal weights of flour and water. Discard that is younger and more fresh will not give as much (or ANY) sour flavor. For more sour flavor, use older discard. You can also substitute fresh, bubbly sourdough starter for the discard in this recipe.
• Unsalted Butter: I always use unsalted butter in baking because I can control the salt content in my recipe. These muffins use unsalted butter in the batter AND melted butted to dunk the muffin tops in before dunking in a cinnamon/sugar mixture.
• Granulated Sugar: White granulated sugar adds the sweetness to these muffins. You can decrease the sugar by about 50 grams if desired – but going too much further than that and it will negatively affect the flavor of the muffins.
• Eggs: Eggs add richness and structure to the muffins.
• All-purpose flour: I use all-purpose flour or a pastry flour with a lower protein content in these muffins.
• Cornstarch: A little cornstarch goes a long way in making these muffins light and tender.
• Milk: 2% or whole milk will add liquid content to the batter and help add structure to these muffins.
• Vanilla Extract: Vanilla extract enhances the sweet flavor of the muffins.
• Ground Cinnamon: Cinnamon is the over-arching flavor profile of these muffins, so we use a lot of it!
• Nutmeg: Nutmeg adds a little extra pop of flavor to the muffins.
• Baking Powder: Baking powder helps give these muffins their rise.
• Salt: Salt balances the flavors in this recipe. Don’t leave it out.

How to Make Cinnamon Sugar Sourdough Muffins

Mix the Batter

Wet Ingredients: Mix together the liquid ingredients. Melt unsalted butter in a large liquid measuring cup or small bowl. Let cool if needed (butter should be warm room temperature). Add the sourdough discard and whisk to combine. Pour in the sugar and eggs. Whisk again until completely combined. Add the milk and vanilla and whisk until incorporated and smooth.

Dry Ingredients: To a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt until all ingredients are fully incorporated.

Mixing Together: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula until just mixed – it’s okay if your batter has a few small streaks of flour. The key to a tender muffin is not over-mixing.

Bake the Muffins

Scoop muffin batter into the wells of a muffin tin that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, filling the tins about 3/4 of the way full. This recipe makes about 12-14 muffins.

Bake at 350ºF for 20-22 minutes until muffins are baked all the way through. The tops of the muffins should not jiggle and if you insert a toothpick to the middle of the muffin it will come out clean.

Dunk Muffins in Butter/Cinnamon Sugar Mixture

While the muffins cool, prepare the topping. Melt butter in a bowl. In a separate small bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon.

Once the muffins have cooled (they can still be slightly warm for this part), dip the top of each muffin into the butter and then dip into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Continue this process until every muffin in coated in cinnamon/sugar. These muffins are best served fresh and warm.

How to Store Leftover Sourdough Cinnamon Sugar Muffins

After the muffins have cooled completely, stick them in an airtight container or ziplock bag. These muffins can be kept on the counter in an airtight container for a few days, or for better results, freeze them for up to a couple months.

Frequently Asked Questions