These sourdough zucchini muffins are packed full of delicious fresh zucchini and sourdough discard. The fresh zucchini and oils used in this recipe make for an extra moist and tender muffin that you can enjoy all day long. I find myself grabbing these as a snack or breakfast item, but if you add a little extra sugar, some chocolate chips, and maybe even a streusel topping and you have yourself a veggie-filled dessert!
Zucchinis are in season from may to august which makes these muffins the perfect cozy treat to enjoy in the summertime. Although, I have been known to enjoy these year-round! The cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom remind me of fall and wintertime.
This was inspired by my double chocolate zucchini bread. If you haven't already, you need to try it out!
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Ingredients
This recipe uses simple ingredients that you might already have on hand! Check out my "substitutions" and "variations" sections below for more ideas on how you can adjust this recipe to suit your needs.
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Ground nutmeg
- Ground cardamom
- Ground cinnamon
- Vegetable oil
- Brown sugar
- Cane sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Eggs
- Sourdough discard
- Zucchinis (shredded)
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
- Step 1: Mix wet (pictured) and dry ingredients in separate bowls.
- Step 2: Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until combined.
- Step 3: Stir in shredded zucchini and any other toppings you like.
- Step 4: Evenly distribute the batter in a 12-muffin pan. Bake at 425F for 5 minutes and then turn the temperature down to 350F for another 15 minutes.
Hint: Room-temperature ingredients make for the most consistent batter!
Substitutions
- Milk - Use high-fat non-dairy milk if you don't want to use dairy! I highly recommend Oatly oat milk (full-fat or regular would be ideal).
- Vegetable oil - use melted coconut oil or any mild flavored oil of your choosing.
- Spices - Some people don't have nutmeg or cardamom on hand. If that's you, no worries at all! Feel free to just stick with cinnamon or swap the others out for other cozy spices like pumpkin pie spice.
Variations
- Streusel topping - Mix ½ a cup of flour, ½ a cup of sugar, and 4 tablespoons of melted butter until crumbles form. Generously add this to the top of the muffins before baking. See my lemon curd streusel muffins recipe for an example of how this would look!
- Kid-friendly - Add 1 cup of chocolate chips.
- Nutty - Try adding 1 cup of chopped walnuts for more texture.
See this sourdough discard banana bread muffin recipe on my website!
Equipment
- Medium mixing bowl
- Whisk
- 12-Muffin pan
- Muffin liners
- Grater
Storage
Store at room temp for up to 3 days and in the fridge for up to 7 days. Freeze for up to 6 months (be sure to thaw in the fridge to prevent soggy muffins!)
Top tip
Use a kitchen scale to measure out your ingredients for the most consistent results.
FAQ
Yes! This recipe is automatically dairy free as it uses oils instead of butter.
Related
Looking for other sourdough recipes like this? Try these:
Sourdough Zucchini Bread Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour 210g
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ⅓ cup sourdough discard 100g
- ½ cup vegetable oil or melted coconut oil
- ½ cup granulated sugar 100g
- ⅓ cup packed light or dark brown sugar 67g
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups shredded zucchini
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F and prepare a 12-muffin pan with muffin liners.
- Using a cheese grater or shredder, shred two zucchini until you have 1 ¾ cups of shredded zucchini. Set aside (no need to blot).
- In a medium, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cardamom. Set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together your sourdough discard, oil, sugars, eggs and vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients and stir until fully combined.
- Stir in the shredded zucchini and whatever add-ins you like.
- Evenly distribute the batter in the 12-muffin pan. Place in the oven and bake at 425F for 5 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 350F and bake for another 15 minutes or until the tops of the muffins are round and set.
Notes
- Optional: 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or chopped walnuts)
- Optional: Sprinkle extra sugar on top
- Storage: Store at room temp for up to 3 days and in the fridge for up to 7 days. Freeze for up to 6 months.
- If you don't have cardamom and/or nutmeg feel free to omit them and stick with cinnamon or replace them with another cozy spice such as pumpkin pie or chai spice mixes.
Nedra says
These are wonderful! I got 18 muffins out of the recipe and I added walnuts.
Audrey says
I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed them!