Fluffy Chocolate Chip Sourdough Banana Muffins

Muffin with one bite taken on a cooling rack with more muffins and a bowl of butter.

4 from 2 votes

Fluffy Chocolate Chip Sourdough Banana Muffins

Incredibly light and fluffy, these sourdough banana muffins are a dream! Loaded with ripe bananas, melty chocolate chips and a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg to make the muffins extra flavorful. An optional, but recommended, one hour ferment gives the leaveners and discard a head start, creating the most fluffy, tender and moist banana muffins with beautiful rounded tops!

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Resting Time1

Total Time1 30

Course: Dessert/Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Servings: muffins

Calories: 259kcal

Author: Rachel Kochlin

Equipment

Ingredients

113 grams melted butter (½ cup, can substitute vegetable or canola oil)
112 grams packed brown sugar (½ cup)
100 grams granulated sugar (½ cup)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
125 grams sourdough discard (½ cup)
60 grams sour cream (¼ cup)
375 grams mashed ripe bananas (1 ½ cups, about 3-4 bananas)
240 grams all-purpose flour (2 cups)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¾ cup mini chocolate chips (plus extra for sprinkling on top)

Instructions

Add the melted butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar to a large bowl. Using a handheld mixer or a whisk, mix for 2 minutes to make sure the sugar and butter is well combined. This will help create tall, fluffy muffins. Mix in the eggs and vanilla, followed by the sourdough discard, sour cream and mashed bananas.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the dry ingredients and chocolate chips to the bowl with the wet ingredients and use a rubber spatula to fold together until just combined.
Cover the bowl and let it rest at room temperature for 1 hour (or overnight in the fridge) to allow the sourdough to ferment a bit and give the leaveners time to start working, resulting in a soft and fluffy muffin.
NOTE: If you're short on time, you can skip this step and bake the muffins right away.
Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a muffin tin with paper liners. The batter makes about 15 muffins.
After the batter has rested, it should be light and fluffy; do not mix the batter. Scoop the muffin batter into the liners, filling each liner just shy of the top (an ice cream scoop works well for this). Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F, then reduce the oven to 350°F (leaving the muffins in the oven) and bake for another 9-12 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. I think muffins are best enjoyed warm, so let them cool for another 10-15 minutes, then enjoy with a smear of salted butter!

Notes

Expert tips:

Ripe Bananas. Ripe bananas are key. They should be speckled with brown spots, or even better, brown all over. You can use bananas that are sitting out on the counter or even frozen bananas - just make sure you thaw before using in the recipe. Yellow bananas will not work well for banana bread - the texture and flavor will be off.
Check the expiration date on your baking soda and baking powder. If your baking soda and baking powder are expired they won't work to their full potential. Even if my baking soda and baking powder aren't expired, I still like to replace them every 6 months.
Don’t overmix the batter. When combining wet and dry ingredients, do not overmix. The best way to prevent over-mixing is to use a spatula to fold all the ingredients together until they're just combined. Over-mixing can create a tough
Use a toothpick to check if the muffins are done. Insert a toothpick into the center of a muffin to check for doneness. If it comes out mostly clean with just a few moist crumbs then the muffins have finished baking. If you pull out the toothpick and it's clean, that's OK too.

How to quickly ripen bananas:

- Ripen in a paper bag. As bananas ripen, the peels give off ethylene gas. When the bananas are trapped in a paper bag, the concentration of ethylene is higher causing the bananas to ripen faster. Close the banana tightly in a paper bag and in about 1-3 days the bananas will be ripe.
- Ripen in the oven. Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Lay the unpeeled bananas on the sheet pan. Bake the bananas, checking every 15 minutes or so (more time depending on how green or yellow the bananas were) until the banana peels are black and the insides are soft.

Storage:

Room temperature: Store in an airtight container or ziplock bag at room temperature or 3-4 days.
Storing in the refrigerator: After 3-4 days at room temperature, I typically store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for another couple of days or freeze them.
Freezing: Once the muffins have completely cooled, wrap each muffin tightly in plastic wrap, then place the muffins into a large ziplock bag. Store for up to 3 months in the freezer. Thaw frozen muffins on the counter.
Reheating: I like to pop my muffins in the microwave for 15-30 seconds to warm them up before eating. To warm up a big batch, I recommend putting them back into the muffin pan and reheating in the oven at 350°F for 5-10 minutes. If needed, you can loosely cover them with aluminum foil or parchment paper to prevent the tops from burning.

Nutrition