Best Sourdough Banana Muffins with Walnut Crumb Topping
These sourdough banana muffins are packed with flavor and topped with a crunchy walnut crumb topping. A perfect, easy-to-make treat for breakfast or snack time!
Transform your sourdough banana bread recipe into delicious bakery-style sourdough banana muffins with an irresistible Walnut Crumb Topping. These muffins are easy to grab on busy mornings, keep for a few days at room temperature, and can even be frozen for later!
What You’ll Love About This Recipe
The crumb topping with crushed walnuts really turns what could be an ordinary banana muffin into an extraordinary bakery-style muffin worth sharing at a brunch or special occasion.
This is a no-wait recipe which means that you don’t have to feed your sourdough starter and wait for it to rise. You simply use 1/2 cup of discard straight from the fridge!
Making these muffins helps reduce food waste! This recipe is a great way to use up extra discard and those too far gone over ripe bananas on your kitchen counter.
Variations
One of the best things about these sourdough banana muffins is how easy they are to customize! Here are a few fun variations to try:
Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins – Add 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to the batter for a sweet and indulgent twist. The rich chocolate perfectly complements the banana flavor!
Nut-Free Version – If you prefer to skip the walnuts, you can leave them out of the topping. For an extra boost of flavor, add a teaspoon of cinnamon or nutmeg to the batter.
Blueberry Banana Muffins – For a fruity twist, gently fold 1/2 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries into the batter before baking. The blueberries add a burst of sweetness alongside the bananas.
Coconut Banana Muffins – Stir in 1/4 cup of shredded coconut to the batter for a tropical touch. You could even sprinkle some coconut flakes on top for extra crunch!
Spiced Banana Muffins – Add a teaspoon of cinnamon or a dash of cardamom to the batter for a warm, spiced flavor that pairs wonderfully with the bananas.
Key Ingredients
While you can find a full list of ingredients in the recipe card at the bottom of this post, there are just a few key ingredients that I’d like to highlight for you that make these muffins extra special.
Sourdough Discard: If you’re familiar at all with sourdough discard, you know that by adding a little to your recipes you enhance the moisture as well as the flavor with just a little bit of tang. Not too much, just enough.
Sour cream: Yes, it may sound a little strange to add a taco topping to your morning muffin mix but adding just a little sour cream makes the muffins more moist and increases the fluffiness. Don’t worry if you’re out of sour cream you can substitute a little Greek yogurt in its place.
Mashed Banana: Of course, you need to add bananas to any banana muffin recipe but the trick is to mash the bananas before folding them into the batter. In my experience, banana chunks turn black and no one wants to bite into a slimy black chunk.
How to Make Sourdough Banana Muffins
Preheat Oven:
- Preheat your oven to 400°F.
- Grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper liners.
Make Muffin Batter:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, melted butter, egg, sourdough discard, and vanilla extract. Mix well until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and gently mix until just combined. Avoid over-mixing.
- Then fold in mashed bananas and sour cream.
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Prepare Walnut Crumb Topping:
- In a small bowl, combine crushed walnuts, sugar, flour, and melted butter. Stir gently with a fork until crumbly.
Fill Muffin Cups:
- Divide the batter evenly into the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full.
- Sprinkle the walnut crumb topping evenly over each muffin, pressing slightly into the batter.
Bake:
- Place the muffin tin in the oven and bake at 400°F for just 5 minutes. Then drop the temperature to 375° and bake muffins for an additional 13-18 minutes. Total baking time should be from 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the crumb topping is golden brown.
Cool and Serve:
Allow muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.
Baking Tips for Success
- Brown bananas add extra sweetness and the best banana flavor to the muffins so be sure not to use under-ripened bananas.
- You’ll want to mash the bananas before adding them to the batter. This helps incorporate the banana flavor and reduces chunks.
- Do not overbake! This will dry out your muffins.
- Be sure to preheat to 400°F and then lower the temperature to 375°. This trick will give you a nice bakery-style rise to the tops of your muffins.
- Fill every other muffin cup so that when your tops rise they don’t touch.
How to Store Homemade Muffins
Homemade muffins like these can be stored in an air-tight container for a few days. If you want to keep your muffins even longer, I recommend freezing them. To freeze muffins, cool them completely and then place them in large Ziploc bags for up to 3 months. For best results, wrap them individually in plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn.
Yes, if you don’t have any sourdough discard on hand just use active starter.
I wouldn’t recommend using frozen bananas as it may add too much moisture to the muffins.
Overstirring the batter can make your muffins dense. Be sure to fold the ingredients together until just combined.
More Sourdough Breakfast Recipes
Sourdough Blueberry Muffins
Overnight French Toast Casserole
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Sourdough Discard Pancakes
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Sourdough Banana Muffins with Walnut Crumb Topping
Ingredients
For the Muffins:
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup sourdough discard or active starter
- 2 bananas mashed
- 1/3 cup sour cream
For the Crumb Topping:
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup crushed walnuts
- 2 tbsp melted butter
Instructions
Preheat Oven:
- Preheat your oven to 400°F.
- Grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper liners.
Make Muffin Batter:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, melted butter, egg, sourdough discard, and vanilla extract. Mix well until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and gently mix until just combined. Avoid over-mixing.
- Then fold in mashed bananas and sour cream.
Prepare Walnut Crumb Topping:
- In a small bowl, combine crushed walnuts, sugar, flour, and melted butter. Stir gently with a fork until crumbly.
Fill Muffin Cups:
- Divide the batter evenly into the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full.
- Sprinkle the walnut crumb topping evenly over each muffin, pressing slightly into the batter.
Bake:
- Place the muffin tin in the oven and bake at 400°F for just 5 minutes. Then drop the temperature to 375° and bake muffins for an additional 13-18 minutes. Total baking time should be from 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the crumb topping is golden brown.
Cool and Serve:
- Allow muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- Brown bananas add extra sweetness and the best banana flavor to the muffins so be sure not to use under-ripened bananas.
- You’ll want to mash the bananas before adding them to the batter. This helps incorporate the banana flavor and reduces chunks.
- Do not overbake! This will dry out your muffins.
- Be sure to preheat to 400°F and then lower the temperature to 375°. This trick will give you a nice bakery-style rise to the tops of your muffins.
