Making sourdough bread is something I (along with many others) have wanted to tackle for a while. Thanks to my friends and “sourdough coaches” - Joana Sciarrino, Kayleen St. John, and Isabella Stelle- I’ve finally started the process. I’ve made a few loaves of bread and found myself with excess starter. Because I hate any sort of waste, I knew that I needed to try recipes with my excess starter (as opposed to composting it!). Here’s my first recipe using excess starter and IT’S SO DELICIOUS. My family gobbled up all these muffins very quickly.

I can’t wait for you to try these and let me know what you think! These muffins are vegan/plant based, dairy free, and refined sugar free. When bulk sections and farmer’s markets reopen, they can also be zero waste!

Sourdough Starter Blueberry Corn Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 cup sourdough starter

• 1/4 cup full fat coconut milk*

• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract*

• 1 chia egg (1 tbsp chia seed + 3 tbsp water)

• 1/4 melted coconut oil

• 1/4 cup maple syrup

• 1 cup spelt flour

• 1 cup cornmeal

• large pinch of sea salt

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1 cup blueberries (or raspberries)

Directions

1. Make the chia egg by combining 1 tbsp chia seeds with 3 tbsp water and set aside while you get out all the other ingredients. It should sit for about 15 minutes so it thickens).

2. Using a large bowl, mix together the wet ingredients- the sourdough starter, coconut milk*, vanilla extract*, chia egg and maple syrup until combined.

3. Add in the dry ingredients - spelt flour, cornmeal, sea salt, baking soda, and cinnamon- and mix together carefully until combined. Don’t over mix! The batter should look a bit sticky.

4. Carefully fold in the berries.

5. Grease a muffin tin with coconut oil and fill each muffin cup with the mixture. Let sit in a warm room for 30 minutes.

6. After the batter has rested, bake it in a 425F** oven for 30 minutes until the tops of the muffins are golden. Remove from the oven and let cool.

7. Take a deep breath, smell the enticing muffins, and enjoy. Top with some nut butter.

*Because I always have my homemade 2 ingredient coconut milk creamer on hand, that’s what I used for this recipe. If you’re using coconut milk right from a can, be sure to blend it before using it. You can blend it with the vanilla extract and then save the leftover for your morning coffee!

**I avoid preheating the oven to save energy! It takes a bit longer to cook the muffins, but worth it.