The best sourdough pumpkin muffin you’ve ever eaten. They are soft, sweet and are topped with an irresistible, spiced oat crumble. The ultimate fall treat that you will want to make again and again. Make them the quick way or ferment for more health benefits.
This may be one of my favorite fall recipes yet! These sourdough pumpkin muffins are soft, delicious, and topped with a sweet, brown sugar and oat crumble that gets nice and crunchy on top.
The perfect mix of soft and crunchy, while also making your house smell amazing.
One of my favorite things to grow are pumpkins. They are easy to grow, they stay fresh for a really long time, and they are also beautiful to use in fall decor. On top of all that, they are delicious to use in recipes.
If you are new to preserving, pumpkins and squashes are a favorite of mine. Properly cured, some squashes can last at least 6 months at room temperature.
From sweet to savory, pumpkin can go a long way. Make a creamy pasta sauce, nachos, soup, pumpkin cinnamon rolls, and so much more. It is probably one of my favorite veggies to use.
For this recipe, I used some jerrandale pumpkin puree that I made last year. I needed it out of my freezer to make room for more pumpkin puree this year.
Sourdough Pumpkin Muffin Making Tips:
- If you don’t want to add the crumb topping, I would suggest adding 1/4 cup more brown sugar to the batter. Without the crumble, it loses some of the sweetness.
- For a more tangy flavor, use sourdough discard that hasn’t been fed in a day or allow to long ferment. For a less tangy flavor, use an active sourdough starter.
- This recipe can be long fermented for more health benefits, or made into a quick version for a yummy, fast recipe.
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Ingredients
Butter – When baking, almost always use unsalted butter. This allows you to have more control over the amount of salt added.
Brown sugar – Adds a wonderful warm flavor to the muffins.
Pumpkin puree – Canned or homemade. If you are using homemade pumpkin puree that has been frozen, I would suggest thawing completely and then straining off any extra liquid.
Eggs
Sourdough starter discard – Active sourdough starter or sourdough discard can be used in this recipe since the rise comes from chemical leaveners.
Vanilla
All-purpose flour – Nothing fancy here.
Baking soda & baking powder – This gives this sourdough pumpkin bread it’s rise.
Salt – Salt is an important ingredient that brings out all the flavors and sweetness.
Pumpkin spice – What’s a pumpkin dessert without pumpkin spice?
Crumb Topping
Oats – Old fashioned or quick will work just fine.
All-purpose flour – Could also substitute with einkorn flour.
Brown sugar – Mixed with butter and oats, this make the topping sweet and crunchy.
Pumpkin spice
Butter – Softened, so it easily incorporates with the other ingredients.
Tools:
Stand mixer or hand mixer
Measuring cups and spoons
Muffin pan
FAQ:
Why are my pumpkin muffins so dense?
Most likely they are dense from over mixing. You want to mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until everything is just incorporated.
Is pure pumpkin the same as pumpkin puree?
Yes. The only ingredient in both is just pumpkin. You don’t want to use pumpkin pie filling, because this includes other ingredients, including sugar, that you don’t need.
What can I do with pumpkin?
- Pumpkin bread
- Pumpkin pie
- Creamy Pumpkin Pasta Sauce
- Homemade ravioli
- Nachos
- Latte
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Sourdough Pumpkin Roll – It’s delicious pumpkin cake, smothered with frosting and rolled up.
- Cobbler
- Scones
- Pumpkin Shaped Sourdough Bread
- Chili
- Roasted Pumpkin Soup
- Rooibos Latte
- Pumpkin Chipotle Spaghetti Squash With Meatballs
Do pumpkin muffins need to be refrigerated?
No, they can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-4 days. Or add to a freezer safe bag and freeze for up to 6 months.
How To Make Quick Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly grease a muffin tin or line with cupcake liners.
In a stand mixer or bowl, mix melted butter and brown sugar for five minutes until light and fluffy.
Add in eggs, vanilla, pumpkin puree, and sourdough starter.
Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin spice, and salt) well in a medium bowl.
Add in dry ingredients 1/3 at a time and mix until just incorporated. You don’t want to over-mix.
In a small bowl, add softened butter, brown sugar, flour, oats, and pumpkin spice and mix until well combined. I find my hands to be the best tool for this job.
Add equal amounts of batter to each muffin well. For super easy distribution, use an ice cream scooper like this one.
Top each muffin with crumble.
Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Test with a toothpick or cake tester. When it comes out clean, it is ready.
Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes and transfer to a baking rack.
Long Fermented Sourdough Pumpkin Muffin Directions:
At 12-24 hours before you plan to make the pumpkin muffins, mix together sourdough starter, melted butter, eggs, and flour. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and allow to ferment at room temperature for 6 hours. Put the batter in the fridge and allow it to ferment for another 6-18 hours.
The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line or grease muffin tins.
Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, add brown sugar, vanilla, pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to the mixing bowl.
I highly recommend using a stand mixer, because the fermented dough will be stiff and difficult to combine with the other ingredients by hand.
Set on low to medium speed until completely combined.
Pour into the muffin pan.
Top with crumb toppings.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes and transfer to a baking rack.
How To Store:
Store at room temperature, in an airtight container (or in a ziplock bag), for up to 5 days.
You can also store the muffins in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Find More Fall Recipes:
- Cinnamon Maple Sourdough Apple Pie
- Gingerbread Cake With Einkorn Flour
- Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce
- Sausage and Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash
- Maple Roasted Chicken With Sweet Potatoes And Apples
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you gave it 5 stars! Thank you! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone.
Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter discard
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
Crumble Topping
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup oats
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 4 tablespoons softened butter
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Lightly grease a muffin tin or line with cupcake liners.
- In a stand mixer or bowl, mix melted butter and brown sugar for five minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add in eggs, vanilla, pumpkin puree, and sourdough starter.
- Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin spice, and salt) well in a medium bowl.
- Add in dry ingredients 1/3 at a time and mix until just incorporated. You don’t want to over-mix.
- In a small bowl, add softened butter, brown sugar, flour, oats, and pumpkin spice and mix until well combined. I find my hands to be the best tool for this job.
- Add equal amounts of batter to each muffin well. For super easy distribution, use an ice cream scooper like this one.
- Top each muffin with crumble.
- Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Test with a toothpick or cake tester. When it comes out clean, it is ready.
- Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes and transfer to a baking rack.
Notes
- If you don’t want to add the crumb topping, I would suggest adding 1/4 cup more brown sugar to the batter. Without the crumble, it loses some of the sweetness.
- For a more tangy flavor, use sourdough discard that hasn’t been fed in a day. For a less tangy flavor, use an active sourdough starter.
- This recipe can be long fermented for more health benefits, or made into a quick version for a yummy, fast recipe.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I am inspired by your recipes. How can I incorporate einkorn flour into them?
Do you think I could turn this into bread instead of muffins? I want that crumble topping on my bread and haven’t been able to find a pumpkin bread recipe like that and these sound so good!
I don’t see why not! Would just need to adjust the baking time, of course. I have a pumpkin bread recipe you could reference as well: https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/sourdough-pumpkin-bread
How do you long ferment? Just put the completed recipe In the fridge or on the counter? I would love to know please.
I made these this morning and they are heavenly! Thank you, Lisa, I will definitely make them again and again!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Have a wonderful day!
When I do the long ferment, I find it impossible to get the batter to mix smoothly. I’m using a kitchen aid with paddle attachment. There’s little pieces of dough throughout. Do you have this issue? It happened to me with sourdough banana bread as well.
A few clumps are totally ok. You could try to break them up with your hands if the stand mixer isn’t doing an adequate job.
I only have pumpkin pie canned mix, can I still use that in place of pumpkin purée?
It should. Usually there are already spices added to that mixture, so you may not need the pumpkin pie spice, or at least not as much. It all depends on your taste!
These are incredible delicious!! My husband and I loved the crumble and it was the perfect amount of sweetness! I doubled the recipe but felt like there was so much leftover crumble so I probably didn’t need to double that part of the recipe.
I also long fermented the batter and I think in the future, I will just make them right away, even though I do love the easier digestibility that comes with long fermentation. I don’t love the consistency that fermented batter has once you add in remaining ingredients, even though I mix in my kitchen aid. Despite this, they were still really good and would be worth comparing long fermented with the quick version depending on your taste. I will be making again tonight with butternut squash instead of pumpkin!
Thank you for sharing! Glad you enjoy the recipe!
Delicious!! Didn’t have any pumpkin so swapped out for sweet potato. They came out so delicious. Another winner Lisa 🤗
Is there a way to incorporate the ingredients after a long ferment without using a stand up mixer? I made your cinnamon rolls for Christmas, long fermented them, and incorporated the rest of the ingredients by hand. It was worth it but it took a lotttt of work. I’m trying to do some research.. wondering about a stretch and fold method?
You can definitely try incorporate everything by hand. I would just add the rest of the ingredients and then mix it together the best you can, breaking up big clumps. It is challenging, but should work just fine. You wouldn’t want to do the stretch and fold method because this method is trying to develop the gluten structure and with “quick” breads you don’t want to do that. It will end up being tough instead of soft. Hope that helps!
I have had success using a danish wisk to incorporate after a long ferment. It works a lot easier than a spoon or hands!
These are so good, I made them two days in a row! After rave reviews from guests at our school fall party, I decided we should have a batch for breakfast at home! I stretched them to make 21 muffins the first time, and 24 the second time. The first time I made the recipe as written; I used coconut sugar and cut the topping by half the second time, and my son is currently eating his third one lol. Great recipe!
Thank you so much. Warms my heart so many people enjoyed them. The funny thing is the first time I accidentally added all the crumble to only 12 of the muffins. A little too much for 12 haha.