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.
As the kids are eating these muffins… “mom your baking has got really good lately”. Yup, thank you Lisa for sharing all your delicious sourdough recipes! Whenever I want to bake something I just search Farmhouse on Boone plus whatever it is I want to bake. This is the second day in a row I’m baking these muffins as per kids request. I tried substituting with maple syrup and worked out. I’m baking a double batch again tomorrow for guests coming 🙂
Wow that is such a compliment. I’m so glad everyone is enjoying the recipes.
Can you do fermentation with all the wet ingredients?
Yes you can!
Wow! These exceeded my expectations by a long shot.
I did the long fermentation method, and these do not disappoint!
SOOOOO good! Not too sweet either.
But, they do crumble apart as you eat them, but that is definitely not a problem for me. Just put the muffin on a plate and eat with a spoon.
Will definitely be making these again!
Thanks for another awesome recipe!
Does 1.5 cups of pumpkin = 1 1/2 cups pf pumpkin?
Yes!
Ahhhh! I started this recipe last night to ferment and forgot it out all night. Do I need to toss it? Or since it is baking will it be okay to continue? Ughhh. Frustrated with myself.
Sorry I’m just seeing this. If you were doing the long ferment version and left it out all night that is totally fine.
My entire family loves these so much! Perfect muffin texture and amazing flavor. I long fermented these and, like the blog post stated, the dough was a bit stiff coming from the fridge but I let it come to room temperature a bit and then mixed in all the other ingredients and it came out wonderfully! Will absolutely make these again.
Could you make this into a loaf instead of muffins?
I don’t see why not. I do have a pumpkin loaf recipe here: https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/sourdough-pumpkin-bread
These were delicious and the whole family loved them! One typo: The crumble topping calls for “1/2 oats” I assumed it was 1/2 cup and it turned out wonderful! Thanks for your always delicious sourdough recipes!
Oops! Thanks for catching that! Glad you enjoyed it!
Easy recipe for delicious muffins! I made these with sourdough discard and puree from a pie pumpkin I grew in my garden. Since I didn’t have dark brown sugar I added two tablespoons of molasses. My kids loved them and so did I! They are perfect for a cool autumn morning with a cup of coffee.
I made these pumpkin muffins using the long fermentation method. I could not get the fermented batter to mix in with the remaining ingredients without little clumps. If it is important to refrigerate it, can the butter be added with the pumpkin, sugar and spices? I noticed in your other muffin recipes the fermented batter isn’t refrigerated. Is there a reason for refrigerating the pumpkin muffin batter? I would really like to understand the science behind the different methods. Thank you so much for all the good recipes!
I think it depends on the muffins and depends on the recipe. This one was refrigerated due to the inclusion of eggs. Another way of doing it is to mix up the butter and sugar, add the flour and sourdough stater and mix. Cover and allow to ferment for 12-24 hours. Then add the remaining ingredients. It will still be difficult to combine, and you may still have little chunks, but they are still delicious.
I very much appreciate your response! Could the butter be added after the fermentation or does it need the butter during fermentation? I know they are still delicious but I would rather not have the little cream colored pieces! 🙂