Sourdough discard recipes are having a major moment right now and honestly, I’m here for it because I hate throwing it out every time I feed my starter. If you’ve been keeping a sourdough starter and feeling guilty every time you have to discard some before a feed, this recipe is about to become your new best friend. These chocolate banana sourdough discard mini muffins are the easiest way to use up that discard without wasting it, and the result is so good that you’ll actually look forward to feeding your starter just so you have an excuse to make another batch.
These mini muffins are basically a chocolate banana bread in muffin form – dense, fudgy, deeply chocolatey, and just sweet enough without going overboard. The sourdough discard adds a subtle tang that you wouldn’t necessarily identify as sourdough if you didn’t know it was in there, but it does something really special to the texture and depth of flavor. Pair that with ripe bananas doing their job as natural sweetener and binder and you have a muffin that tastes like it took way more effort than it actually did. Mini size means they bake faster, portion themselves out perfectly, and are the ideal size for little hands – Willa can grab one herself and I love that.
The meal prep angle is what really sold me on making these on repeat. I make a big batch on Sunday or Monday morning and they sit on the counter or in the fridge all week long, ready to grab as a quick snack, a lunchbox addition, or an easy breakfast on the go. They stay moist for days because of the banana and discard combination, which is more than I can say for most muffins that dry out by day two. Knowing I have something homemade, made with real ingredients, ready to hand Willa throughout the week makes the whole week feel more manageable.
If you’re new to baking with sourdough discard, this is genuinely the best place to start. You don’t need any special equipment, you don’t need your discard to be perfectly fresh or at any specific stage, and the recipe comes together in one bowl in about ten minutes before it goes in the oven. Chocolate and banana is one of those flavor combinations that never misses, and the sourdough discard just makes it better. Add these to your weekend baking list and thank yourself all week long.
Chocolate Banana Sourdough Discard Mini Muffins
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup All-purpose flour (75g)
- ¼ cup Unsweetened cocoa powder (25g)
- ½ cup Light brown sugar, packed (110g)
- 1¼ tsp Baking powder (5g)
- ¼ tsp Salt (1g)
- ¼ cup Neutral oil (57g)
- 1 Egg
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 cup Ripe banana, mashed about 2 medium bananas
- 3 Tbs Sourdough discard (50g)
- 2 Tbs Milk (25g)
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a mini muffin tin or line with mini liners.
- Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.
- In another bowl, mix mashed banana, brown sugar, oil, egg, vanilla, sourdough discard, and milk until combined.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Do not overmix.
- Let the batter rest 5–10 minutes (especially helpful with cocoa and brown sugar).
- Fill mini muffin cups about ¾ full.
- Bake 10–13 minutes, until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- Cool for a few minutes before removing.
Optional (but really good):
- Add ½ cup mini chocolate chips (85g) for a richer chocolate banana muffin.
- Add a sprinkle of flaky salt on top before baking to make the chocolate flavor pop.
- This should make roughly 30–36 mini muffins, depending on how full you fill the cups.
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