Isn’t it grand when a “happy little mistake” turns out to be a delight? While I have recently adopted the mentality of “what’s the worst that can happen?” when I am cooking and experimenting (by the way the worst that can happen is I learn what DOESN’T work and I throw away a little food), it is always exciting when the experiment turns out to be the best case scenario. That happened for me a week or so ago when I set out to make pumpkin scones. Scones were not the result, but the sourdough pumpkin muffins I created were a hit!
Let me backtrack A little bit…
I have a great standard scone recipe that I adapt for all sorts of flavors of scones. You can check out one of my sourdough scone recipes here. I generally modify the spices and maybe add some diced fruit or lemon zest. This time, I had freshly roasted pumpkin that I was excited to use and figured it would mix well into the scone recipe. Needless to say, it became a little more damp than I am accustomed to, and I knew scones would be a no go.
A few minutes of thinking and a few additional ingredients resulted in a batter the perfect consistency for muffins. I allowed it to rest (like a good sourdough bread should do), and lo and behold, a light, full of spice sourdough pumpkin muffins were born. I was so excited to share it with all of you!
As an aside, it may not be traditional to share the mishaps turned to beauty in the kitchen. I believe in being real in life and on social media, and man, cooking isn’t always pretty. We make mistakes. Burn things, forget the salt, add one too many eggs, or forget just how many cups of flour you put in (Seriously, I use the least amount of measuring cups possible so if that means I have to use the ½ cup 5 times, I am down for it. Sometimes I lose track though. What can I say?) Bottom line, being in the kitchen should be an adventure. Take chances, embrace the mishaps and love the learning. It’s the only way to get better.
Now let’s get cooking!
Your Ingredients for Sourdough Pumpkin muffins
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (or 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, and ¼ teaspoon ground cloves)
- ⅓ cup cold butter
- 1 ½ cups fresh, active sourdough starter
- 1 cup fresh or thawed pumpkin puree
- ¼-½ chocolate chips (optional)
Your Steps for Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prepare muffin tins by greasing or lining with muffin tin liners. Combine all dry ingredients. Cut cold butter into small pieces and add to the flour mixture. Mix by hand, pinching the butter in your fingers until it’s mixed together-ish. To that mixture, add starter, pumpkin, and chocolate chips. Mix by hand until just combined, making sure to reach the bottom of the bowl. Cover. Allow to rest 20-30 minutes. Scoop by ¼ cup full and fill muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes, or until they pass the toothpick test (a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean).
Round out the fall flavor sensation by pairing your freshly baked muffins with some warm apple cider or maybe even a pumpkin spice latte.
Dry ingredients..easy to measure! Wet ingredients, starter and pumpkin, a great pair! Mix by hand and let it rest 20 minutes! Scoop into the muffin tin… ..and perfection!
Tools of the Trade
If you’re baking, you need a great muffin tin. If you are fortunate enough to have a pumpkin to roast, I recommend a nice thick baking sheet lined in foil. Looking to get a new one? Check out the links below!
Roasted Pumpkin Recipe
Looking to roast your own pie pumpkin? Click here to get the recipe!
Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice or 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, and ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅓ cup cold butter
- 1 ½ cups fresh active sourdough starter
- 1 cup fresh or thawed pumpkin puree
- ¼-½ chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Prepare muffin tins by greasing or lining with muffin tin liners.
- Combine all dry ingredients. Cut cold butter into small pieces and add to the flour mixture.
- Mix by hand, pinching the butter in your fingers until it’s mixed together-ish.
- To that mixture, add starter, pumpkin, and chocolate chips.
- Mix by hand until just combined, making sure to reach the bottom of the bowl.
- Cover. Allow to rest 20-30 minutes.
- Scoop by ¼ cup full and fill muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes, or until they pass the toothpick test (a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean).
