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Making bakery style sourdough muffins has never been easier. These nine simple steps can help elevate your home bakery items from good to great! From presentation to flavor, these tips will change your life for the better.
Within this article you will find our top 9 tips to create bakery style sourdough muffins. Though these tips can be used to make any muffins ‘bakery style’, our blog has lots of sourdough recipes – after all!
1. Adjust the temperature
The top tip for making bakery style sourdough muffins is to adjust the temperature of the oven. By starting the oven at 425 degrees Fahrenheit, you give the muffins a chance to ‘spring’ before cooking through.
We like to set our oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 minutes and then adjust the temperature down to 350 for the remainder of the cooking time. This helps to ensure the muffins are tall but to cook at the correct temperature the remainder of the time (less chance of burning).
2. Alternate baking pattern
If you have a muffin tin which can hold 12 muffins – fill only six. This will give them more space and allow them to cook evenly. Additionally, it allows the air to circulate better around the muffins. Plus, they will not spill out and touch each other based on filling the tin (see the next pointer).
3. Fill the tin
Fill the tins at least 3/4 of the way full – if not all the way to the top. This not only helps to create the ‘dome’ like shape (aka the classic ‘muffin top’).
By filing the tin higher, this makes a muffin go from ‘home bakery’ to ‘bakery style’ in one easy step.
4. Add toppings / crunch
Thinking back to some of our favorite muffin recipes from childhood, we remembered the ‘crunch’. This came from a variety of toppings including crumble, turbinado sugar, powdered sugar or a hardened glaze.
This can add flavor and texture which are two things engrained in our brains when enjoying food.
5. Use decadent ingredients
Indulge in the items like milk, butter, cream and spices. Do not skimp out on these ingredients as they make the muffins taste delicious without needing much more on top.
If a muffin has butter melted within the batter it might not even need a slather on top when served. Though, if we are being honest – butter just really does make it better!
6. Consider presentation
Presentation can be equally as important as smell and taste. If you are going for a ‘bakery style’ muffin – consider purchasing the ‘fancy’ muffin liner.
While we like to use a reusable silicone muffin tin, there is something special about a muffin which reaches the top of a muffin liner.
Toppings can be equally as important (see tip #4, above)!
7. Change up the base
If you have a tried and true sourdough muffin recipe and want to add different flavors, be sure to adjust the spices and add ins accordingly.
For example, a banana muffin just tastes better with the addition of cinnamon to the batter. Additionally chocolate chips and nuts go a long way. Or for blueberry sourdough muffins – add lemon juice, lemon zest and a pinch of cinnamon.
We promise these additions of complimentary flavors will elevate your baked goods – having them go from good to great! No one likes the same base of muffins with the only difference coming from the add in.
8. Add the leavening agents
One of the most important things in making bakery style muffins – especially when long fermenting a sourdough batter, is to add baking soda and baking powder.
Sourdough fanatics may come at you and say ‘adding baking soda and baking powder (a leavening agent) makes this recipe not a “true sourdough” recipe’. We disagree. By long fermenting sourdough, the benefits are endless.
When adding inclusions to muffins – it is important to ensure the muffins have a chance to rise, especially if the sourdough starter is not ‘active’ when added to a recipe.
An important note is the timing. When completing a long fermented batter – or an overnight sourdough recipe, add the leavening agents the day of the bake. This helps to ensure the batter does not turn grey, but also ensures the muffins have a chance to ferment properly without leavening agents interfering.
9. Add an acid / activator
Additionally as important to adding leaving agents is to add an acid / activator! This could include lemon juice, vinegar or even cocoa powder. We learned when baking in our first profession (in a gluten free bakery), about the benefits of adding an activator and more importantly – when.
Add the activator during the final mix to hear the bubbles form and see the batter rise. This ensures the baking soda is ‘active’ and gives the muffins even more spring.
Our favorite sourdough muffin recipes
- Banana chocolate chip sourdough muffins
- Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- White Chocolate Cranberry Sourdough Muffins
- Double Chocolate Sourdough Muffins
- 15 best muffins recipes (using sourdough discard)
- Sourdough English muffin bread | London Muffins (Sourdough English Muffin breakfast muffin)
- Ok technically speaking these are ‘English muffins’ depending on who you ask – but they are dang good!
Do you have secret tips on making bakery style muffins? Let us know in the comments below!
