If you love chocolate and raspberries together, these are the muffins for you. They taste so rich and decadent while staying decently healthy with whole food ingredients and low sugar. The muffins are a deep chocolate with pops of fresh raspberry in every bite. The go so well with coffee or tea, and even pack well to have snacks on the go. Double the recipe and store some away in the freezer for an easy option or just enjoy chocolate raspberry sourdough muffins every day of the week!
Sourdough
If you know me or have looked over my other recipes, you know I love sourdough. It is to the point of almost being an obsession. But can you blame me?! It adds a complexity of flavor to anything it is added to. It takes the place of commercial yeast which means one less thing I have to worry about buying. When long fermenting a recipe, the starter breaks down the flour making it easier to digest. And the discard doesn’t have to be wasted but can be turned into all sorts of incredible things like tortillas, donuts, sweet breads, scones, and of course, muffins.
I was very overwhelmed by sourdough when I first started because I saw videos of people taking their bread with them in the car and staying up late to feed the starter, so it didn’t die. After getting to know the ins and outs of how a starter works, I wrote an e-book that goes over how to make and keep a starter, some recipes, some basic questions in a way that is easy, low stress, and won’t have you missing sleep for your jar of starter. “The Art of Sourdough” is the resource I wish I had when I first started with starter. Grab a copy here and take some of the stress and pressure off of the process.
Tools
Bowls – I love this set of glass bowls. The different sizes are so convenient, and yay, no microplastics.
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Liquid measuring cup
Whisk – I have also used a fork in a pinch.
Spatula or wooden spoon
Muffin tin
Muffin liners or parchment paper – Muffin liners are faster and easier, but the parchment is super cute and makes for a great replacement if you run out of muffin liners. (You know, like I did…)
Ingredients
Dry
Flour – Any all-purpose flour will work, but I always recommend unbleached, non-enriched, and organic whenever possible.
Sugar – This recipe is lower in sugar than a lot of other chocolate muffin recipes I found. I did like the texture of the muffins a lot better when using organic sugar than when they were made with maple syrup or honey.
Cocoa – Any type of cocoa or cacao powder will work, but Dutch processed tends to taste better in my opinion.
Baking soda – We do add sourdough discard to these, but it is not doing any heavy lifting when it comes to making our muffins rise. That’s where the baking soda comes in. It is a chemical leavener that gives these muffins a nice oven spring.
Salt – No recipe is complete without a little salt to balance and enhance all the other flavors. Use a good quality sea salt like crucial four to get some extra minerals into your chocolate raspberry sourdough muffins.
Wet
Eggs – Adds some protein, binds the muffins together while baking, and makes the texture even better once the muffins are baked.
Yogurt – The cocoa powder can make a muffin rather dry. Adding yogurt not only adds a layer of flavor, but it helps to keep the muffin moist and not dry out even after baking.
Oil – Perfect for texture, and moisture content. I like to avoid seed oils such as vegetable oil, canola oil, and safflower oil. Instead fractionated coconut oil is my go-to. I have also used the MCT oil from perfect supplements and that works delightfully well.
Milk – I like whole milk, but any milk can be used in its place.
Vanilla extract – I use some of our homemade vanilla extract whenever I can. Vanilla adds flavor and brings out the sweetness in the chocolate raspberry sourdough muffins without actually adding more sugar.
Sourdough discard – If doing a quick bake, this recipe is a wonderful way to use up some discard and keep it from getting wasted. If long fermenting the discard has time to work its magic and break down the flour making it gut healthy.
Mix-ins
Chocolate chips – I love a double chocolate muffin. Those little chunks of chocolate scattered through the muffin are such a delight. They can be left out if desired.
Raspberries _ I really like using frozen raspberries when doing a quick bake because they hold their shape and don’t get smushed into the batter so easily. However, if long fermenting, use fresh so the extra moisture doesn’t cause the muffins to end up too soggy.
Additional ingredients and substitutions
Butter: Melted butter can be used in place of the oil. Just make sure it is cooled before adding into the liquid ingredients.
Berries: I really like the raspberries, but any other berry can be substituted if desired. Just be sure to use fresh when long fermenting for best results.
Active sourdough starter: If long fermenting I would not recommend using active starter because there is no yeast in the recipe. However, if doing a quick bake, active starter is fine since it will not have time to start to rise.
Let’s make sourdough scones!
(If long fermenting, skip this step until ready to bake.) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Line a muffin tin with muffin papers, or pieces of parchment. This recipe makes 14 muffins so have a second tin with a few papers as well.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, yogurt, oil, milk, vanilla extract, and sourdough until smooth.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently mix until mostly combined. Leave a few streaks of flour.
Add in the chocolate chips and raspberries and gently mix into the muffin batter.
Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin, each scoop should be around 1/3 cup of batter.
Bake for 5 minutes, then turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 14-16 minutes. The muffins will be soft and appear underdone because of the moisture from the raspberries. Be careful to not overbake.
Let the muffins cool for 5-10 minutes before removing them from the tin. Allow to finish cooling on a wire rack if desired.
If eaten right away the raspberries will retain a vibrant red color, but as they are left to sit over the next few days, they will lose their vibrancy and turn a bit brown because of all the cocoa powder.
Enjoy!
Storing
Store any leftover muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. The muffins must be cooled before storing.
Freezing
Once the muffins have fully cooled place them into a freezer bag and seal well. Keep in the freezer for up to 4 months.
Long ferment sourdough muffins
To get the wild yeasts to break down the flour and make these muffins easier to digest, they need time to sit and ferment. Prepare the batter as directed above, then instead of portioning it into muffin tins, cover the bowl and place it into the fridge overnight or up to 48 hours. Portion in muffin tins and place into a preheated oven bake for 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350. Bake for an additional 15-18 minutes or until done.
Tips for success
Overmixing – These are easy to overmix since there are so many mix ins. When adding the flour, you do not want to mix the flour all the way in. Leave a few streaks, they will get mixed in when you add the berries and chocolate chips.
Berries – Frozen berries are my favorite to add to this recipe because they hold up better when mixing in. Fresh raspberries tend to break and mush into the thick batter. Fresh do taste lovely though and can be used, just mix very gently.
I hope you love this recipe as much as we do. It is always such a delight hearing about how much you enjoyed a recipe or what you think could be improved. So, thank you for leaving a comment! Don’t forget to share with friends and family so they too can enjoy making chocolate raspberry sourdough muffins. Thank you!
Chocolate Raspberry Sourdough Muffins
These muffins are a rich and decident chocolate. Each bite filled with raspberries and bits of chocolate. Enjoy them with a cup of coffee or tea for a delicious treat!
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup Flour
- 3/4 cup Sugar
- 1/2 cup Cocoa
- 1 tsp. Baking soda
- 3/4 tsp. Salt
- 2 Eggs
- 3/4 cup Plain yogurt*
- 1/2 cup Oil**
- 1/4 cup Whole milk
- 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup Sourdough discard
- 1/2 cup Chocolate chips***
- 1 1/4 cup Frozen raspberries****
Instructions
- (If long fermenting, skip this step.) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Line a muffin tin with muffin papers, or pieces of parchment. This recipe makes 14 muffins so have a second tin with a few papers as well.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, yogurt, oil, milk, vanilla extract, and sourdough until smooth.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently mix until mostly combined. Leave a few streaks of flour.
- Add in the chocolate chips and raspberries and gently mix into the muffin batter.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin, each scoop should be around 1/3 cup of batter.
- Bake for 5 minutes, then turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 14-16 minutes. The muffins will be soft and appear underdone because of the moisture from the raspberries. Be careful to not overbake.
- Let the muffins cool for 5-10 minutes before removing them from the tin. Allow to finish cooling on a wire rack if desired.
- Store any leftover muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. The muffins must be cooled before storing.
- Enjoy!
Notes
*If you are using Greek yogurt reduce to 1/2 cup and add 1/4 cup more milk. Greek yogurt is much thicker and will change the texture of the overall muffin.
** I like to use fractionated coconut oil or MCT oil. I do not recommend using olive oil due to its strong flavor, or seed oils such as canola oil or vegetable oil.
*** Semi-sweet are my go-to for chocolate chips in this recipe. Adding some white chocolate would be a nice color contrast and add a little extra sweetness. While something like dark chocolate would make these muffins even more rich and decadent.
**** I suggest using frozen raspberries because they will not mush into the batter. However, if using fresh berries, toss them with 1/4 cup of flour until fully coated then gently fold them and the flour into the muffin batter as directed above.
Freezing the muffins:
Place any fully cooled muffins into a freezer bag and seal well. Store in the freezer for up to 4 months.
Long fermenting:
Prepare the muffin batter as listed above but cover the batter and place into the fridge overnight or up to 48 hours. When ready to bake, portion the batter into the tins and bake as directed above. A few additional minutes of bake time might be needed. The batter can also be scooped into the tins and stored in the fridge that way.
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