Have Discard? Make Sourdough Peanut Butter and Banana Muffins

Okay, so what do you do when you have sourdough discard to use and have bananas that are getting squishy on the counter? Make sourdough muffins. In this case, the muffins also include that quintessential banana accompaniment, peanut butter. The peanut butter, in addition to providing taste and a little protein to the muffins, also contributes a bit of fat, which helps keep the muffins moist. To further increase the peanut butter flavor of the muffins, I add peanut butter chips. Of course, if you'd prefer, you can substitute chopped, roasted peanuts for the chips, but the chips went over well at my house. The muffins are soft, sweet from the bananas, and have an incredible, "yeasty" taste from the sourdough. Nonetheless, the texture of the muffins is, well, muffin-like, rather than bread-like. These muffins include NO baking powder or soda. The rise comes from the sourdough! I sprinkle the muffins with a bit of sugar before baking them, which gives them a nice appearance and slight crunch. Unfortunately, because we live in northern Virginia, which is HOT and HUMID right now, the sugar sort of melts into the tops of the muffins within about an hour or two of baking. So, depending on where you live, you may want to omit the sugar. You could, of course, frost the muffins with a peanut butter icing (search this blog for one!) and pretend they're cupcakes. Quite frankly, you'd have an amazing tasting cupcake, as the muffins are fantastic "as is."

Sourdough Peanut Butter and Banana Muffins -- Makes 12

1 cup of starter

1/3 cup of canola oil

1/3 cup of sugar

2 tablespoons of brown sugar (preferably dark brown)

1 egg

1/4 cup of peanut butter (I like crunchy, because it adds texture)

2 medium-large bananas, mashed

3/4 cup of whole-wheat flour

1/4 cup of all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup of peanut butter chips

Sugar to sprinkle the tops

In a large bowl, mix together the starter, oil, sugars, egg, peanut butter, and mashed bananas. Let the mixture sit for an hour if possible (you'll get better flavor). Add the flours, salt, and peanut butter chips. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray. Divide the batter among the wells. Let the batter rise until it just reaches the tops of the muffin pan--about an hour, depending on the temperature of your kitchen. Sprinkle a little sugar over the top of the batter in each muffin well, if you'd like. Bake the muffins at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until a pick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out with no wet batter clinging to it. Let the muffins cool in the muffin tin for a few minutes before turning them out to cool completely or just eating them warm.