Don't get rid of your discard! Use it to make these tangy, sweet, ultra-orange streusel muffins! The sourdough discard/starter enhances the flavor of the orange, adding additional umpfh to the the muffins. A little crystallized ginger provides extra zing and flavor. The muffins are sweet, but they aren't cloyingly so, like many muffins. The texture of the muffins is something between a scone and a cake. Dressed up with a simple streusel of sugar and orange zest, the muffins really shine with orange flavor. Although the muffins are great warm from the oven, they keep well and can be reheated in the air fryer for a special treat any day of the week. Try a warm muffin with your afternoon tea! Yum! For ease, I use my food processor to make the muffins, but you can also make them by hand if you'd prefer.
Sourdough Orange-Ginger Streusel Muffins -- Makes 12
1 cup of flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of baking powder
3 tablespoons of butter, cut into smallish bits
3 tablespoons of canola oil
1 cup of sourdough starter/discard
1/2 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of grated orange zest (or add 2 teaspoons of you really like orange flavor!)
3 tablespoons of orange juice
1/3 cup of roughly chopped crystallized (candied) ginger
Topping
1/3 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons of grated orange zest
Coat the wells of a 12-cup muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder and pulse them together a few times. Add the butter and pulse a few times to cut it into the flour mixture. Add the canola oil and pulse it in a few times. Add the starter/discard, sugar, orange zest, and orange juice and pulse them into the flour/fat mixture until a stiff batter begins to form. Add the crystallized ginger and pulse it in just until it's mixed in (don't pulse too much or the ginger will be too finely chopped). Divide the batter among the wells of the muffin tin.
In a bowl or cup, mix the orange zest into the sugar, mashing the zest into the sugar until the sugar becomes fragrant with the oils from the orange zest. Sprinkle the orange-sugar evenly over the batter in the muffin cups and press the orange-sugar mixture down into the batter lightly with your fingers--just enough so that some of the sugar sinks into the batter and some stays on top of the batter. You can bake the muffins immediately or let them sit in the refrigerator or a cool place for a few hours. I do the latter to let the flavor intensify and because I usually make the muffins earlier in the day and bake them when I have the oven on at dinnertime. When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes or until very lightly browned and a pick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out with no wet batter attached. Let the muffins cool in their pan for 10 minutes before removing them to cool completely.
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