These little muffins were derived from my isolation baking, and my new obsession with all things sourdough! If you are into sourdough as well, and have some starter that needs using these muffins are perfect! Using sourdough starter results in the most light and fluffy muffins, however there are so many more benefits to using sourdough starter.
Similar to other fermented foods, sourdough starter is fermented by using lactobacillus cultures (a probiotic bacteria that benefits your gut). Unfortunately the cultures don’t survive the baking process but lactic acid is created. This lactic acid helps decrease the levels of phytic acid in the spelt (phytic acid interferes with the absorption of certain nutrients, which is a bad thing). This in turn, helps other nutrients become more readily available, digestible and absorbable.
These muffins are not gluten-free, but they do use spelt flour which is generally easier to digest than a whole-wheat flour and some people with gluten sensitivities (not wheat allergies or those with celiac disease) can handle some spelt, especially when paired with the sourdough starter, as the long fermentation process involved in making sourdough has shown to improve digestion of gluten-forming proteins.
If you don’t have any sourdough starter, you can also substitute for greek yoghurt. It won’t have the same nutritional benefits, but will still make a yummy muffin!
Sourdough pear muffins
Equipment
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Spoon
- 1 Paper muffin cups
- 1 Oven
- 1 Muffin Tray
Ingredients
- 2 cups spelt flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 pear grated
- 1 pear chopped
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
- 1/4 cup olive or coconut oil
- 1/2 cup coconut or nut milk
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter, or plain greek yoghurt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to bake, 180C and line a muffin tin with paper cups, or oil them.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt until combined.
- In a separate mixing bowl, stir together the shredded pear, chopped pear, eggs, honey, oil, milk and sourdough starter until smooth. Add the pear mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
- Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean and tops are golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool completely on a cooling rack. When they first come out they will be a little bit soft, so make sure you allow to cool to firm up!
Notes
If you bake the batter straight away doesn’t that mean that the flour is left unfermented? Have you tried leaving it for a while before baking?
I was wondering the same!
Is it due to the added sweetener that you don’t recommend for babies under 12 months?