Magdalenas are a sweet-but-not-too-sweet type of muffin from Spain that are traditionally made with eggs, sugar, milk, oil, flour, salt, and baking powder. The following is my recipe for sourdough magdalenas. This is a very simple, quick and hand-mixed version of magdalenas that utilizes leftover sourdough starter (sourdough discard) in the batter. The result is a lightly sweetened, lemon-scented muffin that is perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack.
Why This Recipe Works
For this recipe, I modified a more traditional Spanish magdalena recipe and replaced some of the milk and some of the flour with sourdough starter. Since sourdough starter is already composed of half flour and half water, this works out easily.
The trick with these magdalenas is baking them hot for the first ten minutes, and then at a more moderate heat for the rest of the baking time. This allows the muffins to puff up rapidly in the beginning, giving them a crackly raised top (if all goes well). But no matter how they turn out, they’re delicious.
Ingredients You’ll Need
How to Make Sourdough Magdalenas
Ingredient Amounts
Wet Ingredients
- Whole Milk – 200 grams
- Sourdough Starter (or Discard) – 100 grams
- Neutral Oil or Light Olive Oil – 200 gramws
- White Sugar – 200 grams
- Eggs – 150 grams (3 Medium Eggs)
- Lemon Zest – Zest from one lemon
Dry Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour – 300 grams
- Baking Powder – 1 Tbsp (12 grams)
- Salt – 1/2 tsp (1 gram)
Step-by-Step Instructions for Sourdough Magdalenas
Mixing the Wet Ingredients
To a mixing bowl, add the 200 grams of milk and 100 grams of sourdough starter (or sourdough discard). Whisk the sourdough starter into the milk thoroughly until the milk thickens. You don’t want visible chunks of starter, but a very well mixed liquid. Then, add 200 grams of neutral oil or light olive oil into the liquid ingredients and stir to combine.
Whisking the Egg & Sugar Mixture
In another mixing bowl, crack in the three eggs and add the 200 grams of white sugar. Then add the zest from one lemon directly on top of the sugar and eggs. Whisk the mixture together with a hand whisk for two to three minutes, or until the color becomes lighter and the mixture becomes foamy and bubbly. Then, pour the oil/milk/starter mixture that you mixed before in with the egg/sugar/lemon zest. Stir thoroughly to combine.
Adding the Dry Ingredients
Now that all of the wet ingredients are in the same mixing bowl, add the following directly on top of the wet ingredients: 300 grams of all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp of salt, and 1 Tbsp of baking powder. Bring all of the ingredients together with and wooden spoon or a spatula and stir until there aren’t any dry bits of flour left.
Letting the Batter Rest
Preheat your oven to 450°F (232°C) and cover the batter with plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge while the oven preheats. This rest period will improve the texture of the muffins.
Baking the Sourdough Magdalenas
When the oven is preheated, take the batter out of the fridge. Line a standard 12-cup metal muffin tray with paper muffin liners. Fill each muffin cup at least 3/4 of the way full. This recipe will yield 16 sourdough magdalenas.
Note: For larger muffins, fill each muffin cup with batter almost all the way to the top of the paper liner. If you fill the liners this full, the recipe will yield 12 larger magdalenas.
After the muffin trays are filled with batter, sprinkle the top of each muffin with about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of white sugar. This will give the sourdough magdalenas their signature crunchy, sugary tops.
Bake the muffins in the middle rack of the oven for 10 minutes at 450°F (232°C). The relatively high temperature will cause the magdalenas to rise quickly and hopefully achieve the characteristic crackled top.
After baking for 10 minutes, lower the heat to 350°F (180°C) and continue baking for another 15 minutes at the lower temperature.
After 25 minutes of total bake time, remove the golden brown sourdough magdalenas from the oven and place them on a cooling rack to cool down for 5-10 minutes.
Serve these muffins either warm from the oven or cooled down, for breakfast or for a light afternoon snack. The lightly sweetened, lemon-scented muffins are the definition of sweet-but-not-too-sweet. They’re the perfect accompaniment to a cup of hot coffee or a Spanish-style café con leche. Enjoy.
Sourdough Magdalenas
Magdalenas are a sweet-but-not-too-sweet type of muffin from Spain that are traditionally made with eggs, sugar, milk, oil, flour, salt, and baking powder. The following is my recipe for sourdough magdalenas. This is a very simple, quick and hand-mixed version of magdalenas that utilizes leftover sourdough starter (sourdough discard) in the batter. The result is a lightly sweetened, lemon-scented muffin that is perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack.
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- Whole Milk - 200 grams
- Sourdough Starter (or Discard) - 100 grams
- Neutral Oil or Light Olive Oil - 200 grams
- White Sugar - 200 grams
- Eggs - 150 grams (3 Eggs)
Dry Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour - 300 grams
- Baking Powder - 1 Tbsp (12 grams)
- Salt - 1/2 tsp (1 gram)
Instructions
Mixing the Wet Ingredients
To a mixing bowl, add the 200 grams of milk and 100 grams of sourdough starter (or sourdough discard). Whisk the sourdough starter into the milk thoroughly until the milk thickens. You don’t want visible chunks of starter, but a very well mixed liquid. Then, add 200 grams of neutral oil or light olive oil into the liquid ingredients and stir to combine.
Whisking the Egg and Sugar Mixture
In another mixing bowl, crack in the three eggs and add the 200 grams of white sugar. Then add the zest from one lemon directly on top of the sugar and eggs. Whisk the mixture together with a hand whisk for two to three minutes, or until the color becomes lighter and the mixture becomes foamy and bubbly. Then, pour the oil/milk/starter mixture that you mixed before in with the egg/sugar/lemon zest. Stir thoroughly to combine.
Adding the Dry Ingredients
Now that all of the wet ingredients are in the same mixing bowl, add the following directly on top of the wet ingredients: 300 grams of all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp of salt, and 1 Tbsp of baking powder. Bring all of the ingredients together with and wooden spoon or a spatula and stir until there aren’t any dry bits of flour left.
Letting the Batter Rest
Preheat your oven to 450°F (232°C) and cover the batter with plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge while the oven preheats. This rest period will improve the texture of the muffins.
Baking the Sourdough Magdalenas
When the oven is preheated, take the batter out of the fridge. Line a standard 12-cup metal muffin tray with paper muffin liners. Fill each muffin cup at least 3/4 of the way full. This recipe will yield 16 sourdough magdalenas.
Note: For larger muffins, fill each muffin cup with batter almost all the way to the top of the paper liner. If you fill the liners this full, the recipe will yield 12 larger magdalenas.
After the muffin trays are filled with batter, sprinkle the top of each muffin with about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of white sugar. This will give the sourdough magdalenas their signature crunchy, sugary tops.
Bake the muffins in the middle rack of the oven for 10 minutes at 450°F (232°C). The relatively high temperature will cause the magdalenas to rise quickly and hopefully achieve the characteristic crackled top.
After baking for 10 minutes, lower the heat to 350°F (180°C) and continue baking for another 15 minutes at the lower temperature. After 25 minutes of total bake time, remove the golden brown sourdough magdalenas from the oven and place them on a cooling rack to cool down for 5-10 minutes.
Serve these muffins either warm from the oven or cooled down, for breakfast or for a light afternoon snack. The lightly sweetened, lemon-scented muffins are the definition of sweet-but-not-too-sweet. They’re the perfect accompaniment to a cup of hot coffee or a Spanish-style café con leche. Enjoy.