These long-fermented sourdough chocolate cupcakes hit the spot when it comes to dessert. Sweetened with maple syrup and coconut sugar, prepare these cupcakes the day before with fed sourdough starter, or last minute with sourdough discard. Top with buttercream frosting for a decadent treat.
These long-fermented sourdough chocolate cupcakes hit the spot when it comes to dessert. Sweetened with maple syrup and coconut sugar, prepare these cupcakes the day before with fed sourdough starter, or last minute with sourdough discard. Top with buttercream frosting for a decadent treat.
PIN IT FOR LATER!
A HEALTHY 1 YEAR OLD BIRTHDAY
My daughter turned 1 year old recently and I had to come up with a menu for her birthday party.
I prepared a sourdough cake for her, but I also knew she’d be “smashing” it so I thought it’d be a good idea to prepare a secondary dessert for the guests.
Since the cake was vanilla and strawberry flavor, I figured chocolate was a good choice to accompany the cake. Plus I’m trying to get through my old cocoa powder from last year before this year’s fall baking season starts.
I always try to make my recipes healthy and low in processed sugar, especially if my baby is going to be eating it. So for this overnight sourdough cupcakes recipe I pulled out the maple syrup and coconut sugar to make a delicious and easy treat.
It turns out you really don’t need to load up your cupcakes with sugar for them to be delicious. I think people liked these cupcakes almost more than the actual birthday cake!
And that makes me happy too, because now I have a killer sourdough cupcake recipe up my sleeve for many more birthday parties to come.
A NOTE ON SOURDOUGH
These cupcakes are made with sourdough starter.
You can make these the day before, let them sit out overnight, and then bake them for an authentic, long-fermented sourdough cupcake recipe.
Or if you are like me and often bake recipes on the fly, you can use unfed sourdough or even sourdough discard. Just know that you may not get as good of a rise out of cupcakes using sourdough discard, and they won’t have all the benefits of fermented grain (check out this article on healthline.com for info on the health benefits of fermented foods).
So the preferred way would be to feed your starter the day before, make the levain when it’s doubled in size and active, and then bake the cupcakes the next day.
If you are totally new to the world of sourdough and have no idea what I’m talking about, you’ll want to start by reading this post on how to make sourdough starter. I also go into details on WHY to keep a starter and some of our favorite recipes we use with it.
New to Sourdough?
If you are brand new to sourdough, you are going to love this gut-healthy recipe.
You can learn how to make your own sourdough starter from scratch to make homemade bread, sourdough pizza, bagels, and more.
Put all your sourdough recipes in one spot!
Download and print off this NEW sourdough recipes ebook and keep your favorite sourdough recipes on your counter for easy, every day cooking.
MORE SOURDOUGH RECIPES FROM THE HOMESTEAD
Sourdough Birthday Cake with Strawberry Filling
Sourdough Pizza with Chicken and Veggies
How to Make Sourdough Pizza Crust (no yeast)
Sourdough Einkorn English Muffins
Troubleshooting your Sourdough Bread & FAQs about Sourdough
Chewy Chocolate Chip Sourdough Brioche Rolls
Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Cookies
This post contains affiliate links, which means I may make a small commission off items you buy at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon associate, I earn on qualifying purchases. See my full disclosure here.
TOOLS NEEDED
Medium size bowl for levain
Large mixing bowl for cupcake dough
Stand-up mixer or handheld mixer
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
SOURDOUGH CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES INGREDIENTS
Levain:
1/2 cup fed, active starter (or discard, if you’re making this the day of)
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 c flour
Cupcakes:
2 eggs
1/2 cup coconut oil
3 tsp vanilla extract
half cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup maple syrup
half cup coconut sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
Buttercream Frosting:
1 stick butter, room temp
Pinch salt
Dash vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar
Heavy cream, 1 tsp at a time
Coconut flakes (optional)
HOW TO MAKE SOURDOUGH CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES
The day before:
For long-fermented cupcakes, feed the sourdough starter in the morning (skip this step if using sourdough discard). Let it sit out on your countertop until it’s active and bubbly, about 6 hours.
In the evening, prepare the levain. Combine the active starter (you know the starter is active when a spoonful floats in water), and milk and whisk with a fork.
Add the flour in with your hands until a dough is formed (it will be sticky).
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave on the countertop over night.
The day of:
If using sourdough discard, prepare the levain as indicated above.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a large mixer add the eggs, coconut oil, vanilla, coca powder, maple syrup and coconut sugar. Mix until combined.
Next add the salt and baking soda and mix until combined.
Lastly add the the levain. It’ll be thick, so first mix on low for two minutes to break up the dough, followed by mixing on medium high until fully blended.
Lightly coat a cupcake tray with butter or cupcake liners. Pour the cupcake mixture into the cupcake tray.
Bake cupcakes for 15 min or until a knife inserted comes out clean.
For the frosting, let the cupcakes cool completely. Then add all the frosting ingredients except the coconut flakes to the mixer and combine until desired consistency is reached. I usually only do about 1-2 tsp of heavy cream, any more than that and the frosting gets too runny. Spread onto cupcakes and top with coconut flakes (optional). Enjoy!
FAQ
Is sourdough discard the same as starter?
Sourdough discard and sourdough starter are not the same thing, but they come from the same place. Sourdough discard is simply unfed sourdough starter. For this recipe you can use either active sourdough starter or sourdough discard.
Letting your sourdough starter be fed and active means that it will cultivate your dough and decrease the phytic acid, making it easier to digest. So you’re getting a healthier cupcake that way.
But if you don’t care about the health benefits or you are making these last minute and don’t have time to let the dough sit and ferment, you can use unfed, sourdough discard.
What else can I bake with sourdough starter?
Anything that doesn’t require a fed, active sourdough starter.
For example, you would not want to use sourdough discard for baking bread or something fluffy like brioche.
But you could definitely use it in sourdough cookies, pie, pizza crust, or even biscuits.
See above for a list of some of my favorite sourdough recipes you can find on this blog. Many of these are sourdough discard recipes to ensure none of your precious sourdough goes to waste!
MORE HEALTHY DESSERTS FROM THE HOMESTEAD
Chewy Einkorn Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Gluten Free, Dairy Free Sugar Cookies
Naturally Sweetened, Homemade Raspberry Ice Cream
Naturally Sweetened, Homemade Pumpkin Pie
Sourdough Chocolate Cupcakes Naturally Sweetened
These sourdough chocolate cupcakes are gooey on the inside and made with sourdough starter and buttercream frosting for a delicious and healthy dessert. Learn how to make sourdough cupcakes in this easy tutorial.
Ingredients
Sourdough Levain
- 1/2 cup fed, active sourdough starter
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 1/2 cup flour
Cupcake Mixture
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup coca powder
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
Buttercream Frosting
- 1 stick butter, room temp
- pinch salt
- dash vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- heavy cream, 1 tsp at a time
- coconut flakes (optional, for topping)
Instructions
The day before:
- For long-fermented cupcakes, feed the sourdough starter in the morning (skip this step if using sourdough discard). Let it sit out on your countertop until it's active and bubbly, about 6 hours.
- In the evening, prepare the levain. Combine the active starter (you know the starter is active when a spoonful floats in water), and milk and whisk with a fork.
- Add the flour in with your hands until a dough is formed (it will be sticky).
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave on the countertop over night.
The day of:
- If using sourdough discard, prepare the levain as indicated above.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a large mixer add the eggs, coconut oil, vanilla, coca powder, maple syrup and coconut sugar. Mix until combined.
- Next add the salt and baking soda and mix until combined.
- Lastly add the the levain. It’ll be thick, so first mix on low for two minutes to break up the dough, followed by mixing on medium high until fully blended.
- Lightly coat a cupcake tray with butter or cupcake liners. Pour the cupcake mixture into the cupcake tray.
- Bake cupcakes for 15 min or until a knife inserted comes out clean.
- For the frosting, let the cupcakes cool completely. Then add all the frosting ingredients except the coconut flakes to the mixer and combine until desired consistency is reached. I usually only do about 1-2 tsp of heavy cream, any more than that and the frosting gets too runny. Spread onto cupcakes and top with coconut flakes (optional). Enjoy!
PIN IT FOR LATER!
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