Aren’t these little muffins just so cute? It makes me really happy just to look at them. So poofy, and plump, with shiny little sesame seeds on top. What else can you do, but smile?
Plump and poofy – so cute!
Well, to tell you the truth. They’re great. They taste ahh-mazing. They have a distinct sourdough flavor, compensated with a nutty flavor from the sunflower seeds and a hint of liquorice from the anise seeds. Soft and moist inside, with a nice crust as you can see. But. Because there is a but.
Don’t do what I did and put them in baking cups. It’s a nightmare.
Don’t let the baking cups fool you.
I mean, they’re pretty to look at. But you’ll never be able to get the muffins out of the baking cup, without leaving the bottom of the muffin in it. I ended up cutting off the sides and the bottom of the baking cups with a sharp knife. It was very annoying. Seemed like a lot of work for an impulse that just meant to make the muffins look cuter. Baah. I’m never making anything look cute again.
But you should totally make these muffins. Without the baking cups.
One of the better sourdough rolls I’ve ever made. Love the sunflower seed/anise combination.
Sunflower anise sourdough muffins
Total time: 12 hours to let the pre-dough get active. Then another 6 hours to let the dough rise and baking the muffins. Makes 12 muffins.
Ingredients
Day 1
- 90 g (3.2 oz) rye starter
- 362 g (12.8 oz, not fluid!) filtered water
- 235 g (8.3 oz) bread flour
Day 2
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp honey
- 0.5 tbsp anise seeds
- 0.5 cup sunflower seeds
- 215 g (7.6 oz) whole wheat flour
- 145 g (5.1 oz) bread flour
Toppings
wheat germ
1 egg
sesame seeds
Instructions
Mix starter, water and flour in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in room temperature for 12 hours, until the pre-dough is active and bubbly.
Dinner rolls perhaps?
Add sea salt, honey, anise seeds, sunflower seeds, whole wheat flour and bread flour until you have a firm dough. Let the dough rise in the bowl, covered with a kitchen towel, for 3 hours. Take out the dough on a floured surface and divide it in 12 pieces. Roll each piece to a round ball, roll them in wheat germ, and put in a greased oven tray (you don’t want to use baking cups like I did – they will stick to the bread). Let the muffins rise for 2-3 hours.
Too bad that the baking cups didn’t work. I really liked them.
Preheat the oven to 500°F. Brush the muffins with eggwash and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Spray some water on the bottom of the oven and bake the muffins for about 10 minutes at 500°F. Lower the temperature to 390°F and bake another 10 minutes, until the muffins are golden brown and sound hollow when you knock on the bottom.
Remove from the muffin pan and let cool on a rack.
Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin and all that…
This post has been submitted to YeastSpotting.
Wow, will definitely make these (without cups =). Your small disaster with paper cups reminded me of my last year one when I made tssss Sourdough Popovers from kingarthurflour.com in… paper cups! Can you imagine? they all got dead stuck to them and me too I had to cut the bottom and sides off the paper, ehhhr. But the things tasted nice anyway!
Thank you for such great sourdough recipes! I’m already running out of plain yeast bread ones, haha
Haha, yes you definitely want to make them without the cups!! Oh my, it’s so annoying when that happens! And it’s even worse when they taste good, cause then you wanna eat it all – but you can’t!
Yep, I knoooow =)
Yes, they are so cute! They are like little cute breads in a muffin cup. Just want to grab one off the screen and eat it with my dinner! I’ve heard though that sourdough bread could be quite challenging to make, so even more kudos to you!
Thanks so much Julia! Sourdough really isn’t as hard as people like to think it is, it just takes a little bit longer for the dough to rise, otherwise it’s pretty much the same
Sourdough muffins, oh my goodness, these look perfect! I would love one of these for breakfast.. or the afternoon.. or evening.. ok anytime! Looks great!
Thanks so much Pamela!! I’ll make sure to send some your way – anytime!
These look so good. I hate paper liner cups. They do the same thing to just about everything I use them for so I broke down and bought silicon cup cake pans. They work so much better once you get used to using them.
That’s an excellent idea. I’ve never used silicon cups before. Sounds like it will save you a great headache, that’s for sure!
Oh yikes! These look DELICIOUS! I can imagine having these for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Even better – they’d make a great afternoon or evening snack – which I seem to have a lot of appetite for. LOL! Oh yes, I can imagine they’d get a lot of use around here. YUM! BTW, thanks for the tip on the baking cups – how frustrating! Trust me, my sistah, I feel your pain – I’ve been there! Grrr!
Thanks so much Kristi! Oo yes, afternoon or evening snacks – I definitely agree! There’s nothing like a late night piece of toasted bread with butter on top
Haha, I know right?! Soooo frustrating! At least we learn from our mistakes. Cheers!
These rolls look so good! I’ve never made a rye starter. Do you make your own?
Thank you! Yes, I do make my own rye starter. I actually have a page with instructions on how to make your own (http://bitterbaker.com/how-to-make-your-own-rye-sourdough-starter/). It’s super easy! You should definitely do it. The best thing is that is stays alive forever. Well, fine. Maybe not forever. But basically for as long as you want it too. I must have had mine for almost a year now.
Sourdough muffins sound fantastic and what a great combination of flavours! I would never have thought of this! I love using sunflower seeds and definitely need to use them more!
Thanks so much! I love sunflower seeds as well, I think I might even use them a little too often
But then again, they’re just perfect in so many things!
I’m so sorry that the baking cups didn’t work out, but can you share where you got them? I absolutely love them! And I promise I won’t use them for these delicious muffins
I know!! Aren’t they pretty? That’s why I couldn’t keep myself from using them… I got them at Metropolitan Market (not sure where you’re at or if that’s a nation wide store). Anyhow, the brand is Wilton. I hope you find them! (haha, yes! Don’t waste them on these muffins
)
Pingback: Sunflower Anise Sourdough Muffins | Recipe Archive
Your muffins look incredible! I love that you added sunflower seeds…mmmmmm! And bummer about the baking cups…they are adorable.
Thanks so much Liz!! One of my favorite seeds is sunflower seeds, I don’t know what it is about them – they’re just so irresistible to me! haha, I know, classic failure. I’m saving the rest of the cups for a better occasion
I was just going to say nice baking cups… but then…. your photos are beautiful and I’ve saved this recipe to try.
Haha, I know right?! That’s exactly what I felt like. I was so happy when I took them out of the oven, and then, when I tried to eat one… yeah, you know the story.. Thanks Karen!
Oh my! These sounds amazing and I can’t wait to try them. Love sourdough flavor!
Let me know what you think of them!
(it’s a good start that you like sourdough 
)
wow, this is a completely new baked goodie for us…so happy to learn such delicious recipes from ur blog….keep posting and HAPPY BAKING !!!
Thanks so much!! I definitely will keep on posting and have a happy baking (at least when everything goes as planned)
Thanks for stopping by!
These muffins are adorable!
Yummy.
Thanks so much Tina!!