My starter was looking hungry and I didn't want to make more bread, so I poked around online for ideas on what I could use up a bit of starter in. I've made sourdough crêpes in the past and, while they were tasty, I wasn't really feeling the crêpes today. And I don't think we would've had enough eggs for it anyway.

There are actually a bunch of non-bread sourdough recipes up on the King Arthur website. I contemplated trying the biscuit recipe, but the Kidlet and I made buttermilk biscuits recently and that felt like too much of a repeat. I'll keep that one in my back pocket for another time. Same with the overnight sourdough waffles/pancakes. There were also some interesting-looking quick breads and muffins. I thought about giving the blueberry muffins or the pumpkin bread a try, but in the end the cranberry-date-walnut muffins were what really sang to me.

Usually I try to go by the book my first time through a recipe. I will admit, I did tweak this one a bit. I cut the sugar way back: 1 1/2 c. of dates and 3/4 c. sugar?! No way! I only put in 1/4 c. of sugar and the resulting muffins were still bordering on cloying. Definitely more dessert than breakfast. I also swapped out the (white) all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour. And, as usual, halved the salt. I'm happy with the muffins, but I'd definitely make even more changes next time: replace half the butter with applesauce, add a bit of cinnamon, replace some of the baking soda with baking powder, add more cranberries, and slightly reduce the baking temperature and extend the bake time. I think I'd probably reduce the sugar even further next time and try swapping in brown sugar in place of the granulated. The recipe below reflects all these changes.

Cranberry-Date-Walnut Muffins

Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. water
• 1 1/2 c. chopped dates
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter
• 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1 c. fresh or frozen cranberries, halved
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. sourdough starter
• 150g (hard or soft) whole wheat flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Combine water, dates, sugar, butter, and applesauce and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often.
2. Remove from heat and stir in cranberries, walnuts, eggs, and vanilla.
3. Stir starter into date mixture.
4. In a small bowl, sift baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon into flour and mix well.
5. Stir flour mixture into date mixture until just combined.
6. Spoon into greased muffin tins.
7. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 22 minutes.
8. Let cool in tins for 5 minutes.
9. Remove from muffin tins and set on wire rack to finish cooling.

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Variations

Vegan

I suspect this recipe would work particularly well in a vegan version. I think the flax eggs would complement the whole wheat flour and dates quite nicely.

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. water
• 1 1/2 c. chopped dates
• 2 Tbsp. turbinado sugar
• 1/4 c. coconut oil or vegan butter
• 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1 c. fresh or frozen cranberries, halved
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts
• 2 Flax Eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. sourdough starter
• 150g (hard or soft) whole wheat flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon