These Sourdough Date Nut Cranberry Muffins combine the tang of sourdough with the sweetness of dates. Then there are the tart cranberries adding an additional flavor dimension. So good.

I keep a sourdough starter in my refrigerator, which I feed regularly to keep it alive and ready to leaven bread. I've had this starter for at least seven years. That means there have been a lot of "feedings."

If you maintain a sourdough starter, you know that every time you feed it, you need to discard a portion of it so that you don't end up letting your starter take over the house, or even your town. This recipe for Sourdough Date Nut Cranberry Muffins is perfect for using the starter that you'd normally toss out.

Another advantage to adding sourdough starter to your quick breads is that it helps keep them fresh longer. I don't know why... something about the acidic nature of the starter and moisture retention. If you want to get your bread geek on, check out page 49 of Jeffrey Hamelman's amazing book, Bread. You will learn all about stuff like "starch retrogradation," which means "staling."

Regardless, these muffins are really good. They are sweet, but not overly so, and so moist from the dates.

I'm sure you're wondering why I had access to cranberries in early September. It's because I buy several bags of them every Thanksgiving and stick them in the freezer for times like these. They freeze amazingly well, and seem impervious to freezer burn. You never know when you'll have a cranberry emergency.

Note: If you don't have a sourdough starter, you can make a poolish by mixing 4 ounces of flour and 4 ounces of water and a pinch of yeast. Mix the flour, water, and yeast in a bowl, cover it, and let it sit overnight. When you are ready to make the muffins, add all of the poolish to the dough instead of the starter.

These muffins get their gorgeous golden brown color from a mixture of boiled dates, sugar, and butter. I was kind of blown away with the technique, and was a little worried when the baking soda in these muffins bubbled up the entire batter due to the warmth. No worries. the muffins still rose beautifully and had a wonderful airy texture.

After the recipe, be sure to check out the rest of the delicious muffins from the Muffin Monday baking group.

Sourdough Date Nut Cranberry Muffins

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) water
• 1 1/2 cups (6 1/2 ounces) chopped pitted dates
• 3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup (2 5/8 ounces) fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) chopped walnuts
• 2 large eggs, whisked
• 1 cup (8 ounces) unfed sourdough starter (see note above for a substitute)
• 1 1/4 cups (5 1/4 ounces) unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a muffin pan with paper liners.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the water, dates, sugar, butter, and vanilla. Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring regularly, until it comes to a boil. Remove from the heat. Add the cranberries, and stir until the mixture cools to a temperature of about 100 degrees F.
3. Add the walnuts, eggs, and sourdough starter, and stir.
4. In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt, and then add it to the pan. Mix until the flour is just incorporated.
5. Portion the batter among the muffin cavities. The batter should come just below the top of each muffin liner.
6. Bake the muffins for 17 to 19 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Gently remove the muffins from the pan and cool on a wire rack.

Yield: 12 muffins

Recipe adapted from Sift Magazine, Fall 2017 This issue has several quick bread recipes for using sourdough starter. 

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.

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