Sourdough Zucchini Muffins With Lemon & Poppy Seeds (Courgette Muffins)

Sourdough zucchini muffins don't need to taste like a spice cupboard. Cinnamon and nutmeg are winter flavours that have somehow attached themselves to a vegetable that peaks in July, right around the time your neighbours start leaving courgettes on your doorstep like unwanted party favours. This version goes the other way: bright lemon zest, a proper scattering of poppy seeds, and a choice of topping.

These muffins are the combination of my Sourdough Courgette Loaf Cake and Sourdough Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf Cake recipes, built for the same glut, just in a form you can eat with one hand.

Jump to:

• Recipe Highlights
• Why Sourdough Discard Works in These Muffins
• Ingredient Notes
• Glaze or Streusel? Two Topping Options
• Step-By-Step Method
• Expert Tips
• Storage & Freezing
• More Sourdough Discard Recipes
• Sourdough Courgette Muffins With Lemon and Poppy Seeds
• FAQs

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Why Sourdough Discard Works in These Muffins

Discard isn't doing any heavy lifting here. Baking powder handles the rise, and there's no long fermentation involved, which means active starter works just as well if that's what's to hand.

What discard actually earns its place for is flavour and texture: a mild tang that stops the lemon tasting one-note, and enough extra liquid to keep the crumb tender rather than cakey.

That liquid is also why the squeeze rule matters more here than in most zucchini muffin recipes.

Courgette is roughly 90% water, and discard adds moisture on top of that. So unlike recipes that tell you a light press is enough, with discard in the batter you squeeze properly, no half-measures. It's a genuinely dull step to skip, and the one most likely to leave you with a soggy middle.

Discard also works very well in my Courgette, Cheddar and Spring Onion Sourdough Muffins and Sourdough Chocolate Zucchini Muffins.

Ingredient Notes

• Courgette (zucchini): Coarsely grated on a box grater. Whichever side of the Atlantic you call it from, the water content is the same problem, and squeezing it out properly (more on this below) is what stands between a tender muffin and a dense one.
• Sourdough discard: 100% hydration, equal parts flour and water. Fresher discard gives a milder flavour; discard that's sat in the fridge for a week adds more tang, which pairs well with the lemon here rather than competing with it.
• Poppy seeds: No soaking or toasting needed. They add crunch and a faint nutty note, and they look the part against the lemon crumb.
• Lemon zest: Rub it into the sugar before adding the eggs rather than just stirring it in at the end. The friction releases the citrus oils, and the difference in flavour is noticeable enough to be worth the extra thirty seconds.
• Granulated sugar: Gives a slightly paler muffin but allows the lemon to shine. Swap in light brown sugar if you want a more upfront caramel-edged flavour and crumb.

Find the full ingredient quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.

Glaze or Streusel? Two Topping Options

A lemon glaze is sharper and prettier, the kind of thing that makes a muffin look deliberate rather than accidental, but it only goes on fully cooled muffins or it disappears straight into the crumb.

A streusel needs no such patience: scatter it on before baking, and it turns crunchy and faintly caramelised in the oven, closer in spirit to the topping on my Sourdough Apple Muffins With Streusel Topping.

There's a third option worth knowing about: a lemon drizzle crust. Mix granulated sugar with lemon juice and spoon it over the muffins while they're still warm, and it sets into the crackly, sugared top you'd recognise from a lemon drizzle cake. We use this in our Sourdough Lemon Muffins recipe.

Step-By-Step Method

OPTIONAL: If Making The Streusel

1. Rub the flour, cold butter, demerara sugar, lemon zest, poppy seeds and salt together with your fingertips until it looks clumpy and sandy.

2. Chill it while you make the batter, this keeps it from melting flat in the oven.

Make The Muffins

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases, or grease it well.

2. Grate the courgette coarsely, then gather it in a clean tea towel and twist hard over the sink. Squeeze harder than feels polite. Discard adds moisture too, and soggy muffins help nobody.

3. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl.

4. In a large bowl, rub the lemon zest in the sugar to release citrus oils. Then add the eggs and beat with an electric hand mixer (or a balloon whisk) for around 2 minutes, until pale and creamy.

5. Add the oil, vanilla and sourdough discard, and beat for another 30 seconds until smooth.

6. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet with a rubber spatula, just until combined. A few streaks of flour are fine at this stage.

7. Add the squeezed courgette and poppy seeds. Fold gently until no dry pockets remain. Stop as soon as it's combined, overmixing is what turns a tender muffin tough.

8. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 holes, filling each about three-quarters full.

9. If using the streusel, scatter it generously over the tops and press very lightly so it holds.

10. Bake for 20 to 24 minutes, until risen and golden, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

11. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then move to a wire rack.

OPTIONAL: If Making Lemon Glaze

1. For the glaze, whisk the icing sugar with lemon juice until thick but still drizzleable.

2. Pour it over the fully cooled muffins and scatter with poppy seeds. Give it a few minutes to set before anyone gets impatient.

Expert Tips

💧 Squeeze the courgette properly. Discard already adds water to the batter, so a light press isn't enough here. Twist it hard in a tea towel until you've stopped seeing liquid come out.

🔁 Don't overmix once the courgette goes in. The batter should look just combined, not smooth. Overworking the flour is the most common reason zucchini muffins turn tough instead of tender.

🍋 Rub the zest into the sugar, not just into the batter. It releases the citrus oils properly, and you'll taste the difference in the finished muffin.

⚖️ Weigh the batter into the holes if you want even muffins. About 80g per hole gets you matching bake times and tops that dome at the same rate.

Storage & Freezing

Keep the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

To freeze, skip the glaze first, wrap the cooled muffins individually, and freeze for up to 3 months, they'll keep just as well either plain or streusel-topped.

Glaze only goes on once you're ready to eat, since it doesn't freeze or thaw cleanly.

More Sourdough Discard Recipes

If courgette season has you elbow-deep in discard as well as vegetables, there's more to work through. My Sourdough Rhubarb Muffins and Raspberry Pistachio Sourdough Muffins use the same batter logic with a sharper fruit, and the Sourdough Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are worth a look if you want the lemon and poppy seed pairing without the vegetable. Have a look at more recipes below or sign up for the free summer sourdough email series for the full seasonal line-up!

FAQs