Sourdough Lemon Muffins (Sourdough Discard Recipe)

Inspired by a true classic - Lemon Drizzle Cake - these Easy Sourdough Lemon Muffins are a quick and delicious way to use up that sourdough discard to make a wonderful zingy treat with bright lemon flavor! Perfect for a sweet breakfast nibble or an afternoon snack to pack for a break at work, these sourdough muffins can also be turned into a decadent cupcake. Read on to see how to make them!

Jump to:

• Ingredients & Substitutes
• Variations
• Method
• Recipe FAQs
• Christmas Sourdough ebook
• How To Store Sourdough Muffins?
• Turn The Sourdough Lemon Muffins Into Cupcakes
• Other Sourdough Discard Recipes
• Easy Sourdough Lemon Muffins

If you are a beginner in baking with sourdough, chances are you will have a lot of discard whilst building your sourdough starter. The good news is, that sourdough discard recipes are quick and easy to make, and these Sourdough Lemon Muffins and our Sourdough Rhubarb Muffins are a great place to start - even if you are a novice baker! Or you can take it a step further and make our delicious Sourdough Lemon Cake with Poppy Seeds.

For more delicious treats, head to our article about Sourdough Recipes That Are Not Bread!

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Ingredients & Substitutes

• vegetable oil: can be substituted with other odourless oils, like sunflower or rapeseed oil. We tested this recipe with olive oil and found that the flavour of it was too strong for these muffins.
• caster sugar: or white granulated sugar. 
• egg: use large eggs (UK) or extra-large (US). 
• sourdough discard/ unfed starter: (100% hydration). The recipe works equally well with an active starter too!
• milk: dairy milk works best in this muffin recipe. But if you're looking to make dairy-free muffins, we found that cashew milk was the best alternative. 
• plain flour (all-purpose flour): the recipe works with cake flour too.

• baking powder: not to be mixed up with bicarbonate of soda. 
• salt. 
• fresh lemons: since we are using zest as well as juice in this recipe, choose unwaxed lemons. If you have limes, however, use them instead (for more details refer to our Sourdough Lime Drizzle Cake recipe). 

Variations

I get it, this is a basic recipe and you may want to introduce more pizzazz to these muffins. There are simple ways to make them even more delicious:

• A drop of vanilla extract goes a long way. 
• Add a tablespoon of poppy seeds to make sourdough lemon poppy seed muffins that taste very similar to those you get at Starbucks!
• Have a glut of courgettes? Add some of it - just follow our Lemon and Poppy Seed Sourdough Zucchini Muffin recipe. Or try our fudgy chocolatey version - Sourdough Chocolate Zucchini Muffins.
• Make a tangy lemon glaze by mixing powdered sugar with lemon juice and drizzling it all over the sourdough muffins. 
• Sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar for extra muffin top texture or make a crumb topping!

Sourdough Starter

Sourdough Discard is a perfect ingredient to use in lemon muffins since it adds that extra sour tang to the muffins that complements the zingy lemons. A few things to note regarding the sourdough starter: 

• You can use an active sourdough starter if you wish, but it is not necessary as we are adding baking powder to help the muffins rise in the oven. 
• Don't use an old sourdough starter. If it started forming a "sourdough hooch" (fermented alcohol on top of the sourdough starter), your muffins will be too sour and won't rise much in the oven. 
• Use 100% hydration sourdough discard. That means that your starter would consist of 1 part water and 1 part flour. 

Most sourdough bakers are looking for other ways, both sweet and savoury, to use up more of the never-ending sourdough discard. If it sounds like you, head to our Sourdough Discard Recipes! We have a bunch of delicious recipes, including Sourdough Discard Brownies, Sourdough Banana Bread Muffins and more... 

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C Fan. Place the cupcake liners into a 12-hole muffin tin (you may use silicone cupcake cases, or grease a muffin tin with butter, if it's a non-stick type).

In a mixing bowl, combine the vegetable oil, eggs and sugar and, using an electric handheld mixer, whisk until combined and the sugar dissolves. In a separate bowl, mix sourdough starter discard and milk. Then add the mixture to the eggs alongside the zest of a lemon and stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, taking care not to overmix. Divide the muffin batter into the lined muffin tin.

Bake for 20 minutes in the centre of the preheated oven. To check if the sourdough muffins are cooked, insert a wooden skewer or a cocktail stick into the centre. If cooked, it should come out clean. The tops should be lovely golden brown. 

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and fresh lemon juice. Prick each muffin with a wooden skewer, then spoon the lemon drizzle onto the muffins and scatter the fresh lemon zest on top. After the drizzle has soaked in and hardened, remove the sourdough lemon muffins from the tin/cases and allow them to finish cooling on a wire rack. If you used paper liners, leave the muffins in them.

Recipe FAQs

How To Store Sourdough Muffins?

After cooling the Lemon Muffins completely, store them in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Alternatively, you can wrap leftover muffins individually in clingfilm (plastic wrap), place them in an airtight container and freeze them for up to 4 months. Defrost at room temperature - they will not have a crispy sugary top after defrosting but will still taste great!

Turn The Sourdough Lemon Muffins Into Cupcakes

After your muffins cool down, whip up a simple lemon frosting. Our favourite is Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting. You will need: 

• 50g butter, softened
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• a drop of lemon extract
• 50g icing sugar
• 100g cream cheese, ideally full fat, at room temperature

Using an electric hand mixer (we love Kenwood), beat the butter until pale and fluffy. Add the icing sugar and lemon juice and beat again until combined. Then add the cream cheese bit by bit and beat on slow speed until incorporated. Don't overbeat the frosting. Place it in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to firm up a little bit before piping it on top of your muffins to create lovely Sourdough Lemon Cupcakes!

Alternatively, try our Sourdough Discard Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting!

Other Sourdough Discard Recipes

See our section of sourdough discard recipes for all of our favourite snacks and sweet treats that we make. The recipes below are a great way to put your discard to good use and introduce more sourdough goodness into your diet! 

• Lemon Blueberry Sourdough Cake (Quick Discard Recipe)
• Sourdough Blueberry Pancakes (Made With Discard)
• Sourdough Cranberry Orange Muffins
• Lemon Poppy Seed Sourdough Scones
• Sourdough Cherry Scones With White Chocolate Chips
• Sourdough Rhubarb Cake (With Discard or Not)
• Sourdough Canelés
• Sourdough Banana Bread
• Sourdough Lime Drizzle Cake

And if you're looking to introduce similar flavours into your sourdough bread, head to our Lemon Poppy Seed Sourdough Bread recipe.