Sourdough Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (Discard Recipe)

So you make delicious sourdough bread every week, and you now face a decision every sourdough baker has to face: to discard or find a great use for your unneeded portion of sourdough starter! The answer lies in this perfect muffin recipe that's full of bright lemon flavour, further enhanced by sourdough goodness and crunchy poppy seeds! Sourdough Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins may just become your favourite breakfast or afternoon snack - just wait until you try them!

Jump to:

• Why You Should Try Sourodugh Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins?
• Ingredients and Substitutes
• Variations
• Step-By-Step Method
• Tips For Best Results
• How To Serve Sourdough Muffins?
• Christmas Sourdough ebook
• Storage
• Recipe FAQs
• More Sourdough Discard Recipes
• Sourdough Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins 

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Why You Should Try Sourodugh Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins?

• A great way to use up sourdough discard and prevent food waste!
• These delicious muffins come together within 40 minutes - no need for slow fermentation (although you can, if you want!)
• Super tasty and moist full of fresh lemon flavour!
• No fancy kitchen tools are required: a large bowl, a balloon hand mixer, and a 12-hole muffin tin are all you're going to need!
• Easily adaptable: we included options for the tangy lemon glaze instead of streusel topping, or you can even make these into cupcakes!

And if you're looking to introduce similar flavours into your sourdough bread, head to our Lemon Poppy Seed Sourdough Bread recipe. And if you have a glut of zucchini (courgettes) to use up, try our Sourdough Zucchini Muffins with Lemon and Poppy Seeds and Sourdough Chocolate Zucchini Muffins.

Ingredients and Substitutes

Here's your shopping list (or you may already have everything you need at home!) Find the ingredient quantities and full method in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. 

For Sourdough Muffins:

• sourdough starter discard (100% hydration): you may use active sourdough starter in this recipe too.  
• plain flour (all-purpose flour): or cake flour. 
• caster sugar: or white granulated sugar. 
• eggs: medium in the UK, large in the US. 
• baking powder: not to be confused with baking soda. 
• vegetable oil: can be replaced with other neutral oil, like sunflower or rapeseed oil. Whilst olive oil may be used, it completely changes the flavour profile of these muffins.  
• milk: we used whole milk, but you may replace it with dairy-free milk, or even water. 
• lemons: we will use zest from both and 2 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice. These muffins work beautifully with limes too!
• poppy seeds. 
• salt. 

You will also need light brown sugar, white coarse sugar, lemon zest, flour and unsalted butter for the Lemon Streusel Topping!

Variations

There are different ways to adjust and adapt these sourodugh muffins to suit your needs:

Not a fan of poppy seeds? Skip them, add a little vanilla extract and ¾ tablespoon of culinary lavender instead! Or try our Sourdough Rhubarb Muffins! In autumn, don't miss our Sourdough Discard Pumpkin Muffins and Sourdough Banana Bread Muffins!

Not Keen on Streusel Topping? Make a tangy lemon glaze by mixing 90g of powdered sugar with 1.5 tablespoon of lemon juice, and drizzle it over the muffins instead. We use this lemon glaze for our Lemon Sourdough Cake and also Sweet Lemon Sourdough Focaccia!

Want Something Fancier? Skip the streusel topping and make these into sourodugh cupcakes by topping them with delicious lemon cream cheese frosting. 

Want To Reap The Health Benefits of Sourdough Fermentation? Once the batter is made, cover it and store it in the fridge for up to 12 hours (simply leave it overnight to slow ferment). The next day, prepare the streusel topping and bake! 

Step-By-Step Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 12-hole muffin pan with silicone or paper liners, or grease it well with butter.

2. In a large mixing bowl, using a balloon whisk, mix the sourodugh starter, milk, eggs, lemon juice and oil.

3. In a separate bowl combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and lemon zest.

4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold everything together until no dry pockets of flour remain. Stir in the poppy seeds. Let the batter rest whilst you make the streusel topping.

5. Mix the brown sugar, caster sugar, lemon zest and flour in a medium bowl. Pour the melted butter all over and mix to coarse crumbs.

6. Divide the sourodugh muffin batter between the lined muffin tin holes - each should be about ¾ full.

7. Scatter the streusel topping on the surface.

8. Place the muffins in a preheated oven for 20 minutes. They will have a beautiful golden brown topping the domed tops.  

Tips For Best Results

These Sourdough Poppy Seed Muffins are very easy to make, but if it's your first time making this recipe, these tips may help: 

• Use room temperature ingredients to make the mixing easier: cold ingredients are a lot more difficult to combine and you risk overmixing the batter and therefore having tough muffins. 
• Use a kitchen scale to weigh out ingredients: baking requires a bit of precision!
• If you're using active starter, make sure not to leave your prepared batter in a warm place for too long. If you cannot bake right away, place the batter in the fridge to slow fermentation process. 
• For a perfect rise, make sure to let the dough rest for 15-20 minutes (use this time to make the streusel topping). 
• Avoid using old sourodugh discard that hasn't been fed for more than 4 days (especially if your starter starts forming a layer of liquid on top) - your muffins will be too sour, and they won't rise as well due to the batter being too acidic.  

How To Serve Sourdough Muffins?

Lemon poppyseed muffins make a great breakfast on the go. Alternatively, serve them with your mid-morning coffee for a sweet treat to tide you over until lunchtime. 

What is more, this muffin recipe (minus the streusel topping) makes a delicious base for sourdough cupcakes! Simply pipe Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting on top and serve them at a fancy birthday party or as a delicious treat for Mother's Day!

Storage

Sourodugh muffins can be stored in an airtight container in a cool dark cupboard for up to 3 days. Whilst the streusel topping will lose its crispiness over time, the muffins will stay fresher than regular muffins, thanks to the good bacteria in the sourdough starter. 

For longer storage, freeze the muffins. Wrap each tightly in plastic wrap (cling film), place them in a large ziplock bag and keep them in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw them fully at room temperature!

Recipe FAQs

More Sourdough Discard Recipes

Have a lot of sourdough discard to use up? Try our Sourdough Carrot Cupcakes or Sourdough Apple Muffins next! Already made various types of quick bread and sourdough chocolate chip cookies? What about some Sourdough Crepes, Sourdough Oatmeal Raisin Cookies or Sourdough Granola next, then?

You're in the right place - we have a lot of delicious sourdough recipes that aren't just bread, and sourdough discard is a wonderful ingredient in various savoury and sweet recipes. 

And if you are a lemon lover, you must try our Sourdough Discard Lemon Bars!