Sourdough Lemon Muffins: Quick Sourdough Recipe

These sourdough lemon muffins combine the delicious zingy tang of lemons with the goodness of sourdough to bring you a taste sensation. They bake up with a tender crumb and a bright lemon fragrance that fills the kitchen. They come together quickly with simple pantry ingredients and can be made with either active sourdough starter or discard. 

If you’re new to sourdough baking, muffins are a wonderful place to start because they allow you to use your sourdough discard (unfed sourdough starter) in a meaningful way.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe!

Quick And Easy To Make – A batch of these sourdough lemon muffins come together in just a few minutes and bake in around 20 minutes, making them perfect when you want something homemade without spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

Bright Fresh Lemon Flavor – Fresh lemon zest and juice give these muffins their signature citrus flavor and a wonderful fragrance as they bake. Finished with an optional lemon glaze that soaks into the warm muffins, these are perfect for breakfast, afternoon tea, or an easy snack any time of day.

Use 200g of Sourdough Discard – this is one of those sourdough recipes that let’s you empty your discard jar! You can read more about why you must discard your starter. Once you start baking with discard, muffins quickly become a favorite.

This is one of the most popular sourdough discard recipes on The Pantry Mama site. It’s been baked thousands of times and has been loved by so many of our sourdough community!

Ingredients

• Sourdough Starter – This recipe uses 200g of sourdough starter. You can choose to make these sourdough muffins with fed, active starter or sourdough discard.
• All Purpose Flour
• Sugar – Granulated sugar sweetens the muffins and balances the brightness of the lemon. It also helps create that lightly golden top as the muffins bake.
• Eggs – I’ve used two large eggs to add structure and help give the muffins a light, fluffy texture. 
• Baking Powder – just baking powder for these, no baking soda!
• Vegetable Oil – A light flavored oil keeps these muffins soft and adds moisture. You can use any neutral oil you have on hand, such as vegetable, avocado, or canola oil. Melted coconut oil works for these too if that’s what you prefer.
• Lemon Zest – Lemon zest is where most of the bright lemon flavor comes from, so don’t skip it. Use the freshest lemons possible. They’re best if you pick them from a tree to ensure the rind has no wax or chemicals added.
• Lemon Juice – Fresh lemon juice adds extra citrus flavor and helps give the muffins that lovely zingy lemon taste. You’ll also mix some of the juice with powdered sugar for the lemon glaze.
• Vanilla Extract
• Salt
• Powdered Sugar – Powdered sugar creates a smooth glaze that soaks into the warm muffins and adds a little extra sweetness. You can of course skip the glaze if you prefer or just give the muffins a light dusting of powdered sugar.

How To Make Sourdough Lemon Muffins

Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF and grease a 12 hole muffin tin with butter.

Mix the sourdough starter, eggs, lemon juice, vanilla extract and oil in a bowl. Whisk together until well combined. It’s ok if the oil sits on the top, it will combine once it is poured into the dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl mix together all purpose flour, salt, baking powder, lemon zest and sugar.

Now pour the liquid ingredient mixture into the dry ingredients. Gently fold together until just mixed – don’t over mix or the muffins will be tough.

Spoon the muffin batter into greased a muffin pan. This recipe will fill a 12 hole muffin pan (each hole around 3/4 full). You can use paper liners if you prefer (just spray them with a little oil first to stop the muffins sticking).

Bake at 180ºC/350ºF for approximately 20 minutes or until muffins are golden brown.

While the muffins are baking, mix together the powdered sugar and lemon juice.

Once the muffins are cooked, spoon the lemon glaze onto the muffins while they are still in the muffin tin. Let the lemon glaze soak into the muffins and cool slightly before removing them from the pan and allowing them to cool fully on a wire rack.

Flavor Variations for Sourdough Lemon Muffins

While these sourdough lemon muffins are perfect in their simplicity, you could also jazz them up with these flavor variations:

• Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins – Add a few teaspoons of poppy seeds to the dry ingredients before pouring in the wet ingredients to make sourdough lemon and poppyseed muffins.

• Almond Topped Muffins – Top the batter with some flaked almonds before you place them into the oven.

• Citrus Muffins – Adding orange zest as well as lemon zest will give you lovely citrus sourdough muffins.

• White Chocolate Lemon Muffins – Add 100g of white chocolate chips to the dry ingredients before pouring in the wet ingredients to make white chocolate and lemon sourdough muffins.

• Lemon Blueberry Muffins – Add some frozen or dried blueberries for a version of sourdough lemon and blueberry muffins.

• Pineapple Lemon Muffins – Add a few handfuls of tinned pineapple pieces to the dry ingredients before you pour the liquid ingredients in.

Along with these lemon muffins, readers also love orange cranberry sourdough muffins and these soft and fluffy overnight blueberry sourdough muffins. If you prefer something savory, these sourdough zucchini muffins with cheese and chives make a great lunchbox or snack option.

How to Store + Freeze

Store the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

If you want them to last longer, you can store them in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

They can be frozen for up to 3 months. Allow the muffins to cool completely, then place them in a freezer safe container or bag. To serve, allow them to thaw at room temperature or warm them slightly before eating.

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