Sourdough Lemon Muffins – Homemade Happiness

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These fluffy sourdough lemon muffins are tender, moist, and drizzled with a tangy lemon glaze. Perfect for an afternoon snack.

frozen muffin.
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I love making muffins to use up the leaven and throw away the starter. They are so versatile and the acidity in the rest makes for a beautiful and tender muffin. These delicious muffins are loaded with fresh lemon zest that’s rubbed in sugar to release the lemon oil. It fills the muffins tenderly with a fresh lemon flavor.

There is an option to let the sourdough muffin batter ferment overnight. This ferments the flour and makes digestion easier. However, if you want to bake them right away, you can.

Don’t have your own sourdough starter yet? Learn to make a homemade sourdough starter.

unwrapped lemon muffin.

Ingredients

You can find all the ingredient quantities for these sourdough muffins in the printable recipe card at the end of the post. Here is an overview of what is required.

  • Throw away sourdough starter Unlined leftover sourdough works best. This is acidic and helps make a tender muffin. The acid in the starter also reacts with the baking soda, causing it to rise.
  • Dry ingredients – all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  • fresh lemon Fresh lemon juice and zest are used for the bright lemon flavor. If you like it extra lemony, you can add half a teaspoon of natural lemon extract.
  • Salted or unsalted butter and oil– I add a mixture. Butter provides the best flavor, but some oil will help keep the texture moist.
  • granulated sugar.
  • Big Eggs
  • whole milk Helps loosen the dough.
Halved Sourdough Lemon Muffin.

equipment

  • 12 cup muffin tin
  • paper inserts

method

Whisk together all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Put aside.

Lemon zest rubbed in sugar.

In a large bowl add granulated sugar and lemon zest. Using your fingertips, rub the zest into the sugar to release the lemon oil.

Stir the leaven with a fork.

Add melted butter, oil, eggs, leftover sourdough and vanilla extract. Whisk until well mixed.

Milk poured into the batter

Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and milk.

Stir the batter with a spatula.

Fold in with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until well combined.

The muffins can be baked straight away or cold fermented overnight.

cold fermentation – Cover the bowl tightly and place in the fridge for up to 16 hours. Cold fermentation allows the flour to absorb more moisture from the dough, which can result in a wetter crumb. Additionally, the slow fermentation helps break down the proteins in the flour. The next day the dough will be very thick.

Bake

Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F) and grease or line a muffin tin.

Using an ice cream scoop, divide the muffin batter evenly into the muffin tin lined with parchment paper. You will be full.

Muffin batter in cups.

Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350°F (180°C) and bake an additional 16-18 minutes, until muffins are golden brown and muffin tops spring back when pressed or inserted with a cake tester in the center clean out.

Allow the baked muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a wire rack to cool further.

baked muffins on wooden board.

Lemon frosting

In a small bowl, mix together the powdered sugar and lemon juice. If you want an extra touch of citrus flavor, you can also add some lemon zest. Mix everything together until you get a smooth, slightly runny glaze. If the glaze is too thick, add a little more lemon juice. If it’s too thin, add more powdered sugar.

Once the muffins have cooled slightly but are still slightly warm, drizzle the glaze over the muffins.

Birds Eye Lemon Muffin.

storage

Leftover muffins can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

You can also freeze the baked muffins. Wrap them tightly and freeze them for up to 3 months. To reheat, thaw at room temperature or in the refrigerator and reheat in a low-temperature oven or microwave.

bitten muffin.

variations

These sourdough muffins are a great base to add more flavors to. Attempt:

  1. Sourdough Blueberry Lemon Muffins: Add a cup of fresh blueberries to the batter for a classic flavor combination. If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw them before adding them to the batter to avoid turning the batter purple.
  2. Sourdough Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins: Add two tablespoons of poppy seeds to your batter. The crunchy poppy seeds ensure a nice consistency.
  3. Orange Chocolate Muffins – Swap lemon juice and zest for orange zest and stir in 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips.

More recipes for throwing away sourdough

Full Recipe

Ice cream muffin close-up.

Sourdough Lemon Muffins

Yield:
12

Preparation time:
10 mins

Cooking time:
22 minutes

Total time:
32 minutes

These fluffy sourdough lemon muffins are tender, moist, and drizzled with a tangy lemon glaze. Perfect for an afternoon snack.

Ingredients

  • 250 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour

  • 2 teaspoons baking powder

  • ½ teaspoon baking powder

  • ½ teaspoon salt

  • 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar

  • 2 tablespoons lemon zest

  • 113 g (½ cup) butter, melted

  • 15 g (1 tbsp) olive or vegetable oil

  • 30 g (2 tbsp) lemon juice

  • 2 large eggs, room temperature

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • Discard 100g (½ cup) sourdough, room temperature

  • 180 g (¾ cup) milk at room temperature

glaze

  • 90 g (¾ cup) powdered sugar

  • 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice

instructions

  1. Mix together all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Put aside.
  2. In a large bowl add granulated sugar and lemon zest. Using your fingertips, rub the zest into the sugar for a minute to release the lemon oil.
  3. Add the melted butter, oil, eggs, leftover sourdough and vanilla extract. Whisk until well mixed.
  4. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and milk and mix with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until well combined.
  5. The muffins can be baked straight away or cold fermented overnight.
  6. cold fermentation – Cover the bowl tightly and place in the fridge for up to 16 hours. Cold fermentation allows the flour to absorb more moisture from the dough, which can result in a wetter crumb. Additionally, the slow fermentation helps break down the proteins in the flour. The next day the dough will be very thick.

Bake

  1. Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F) and line a muffin tin.
  2. Using an ice cream scoop, divide the muffin batter evenly among the 12 cups. You will be full.
  3. Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350°F (180°C) and bake an additional 16-18 minutes, until muffins are golden brown and muffin tops spring back when pressed or inserted with a cake tester in the center clean out.
  4. Allow the baked muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a wire rack to cool further.

Lemon frosting

  1. Mix together the powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl. If you want an extra touch of citrus flavor, you can also add some lemon zest. Mix everything together until you get a smooth, slightly runny glaze.
  2. If the glaze is too thick, add a little more lemon juice. If it’s too thin, add more powdered sugar.
  3. Once the muffins have cooled slightly but are still slightly warm, drizzle the glaze over the muffins.

Remarks

*Cup sizes shown are for US cups, which are smaller than metric cups. For best results, use a scale and measure in grams.

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Nutritional Information:

Yield: 12

Serving size: 1

Amount per serving:

Calories: 270total fat: 10gSaturated Fatty Acids: 5gtrans fats: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 52 mgSodium: 303 mgCarbohydrates: 42gFiber: 1gSugar: 25gProtein: 4g



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