Looking for Sourdough? 
Lemon poppy seed sourdough muffins are tangy, lightly sweetened and full of bright lemon flavor! They are perfectly golden on the outside, tender and moist on the inside.
Topped with a delicious lemon glaze, they are totally addictive. Not to mention, a great use for sourdough discard!
Let's start spring off on the right foot with these amazing lemon poppy seed sourdough muffins! Just like our sourdough blueberry muffins or sourdough banana nut muffins and our double chocolate sourdough muffins, they are perfect for breakfast with a cup of coffee or as a spring dessert to satisfy your sweet tooth.
The batter is made with your sourdough starter and can be baked right away or chilled in the fridge for a day to get as much benefit from sourdough fermentation as possible.
Ricotta cheese helps to keep the muffins soft and moist and the lemon glaze brings a fresh pop of lemon flavor that puts these muffins over the top!
Ingredients needed
The ingredients needed to make lemon poppy seed sourdough muffins are simple. All-purpose flour, sugar, sourdough starter discard, milk, egg, ricotta cheese, vanilla extract, salt, baking powder, baking soda, poppy seeds and fresh lemon zest.
The muffins are topped with a glaze made from fresh lemon juice, melted butter and powdered sugar.
Step by step instructions
There's nothing complicated about this recipe so let's dive straight into the details!
Dry ingredients. Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and poppy seeds together in a bowl and set aside.
Wet ingredients. Add the room temperature butter and sugar to a mixing bowl and use an electric hand mixer to cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg, sourdough discard, milk, ricotta cheese, lemon zest and vanilla extract and mix until smooth.
Combine and rest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula until just combined. The batter will be thick. After mixing, either allow the batter to rest for 30 minutes before baking or, place the batter in the fridge to ferment overnight.
Preheat oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C). Divide the batter evenly into the 12 liners. If the batter has been chilling in the fridge, it will be stiff.
Bake. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and cool completely before glazing.
Glaze. Mix the powdered sugar, lemon juice and melted butter in a small bowl until smooth. It will take a minute of stirring for the butter to incorporate. Drizzle over the muffins or dip the top of each muffin into the glaze.
Tips for success
- Don't over-mix. When you combine the wet and dry ingredients together, only mix until they are just combined. If you over-work the batter, the gluten will develop which can cause the muffins to be dense.
- Allow the batter to rest. The muffins get the best rise if they are allowed to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking. You can also let the batter chill in the fridge for up to 24 hours to allow more fermentation and get a great rise.
- Baking time. Oven temperatures vary. Start checking the muffins around 22-23 minutes. If your batter was cold when you placed the muffins in the oven, you may have to bake them a few minutes longer. (Mine took 25 minutes.) A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean when the muffins are fully cooked.
- Use fresh lemons. A fresh lemon with a firm peel is much easier to zest than an older lemon. We have not experimented with lemon extract.
How to store and freeze
Store the lemon poppy seed sourdough muffins in an airtight at room temperature for 3 days. They can also be wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Recommended kitchen tools
- microplane/zester (affiliate link) A microplane makes zesting the lemon easy. We also use this kitchen tool to finely grate garlic, ginger and hard cheeses.
More sourdough discard recipes
Creating sourdough discard recipes is what we do. Don't let it go to waste, instead make sourdough morning glory muffins, sourdough cinnamon rolls, sourdough chocolate chip cookies or sourdough pancakes!
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Lemon Poppy Seed Sourdough Muffins
EQUIPMENT
- Muffin tin
- Mixing Bowls
- Measuring cups/spoons
- Spatula
INGREDIENTS
Wet Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons (113 g) unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 1 cup (200 g) sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup (125 g) sourdough starter discard
- 1 cup (123 g) ricotta
- zest of one large lemon (or two small lemons)
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120 g) milk
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) fine sea salt
- 1 ½ tablespoons poppy seeds
Lemon Glaze
- 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) melted butter
INSTRUCTIONS
- Prepare: Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C) and line a 12 count muffin tin with paper liners, or lightly grease.
- Dry ingredients: Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and poppy seeds together in a bowl and set aside.
- Wet ingredients: Add the room temperature butter and sugar to a mixing bowl and use an electric hand mixer to cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg, sourdough discard, milk, ricotta, lemon zest and vanilla extract and mix until smooth.
- Combine: Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with the spatula until just combined making sure not to over-mix. The batter will be thick. After mixing, either allow the batter to rest for 30 minutes before baking or, place the batter in the fridge to ferment overnight. (See notes.)
- Bake: Divide the batter evenly into the 12 liners. If the batter has been chilling in the fridge, it will be stiff. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and cool completely before glazing.
- Glaze: Mix the powdered sugar, lemon juice and butter in a small bowl until smooth. It will take a minute of stirring for the butter to incorporate. Drizzle over the muffins or dip the top of each muffin into the glaze.
NOTES
- Chilled batter will be stiff. There is no need to bring it to room temperature before baking. Check the muffins around the 22 minute mark and bake longer if needed. My muffins took 25 minutes to bake from a chilled batter.
- Store in an airtight at room temperature for 3 days. Muffins can also be wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
PREVIOUS
Lexi says
These are SO good... and they are my husband's favorite muffins. He is always so excited when I make them.
Joanie says
Everything I've made from LSF has been buy-in-a-farm-to-table-cafe good, including this one. Loved it!
Amy says
Thank you so much Joanie 🙂
Kathy says
tender and moist but not a lot of lemon flavor. Second time I made them I omitted the lemon bumped up the vanilla and added almond extract topped with sliced almonds. Turned out great.
michele says
may have been the best baked good I have ever made - undoubtedly the best with sourdough discard.
I baked a loaf, heated higher as noted for the first 10-15 minutes, (and used the largest ponderosa lemon EVER) it was absolutely perfect
Lisa says
Just made these this evening and they’re delicious! Perfectly subtly sweet with only a little drizzle of glaze over each one
Barbara says
I’ve made these several times and they are awesome!! I find they don’t need the glaze.
Question for Amy though - can you recheck the weight/cup size for the ricotta cheese as I find the weight differs from the cup amount quite a bit. I end up just using about 2/3 cup of ricotta.
Thanks.
Dar says
Barbara,I just made these for the first time and I also noticed the error with the ricotta cheese! 1 cup weighs 220 grams so that's what I used. They're fermenting in my fridge now for a couple days (if I can wait that long!)
Juliane says
Sooo good!