Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Sourdough Muffins Recipe

These Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Sourdough Muffins are pulling out all the stops. Full of bright tartness from the lemon and blueberries, a nutty texture from the poppy seeds, and topped with a sweet crumble topping and lemon glaze, this bakery-style muffin are so delicious. A perfect muffin to start off your morning or to enjoy as a quick snack.

My one-year-old has been on a blueberry kick. That girl could eat a whole carton if she got her hands on it! Thankfully we are officially in blueberry season and I am ready to bake all the blueberry treats, like Sourdough Blueberry Buckle or these Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Sourdough Muffins.

These simple muffins are packed with fresh lemon flavor and bursts of blueberries. The crumb is moist and tender, while the poppy seeds add a fantastic texture to each bite. Topped with a buttery crumble and tangy lemon glaze, it is a perfect spring and summer treat that is packed with sourdough goodness.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe:

Delicious:

This recipe certainly pulls out all the stops. From the moist muffin to the buttery sweet crumble topping to the lemon glaze, how can it get better than that?

Great use of sourdough discard:

To make Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Sourdough Muffins you will need a cup of sourdough discard. It’s super helpful to have delicious recipes like this when you have a surplus of discard when you are making your own sourdough starter.

No-fuss recipe:

When I say these are easy lemon poppy seed muffins to make, I mean it! All you need are two bowls and a whisk for this recipe. Feel free to pull out a stand mixer or hand mixer, but it really isn’t necessary. This batter comes together with ease and makes for a simple clean-up afterward.

Ingredients

Muffin Batter:

All-purpose Flour

Baking Powder

Baking Soda

Salt

Poppy Seeds

White Sugar

Lemon Zest

Sourdough Starter Discard

Sour Cream

Lemon Juice

Large Eggs

Unsalted Butter – melted

Vanilla Extract

Fresh Blueberries

Crumble Topping:

Sugar

Brown Sugar

Flour

Salt

Cinnamon

Glaze Topping:

Lemon Juice

Powdered Sugar

Supplies

Muffin tin

Muffin cups

Mixing bowls

Wire rack

How to Make Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Sourdough Muffins:

Crumble Topping:

In a medium bowl, add white and brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and cold, cubed butter.

Crumble the larger pieces of butter with your fingers and mix by hand until the butter is well coated with the flour mixture.

It’s best to work quickly in order to prevent the butter from getting too soft. Softened butter will melt during the baking and result in a flat crust, rather than a crunchy crumble.

Place the bowl of crumble topping in the fridge to chill until ready to top our blueberry lemon poppy seed sourdough muffins.

Batter:

Sift flour, baking powder, and baking soda into a large bowl. Add poppy seeds and salt to the dry ingredients and whisk until combined. Set to the side.

In a large mixing bowl, add the sugar and fresh lemon zest. Rub the sugar and zest with your hands until the sugar turns a pale yellow color. That way the sugar soaks in all the lemon oil.

Next, add the sour cream, sourdough discard, melted butter, lemon juice, eggs, and vanilla, and mix until smooth.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until the flour is just incorporated. Overmixing can lead to a tough crumb. The muffin batter will be quite thick.

Lastly, fold in the fresh berries with a wooden spoon.

Bake:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees f.

Grease your muffin tin or place paper liners in each spot. Divide batter between 24 muffin cups and sprinkle generously with the crumble.

Bake on the middle rack for 14-15 minutes, or until they are golden brown and a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs.

Place the muffin pan on a cooling rack and leave the lemon muffins in for an additional 10 minutes.

Remove and cool completely before topping with the sweet lemon glaze.

Glaze Topping:

In a separate bowl, mix fresh lemon juice with powdered sugar. Add more lemon juice until you reach your desired consistency.

Add the glaze to a Ziploc bag, cut the corner, and drizzle on the lemon poppyseed muffins for an extra delicious lemon fresh flavor.

How to Serve:

Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Sourdough Muffins make for an excellent and quick morning breakfast with a hot cup of coffee. Or as a grab-and-go afternoon snack. The day after I’ve baked them, I like to pop them into the microwave just for 10 seconds or so to reheat. The glaze melts a bit and the blueberries get warm – it’s a delight!

How to Store:

Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Sourdough Muffins will stay fresh when stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

FAQs:

Can you use frozen blueberries instead of fresh ones?

Absolutely! With the help of frozen blueberries, this sweet treat can be enjoyed all year long. No need to thaw your frozen blueberries before folding them into the batter. If you do, the blueberry juices may turn the batter purple. A fun presentation, but not a traditional, serving style.

Can this recipe be long-fermented?

I did make a batch of long-fermented blueberry lemon poppy seed muffins. I prepared the batter as described in the recipe, covered it, and placed it in the fridge to ferment for 24 hours. The end result had a beautiful rise, higher and more round than my quick version. But the crumb was a bit dense, not as light and airy as the ones made with discard and the sourdough flavor was more prominent. Technically not bad, but not my preference.

What if I don’t have fresh lemon juice?

You can use lemon concentrate as a substitute, but I just think fresh lemons taste better. Though I never tried this recipe this way, I did research that lemon extract can be used as a substitute for lemon juice in a 1/2:1 ratio, the rest being water. If you do try using lemon extract instead of lemon juice, please share your results!

Happy baking!

More Sourdough Sweet Treats:

Sourdough Discard Blueberry Buckle

Chewy Sourdough Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

Sourdough Banana Bars