These sourdough muffins are impossibly soft and moist, filled with juicy raspberries and topped with a bright & crunchy lemon streusel. They’re super easy to make and endlessly versatile. You’ll never want to make muffins without sourdough discard again.
Tender sourdough muffins packed with fresh ripe raspberries, finished with a generous heaping of buttery, lemon-scented streusel. Yum! The sourdough discard gives the muffins so much depth of flavor, plus keeps them super soft and moist for days. Baked extra large, they feel like they came straight from a bakery.
If you want to learn how to make big, soft, bakery-style muffins, this is the recipe you’re looking for. I’ll show you a few tricks to make your muffins extra big and extra fluffy!
👉 Want more sourdough muffins? Check out my Sourdough Zucchini Muffins and Sourdough Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins.
Recipe highlights
- Ridiculously soft & moist, thanks to sourdough discard + yogurt + butter and oil
- Delightfully flavored with sweet-tart raspberries and fresh lemon zest
- Baked extra large for that from-the-bakery feeling
- Super versatile base recipe – use it as a foundation to make any muffin flavor
Recipe overview
⏱️ Prep: ~10 mins • Rest: 30 mins • Bake: 20-25 mins
🍴 Yield: 12 big-ass muffins
💪 Skill level: Beginner
😋 Flavor notes: Fresh ripe raspberries, bright lemon, sourdough tang. Pairs well with: Soft butter, cream cheese, honey, tea, whipped brown butter, fresh berries, raspberry jam.
How to make sourdough muffins
Find the full ingredients list and detailed recipe instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here’s a quick step-by-step overview of how to make this recipe:
- Make the streusel. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, lemon zest, and salt. Stir in melted butter until mixture is evenly moistened and crumbly.
- Prepare the muffin liners (if making). Cut 6×6-inch squares of parchment paper, then cut a slit partway down the center on all four sides. Press into muffin tins. OR line two muffin/cupcake pans with store-bought paper liners.
- Preheat the oven to 400° F.
- Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Mix the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the yogurt, eggs, melted butter, oil, sourdough discard, and vanilla extract.
- Fold everything together. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until a few streaks of flour remain.
- Rest batter. Let the batter sit for 30-60 mins, then add raspberries and fold in gently.
- Bake. Scoop muffin batter into prepared pans, filling a bit past the top of the muffin tin. Sprinkle lemon streusel on top and bake for 5 minutes, then turn heat down to 375° F. Continue baking until the tops spring back and the streusel is lightly golden.
Bonus: make your own muffin liners
This step is optional, but it’s great in a pinch if you’ve run out of store-bought paper liners. It’s also key to making the biggest, tallest muffins possible. Here how to do it:
- Cut parchment paper into 12 6×6-inch squares.
- Make a slit down the center on all 4 sides (about 2 inches long, doesn’t have to be perfect) of each square.
- Press each square into a muffin tin. They’ll try to resist a little – this is ok. Hold the liner in place while you scoop muffin batter into it, and it’ll settle right in.
Pro baking tips for bakery-style muffins
Make your own paper liners. Sure, it’s an extra step that’s a little bit fussy. But if you want your muffins to feel big and beefy, it’s the only way to get them this tall. The paper gives them room to grow higher, allowing you to fill the batter a bit past the rims on the muffin pan.
If you skip this step and use standard muffin liners, fill them right to the top. This recipe will yield about 18 muffins if you make them this slightly smaller size, and they’ll bake a few minutes faster, so check them early.
Psst: Skipping every other muffin tin gives the muffins more space to rise, and also helps to create those super big muffins.
Mix the batter gently. It’s important not to over-mix your muffin batter. A few streaks of flour and some lumpiness is totally ok here. This will keep the muffins tender and light, rather than dense, tough, or heavy.
Let the batter rest. Resting the muffin batter for 30-60 minutes before baking gives the flour more time to absorb the liquid ingredients. The result is taller, moister muffins.
I like to add my berries after this resting period, so they have less of a chance of staining the batter with off colors. This is especially true if you’re using frozen berries.
Use a digital thermometer. This is the best way to tell when your muffins are perfectly done and prevents over-baking (aka dry, sad muffins). Remove muffins from the oven when their internal temperature is around 200° F.
the key to tender, moist muffins
This muffin recipe works because the sourdough discard, full fat yogurt, and a combination of both butter and oil make them super tender and keep them soft and moist for days.
Variations
Make them any size. Bake them as written in this recipe (extra large), bake them regular size, or bake them mini. Just be sure to adjust the baking time accordingly.
Switch up the streusel. Use orange or lime zest instead of lemon, or skip the zest and flavor it instead with warm spices, like cinnamon and nutmeg.
For more streusel flavors, see my recipes for Balsamic Strawberry Cake (uses almond streusel), Elderberry Coffee Cake (spiced streusel), or Blueberry Corn Muffins (basic streusel).
Switch up the add-ins. Instead of raspberries, try any other berry – blueberry, blackberry, and huckleberry would be especially delicious. You could also opt for chopped toasted nuts, chocolate chips, diced apples or pears, or just about anything that gets you excited.
👉 Want to try a different muffin recipe? Check out Banana Chocolate Chip Sourdough Muffins, Sourdough Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins, or Blueberry Sweet Corn Muffins.
Storing & freezing sourdough muffins
Store cooled sourdough muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. You can also store them in the refrigerator for up to a week, but they’ll dry out a little more.
To reheat muffins: Wrap them loosely in foil and place in a 300° F oven for 5–10 minutes. You can also slice them in half and place under the broiler until lightly toasted, 2-4 minutes.
To make ahead: You can rest the muffin batter in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours, but I recommend using double-acting baking powder if you choose this option. That way, it will still be active when you’re ready to bake the muffins.
To freeze baked muffins:
- Bake the muffins and allow to cool completely
- Wrap them (individually) tightly in plastic wrap
- Freeze in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 2 months
Browse more sourdough discard recipes here!
If you make these Sourdough Raspberry Lemon Muffins, please leave a comment and star rating below. Thank you!
Raspberry Lemon Sourdough Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin/cupcake pans
- Parchment paper or paper muffin liners
Ingredients
Lemon streusel
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- zest of 1 lemon
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 2 ounces (4 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted
Sourdough muffins
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup plain whole milk yogurt, or sour cream
- 3 large eggs
- 2 ounces (4 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup neutral oil, (I use avocado)
- ½ cup sourdough discard
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen
Instructions
- Make the lemon streusel: In a medium bowl, whisk together ½ cup flour, ½ cup sugar, lemon zest, and ⅛ tsp salt. Stir in 2 oz melted butter until mixture is evenly moistened and crumbly. Set aside.
- Prepare homemade muffin liners (if using)**: Cut 6×6-inch squares of parchment paper, then cut a slit about halfway down the center on all four sides. Press into muffin tins.OR line 2 muffin pans with store-bought paper liners.
- Preheat the oven to 400° F.
- Mix the dry ingredients: Whisk together the 2 ½ cups flour, ¾ cup sugar, 1 Tbsp baking powder, and 1 tsp salt.
- Mix the wet ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together the ½ cup yogurt, 3 eggs, 2 oz melted butter, ¼ cup oil, ½ cup sourdough discard, and 1 tsp vanilla extract.
- Fold everything together: Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until a few streaks of flour remain. Batter should be a bit lumpy. Don't over-mix!
- Rest batter: This step is optional, but does create taller, more tender muffins.Cover the batter and let it sit at room temperature for 30-60 mins. Then gently fold in 1 cup of raspberries.
- Bake: Scoop muffin batter into prepared pans, filling a bit past the top of the muffin tin if using homemade liners. If using standard liners, fill right to the top. Sprinkle lemon streusel generously on top (about 2 Tbsp per muffin) and bake for 5 minutes, then turn heat down to 375° F. Continue baking until the tops spring back and the streusel is lightly golden, about another 15-20 minutes. The internal temperature of the muffins should be right around 200° F when you remove them from the oven.Allow muffins to cool on a cooling rack. Enjoy!
Notes
Did you try this recipe?
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