blueberry muffins with lemon curd

Lemon curd is a baking secret weapon. Make a batch, keep it in your fridge, and it'll take blueberry muffins to a new level.

Lately: Not a lot is new. I haven’t had time to cook. I did have time to bake about 80 cookies for Jesse’s book event this week at Wonderland Books, the store where I’ve been working. A ton of people showed up to listen to him talk on the five-year (ish) anniversary of his book being released. They also seemed to enjoy these sourdough chocolate chip cookies, which have become my go-to receptacle for getting rid of my starter discard. … For another way to use your sourdough discard, keep reading!

blueberry muffins with lemon curd

active time: 15 minutes

total time: 45 minutes

makes 12 muffins

These days, I’m always looking for ways to use my sourdough discard, since I’m allergic to throwing it away. I also wound up with some surplus lemon curd in my fridge after making a cake, and thus this recipe was born. The sourdough discard gives these muffins the faintest tang, and the sharp citrus taste of the lemon curd cuts the sweetness — though these are still plenty sweet.

And if you’re not a sourdough person, never fear. Check the footnotes for an easy substitution; all it takes is some extra flour and extra milk, and you too can have muffins galore.

Ingredients:

• 113 grams (1 stick, ½ cup) unsalted butter, melted

• 200 grams (1 cup) granulated sugar

• 113 grams (½ cup) sourdough discard¹

• 2 large eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 120 grams (½ cup) plain, full-fat yogurt

• 30 milliliters (2 tablespoons) milk

• 250 grams (2 cups + 1 tablespoon) all-purpose flour, divided

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt

• 240 grams (about 2 cups) frozen mixed berries

• 170 grams (¾ cup) lemon curd²³

• 2 tablespoons coarse sugar, such as demerara or turbinado

Instructions:

1. Heat your oven to 425 degrees. Place cupcake liners in a 12-muffin tin and grease them with cooking spray.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the melted butter, sugar and sourdough discard, beating on medium speed for about a minute until smooth.

3. Add the eggs one at a time, beating on medium speed until each is incorporated.

4. Add the vanilla, yogurt and milk, beating on medium speed until the clumps and streaks have all disappeared, about 2 minutes.

5. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Add 2 cups (240 grams) of flour, plus the baking powder, baking soda and salt. With an offset spatula, stir to incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet, mixing just until all the streaks of flour have disappeared into the batter. Don’t worry if there are a few clumps.

6. Add the remaining flour (10 grams/1 tablespoon) to a small bowl with the blueberries, distributing the flour evenly so it coats the berries. Pour the berry-flour mixture into the batter⁴ and fold it in with the spatula. Do your best to work quickly and gently so the berries don’t streak the batter blue — though it’s impossible to totally avoid⁵.

7. Scoop about 2 tablespoons of batter into each liner — using up approximately two-thirds of the batter. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon curd to each muffin, and then distribute the remaining batter to cover up the curd, distributing evenly. Sprinkle the muffins with the coarse sugar.

8. Bake at 425 degrees for 8 minutes. Decrease the oven temperature to 375 degrees and continue baking for 15 to 20 minutes, until the tops of the muffins begin to brown.

9. Let the muffins cool for at least 15 minutes. These are best enjoyed the day of baking or the next day.

1. You don’t have to make these with sourdough discard. If you’re not a sourdough person, you can eliminate the discard, add 55 grams of flour and another 55 grams of milk and be in great shape.

2. The recipe makes more than this; use the rest for other purposes — like this almond cake, for instance. It will also stay fresh in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to two weeks, so you have plenty of time to make a second batch of muffins or find other uses for it.

3. Though I am a HUGE proponent of baking by weight rather than volume, in this case I’d advocate for scooping ¾ cup of lemon curd rather than weighing it, especially if you’re getting a disparate weight. Maybe your curd came out thicker or runnier than expected, or maybe you tried a different recipe. All those factors can lead to slight variations in weight, but you’re going to need ¾ cup of curd no matter what.

4. Make sure to incorporate any loose flour, too, not just the flour that’s stuck to the berries.

5. Look at my photo above!