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Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins – Sally’s Baking Habit

February 28, 2024

You’ll love each chunk of those tangy-sweet and moist lemon poppy seed muffins. It’s a traditional taste, and the identical base recipe I exploit for a lot of different fan-favorite muffin flavors together with blueberry muffins and apple cinnamon muffins. Topped with a candy lemon icing, these citrus-centered muffins make for a particular breakfast deal with.

lemon poppy seed muffin with icing on top turned on its side on cooling rack.

Have you ever ever tried my go-to muffin recipe earlier than? It’s an ordinary muffin base I exploit for quite a lot of flavors, and with a pair easy tweaks, you may go from spiced peach streusel muffins to recent lemon poppy seed muffins. When you’ve a strong and forgiving baking recipe, the chances are infinite.

A wholesome dose of poppy seeds give immediately’s sunshine-sweet muffins a slight crunch. That’s the perfect half about poppy seed muffins! The poppy seeds are an ideal distinction to the muffin’s gentle inside.

Table of Contents

Why You’ll Love These Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Easy to make with fundamental baking substances
A great deal of sweet-tart recent lemon taste
Gentle, tender, and cakey, with the added texture of poppy seeds
Prime with lemon icing or a sprinkling of coarse glowing sugar for a candy end
Nearly as good or higher than any lemon poppy seed muffin from a bakery

close-up of lemon poppy seed muffin with bite taken out.

Why You Want the Following Elements

I exploit this combo of substances in a lot of my muffin recipes:

Flour: All-purpose flour is the bottom of this muffin recipe.
Baking Powder + Baking Soda: These leaveners carry the muffins up, making them gentle and fluffy. I’m beneficiant with the baking soda as a result of I would like additional carry; there’s sufficient acid within the batter to neutralize it.
Salt: Taste enhancer.
Poppy Seeds: These itty-bitty seeds add a gentle nutty taste and slight crunch to baked items. I really like them on bagels, too!
Butter: Creamed butter provides these muffins a cake-like texture; plus, it provides deliciously buttery taste.
Brown Sugar & Granulated Sugar: Granulated sugar sweetens the muffins, balancing out the tart lemon. Brown sugar provides a kiss of taste, plus additional moisture.
Eggs: Eggs work to bind the substances collectively.
Bitter Cream or Yogurt: You should use both. I sometimes use full-fat bitter cream or low-fat Greek yogurt—each are very creamy.
Lemon Zest + Juice: Zest the lemon first, earlier than you chop it open and juice it. A lot simpler than the opposite means round!
Vanilla: Pure vanilla extract rounds out the flavour profile of those muffins. I cut back the quantity only a bit to make up for the additional liquid from the lemon juice. If you happen to want a stronger lemon taste, you may exchange half of the vanilla with lemon extract.
Milk: You should use just about any variety right here: complete milk, low-fat, nondairy, and even buttermilk. For the perfect style and texture, keep away from nonfat milk.

Can I exploit chia seeds as a substitute of poppy seeds?

Sure. Change the identical quantity of poppy seeds within the batter with chia seeds. There’s actually no style or texture distinction in any respect.

Can I add blueberries or different sort of berry?

Sure. You possibly can fold about 1 and 1/2 cups (about 200–250g) of recent or frozen berries (don’t thaw) into the batter earlier than spooning into the pan and baking. I even have a recipe for blackberry lemon poppy seed muffins which is similar to immediately’s recipe, in addition to a lemon blueberry muffins recipe. You possibly can add 1 to 2 Tablespoons of poppy seeds to that batter if desired.

ingredients on marble counter including eggs, butter, flour, sour cream, milk, and sugars.

Anticipate a Thick Batter

The directions are fairly fundamental right here, and also you’ll discover them within the printable recipe card beneath. One vital factor to notice, nevertheless, is to anticipate a thick and ethereal batter. Don’t be tempted so as to add extra liquid; you need a good thick batter so the muffins maintain form.

There aren’t any add-ins like chocolate chips or berries, so there’s much less quantity than my different muffin recipes utilizing this similar base. Because of this, I don’t fill the muffin cups fairly as full. You don’t wish to fill the muffin pan too excessive (and yield fewer muffins). Why? As a result of these muffin tops unfold out into mushroom-looking tops when overfilled.

Simply divide the batter between 12 cups, utilizing an ordinary 12-count muffin pan.

yellow batter in glass bowl and divided into muffin liners.

The Excessive-Prime Muffin Trick

I’ve been utilizing this muffin trick for years and SWEAR by it.

Bake the muffins for simply 5 minutes at a excessive temperature, 425°F (218°C). Then cut back the temperature to 350°F (177°C) for the remaining bake time. This preliminary burst of warmth lifts the muffin straight up, making a strong dome. Baking at a decrease temperature for the remainder of the time cooks the middle of the muffin.

12 lemon poppy seed muffins on cooling rack.

Plain or Iced Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Topping your lemon poppy seed muffins with icing is non-compulsory, but it surely positively provides some additional lemon taste. I all the time add it. This deliciously creamy lemon icing is comprised of simply 3 substances, and it’s the identical icing I exploit to prime my strawberry lemon poppy seed scones and lemon pound cake. You want confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice, and milk. Two of those substances are additionally used within the muffin batter.

Simply whisk the whole lot collectively in a bowl and drizzle over the baked muffins. If you happen to don’t wish to prime these with icing, you may sprinkle some coarse sparkling sugar on prime earlier than baking.