These lemon poppy seed muffins and moist, soft, fluffy, filled with lemon zest and poppyseed, and topped with a delicious lemon glaze.
These bakery-style muffins are perfect to enjoy on a summery day for breakfast. This recipe is very easy to make, can be made by anyone, and makes the most tender muffins.
If you like zesty recipes for summer as we do, try our lemon cooler cookies, lemonade bundt cake, lemon ricotta pancakes, and our lemon blueberry cake.
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Why this recipe works
- Extremely easy to make.
- Turns out perfect every time!
- Made with simple ingredients.
- Is made with fresh lemon juice and lemon zest.
- Perfect for summer and will light up your day!
Ingredients
Before you start to make this lemon poppyseed muffins recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Butter- use unsalted butter for this recipe. Only butter will work for this recipe, no margarine, and no coconut oil. Margarine has a weird taste and can ruin the flavor of these delicious cookies.
Eggs- you will need eggs for this recipe. Make sure that your eggs are at room temperature.
Lemon juice- use fresh lemon juice for this recipe. Fresh lemon will give you the best result. We don't recommend using store-bought lemon juice. This will make the flavor pop!
Lemon zest- you will need ½ teaspoon of lemon zest. We recommend zesting the lemon first and then juicing it.
Flour– we used all-purpose flour for this recipe. cake flour will work great as well.
Poppyseeds- use your favorite brand of poppyseeds.
Baking powder– baking powder allows the cake to rise. Make sure that your baking powder is not expired.
Granulated sugar– we like to use granulated sugar, also the most common sugar used in baking. Caster sugar will work great as well.
Vegetable oil – we used vegetable oil for this recipe. canola oil will work great for this recipe.
Milk- use whole milk for this recipe.
Greek yogurt- you can use either greek yogurt or sour cream. Get your Greek yogurt to room temperature. Any percent of fat will work for this recipe.
Vanilla extract- adds extra flavor.
Kosher salt- you will need about ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt for this recipe.
For the lemon glaze:
Lemon juice- use fresh lemon juice for this recipe. Fresh lemon will give you the best result.
Powder sugar- you will need powder sugar for this recipe. you don’t have to buy powder sugar, you can simply make it at home by blending granulated sugar in a blender or food processor.
Pinch of salt- to balance the sweetness.
Vanilla extract- for extra flavor.
Instructions
Preheat an oven to 180c (350f) and prep a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
Into a medium mixing bowl, add the flour, granulated sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder, and baking soda, and mix until just combined.
Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, eggs, vanilla extract, greek yogurt, milk, kosher salt, and cooled melted butter. Mix with a whisk until the mixture is just combined.
Don't overmix the batter! Let the batter sit at room temperature for at least 20 minutes.
Scoop the batter with a large ice cream scooper into the muffin tins, filling them almost completely, and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Make the lemon glaze
Into a small mixing bowl, add the powder sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla. Mix with a spoon until the mixture is well combined and until the glaze is smooth and silky.
Top each muffin with as much glaze as you would like, and serve warm next to a cup of coffee or hot tea. Enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and milk. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist muffins and not dense and dry muffins
- Mesure you flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Make sure that you are using fresh ingredients! One of the most common mistakes in baking and making muffins is not noticing that your baking powder or baking soda is expired. This can ruin your muffins and waste your time and money on the ingredients. So every time you bake anything, make sure that the ingredients are not expired.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to eat these muffins as they are pulled out of the oven, but let these muffins cool for at least 15 minutes so they will be more firm and won’t crumble up. These muffins are extra moist and melt in your mouth delicious, so it will be worth it to wait these 15 minutes.
Faq's
Yes. If you dont like poppyseed or dont have it available, simply skip it and make these delicious lemon muffins.
These muffins will last for up to 3 days stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
We use all-purpose flour for these muffins. Self-rising flour and cake flour will work great as well.
Storing
You can store these muffins at room temperature in an airtight container to prevent them from drying out or store these in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Freezing
Freeze these muffins after they cooled completely in an airtight freezer-friendly container for up to 3 months, some people find the muffins taste better after freezing them.
To thaw, place them in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for a few hours. Reheat them in the microwave or in the toaster oven.
Variations
White chocolate- add mini white chocolate chips to the batter for a delicious white chocolate flavor.
Powder sugar- instead of making a lemon glaze, top these with powder sugar!
Lemon zest- add even more lemon zest for a stronger lemon flavor and aroma.
Topping- one of our favorite way to spice up these muffins, is to make a crumble topping. You can use your favorite recipe for crumble topping for these!
Substitutions
There are a few substitutions that may be helpful for your diet:
Gluten-free - if you want to make this recipe gluten-free, simply replace the flour with gluten-free flour.
Dairy-free- you can make these muffins dairy-free by replacing the butter with vegan butter and the milk with vegan milk, and the yogurt with vegan yogurt.
Serving tips
We like to serve the muffins as is with our morning coffee or tea on the side.
Spread- spread these muffins with peanut butter, almond butter, pecan butter, or even pumpkin butter!
More lemon recipes:
Lemon cooler cookies- These lemon cooler cookies are made with fresh lemon zest and lemon juice, making the lemon flavor pop! These are the perfect summer cookies buttery and tossed in powder sugar.
Lemonade bundt cake- This lemonade bundt cake is made with fresh lemon juice and lemon zest and topped with a lemon glaze. This cake and bright and will light up your day!
Lemon ricotta pancakes- These pancakes are made with lemon zest, lemon juice, and ricotta cheese which makes these pancakes moist, extremely fluffy, and flavorful.
Honey lemon pepper wings- These honey lemon pepper wings are made with a sweet and savory glaze, baked in the oven or in an air fryer, extra easy to make, and taste absolutely incredible.
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📖 Recipe
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups Flour
- 2 tablespoon Poppyseeds
- 2 teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking soda
- 2 tablespoon Lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice
- 1 cup Granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 2 Eggs large
- ⅔ cup Yogurt
- 115 g Butter melted and cooled
- ¾ cup Milk plus 2 tbsp
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 180c (350f) and prep a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
- Into a big mixing bowl, add the sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, eggs, vanilla extract, greek yogurt, milk, kosher salt, and cooled melted butter. Mix with a whisk until the mixture is well combined.
- Into a medium mixing bowl, add the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, and baking soda, and mix until just combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with a whisk until just combined. Don't overmix the batter! Let the batter sit at room temperature for at least 20 minutes.
- Scoop the batter with a large ice cream scooper into the muffin tins, filling them almost completely, and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and milk. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist muffins and not dense and dry muffins
- Mesure you flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Make sure that you are using fresh ingredients! One of the most common mistakes in baking and making muffins is not noticing that your baking powder or baking soda is expired. This can ruin your muffins and waste your time and money on the ingredients. So every time you bake anything, make sure that the ingredients are not expired.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to eat these muffins as they are pulled out of the oven, but let these muffins cool for at least 15 minutes so they will be more firm and won’t crumble up. These muffins are extra moist and melt in your mouth delicious, so it will be worth it to wait these 15 minutes.
Natalie
Freaking delish BUT - I overfilled them - I think 3/4 full rather than almost full will be perfect. It might depend on humidity and elevation. I live in Canada!