Zesty and perfectly sweetened, these lemon poppy seed muffins with sugar glaze are the easiest dessert you can make at home. These muffins are soft and moist and can be made without special equipment.
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Why you should make this recipe
It’s extremely easy to make. You do not need even a hand mixer to make this lemon poppy seed muffin recipe. Just two bowls, a whisk, and a muffin pan are enough.
No artificial flavorings. Same as with my Lemon cookies or my Lemon crinkle cookies, the flavor comes from fresh lemons, not lemon flavoring.
Can be made into cupcakes. The muffin tops won’t be completely flat but just a little bit elevated, which makes them perfect for piping buttercream or cream cheese frosting on top.
Ingredients you will need
Flour – Use all-purpose flour to make these perfect lemon poppy seed muffins.
Baking powder – Some recipes include baking soda for a better rise, but I find that baking powder works just fine in my recipe.
Salt – You should always add some salt to your baking goods for a better flavor.
Poppy seeds – You don’t have to grind or soak your poppy seeds in milk or hot water before adding them to the muffin's batter.
Eggs – Eggs should be at room temperature.
Milk – I use whole milk at room temperature.
Lemons – You'll need two lemons for this recipe. One lemon (zest and juice) goes into the batter and the second lemon is used to make the sugar icing.
Fats – I use melted unsalted butter and canola oil to make my lemon muffins with poppy seeds soft and flavorful.
Sugars – You’ll need white granulated sugar for the muffins and powdered sugar for the icing.
Vanilla extract – Optionally, you can add some vanilla extract both to your muffin batter and sugar icing.
Cooking tips
Don’t overmix the batter. Overmixing the batter will leave your muffins tough and dense.
Apply the lemon glaze on completely-cooled muffins. Sugar icing will melt and run down your warm muffins instead of setting on top of them.
Add turmeric or yellow gel food coloring if you want your muffins to be more yellow to represent lemons.
Step by step directions
1. Preheat the oven to 160C (320F) and line a muffin tin with 9 paper liners.
2. Combine the flour baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds.
2. Whisk together the eggs, granulated sugar, milk, lemon juice, zest, butter, oil, and vanilla extract.
3. Add wet ingredients to dry ones and mix until no dry ingredients are left.
4. Divide batter evenly between muffin liners and bake for 25-27 minutes.
5. Remove muffins onto a cooling rack to cool them down to room temperature.
6. Whisk together sugar icing ingredients and drizzle on top of completely cooled muffins. Optionally, sprinkle fresh lemon zest on top and serve.
Possible variations
Cream cheese frosting – Pipe beautiful cupcake hats on top of your muffins.
Lemon curd filling or raspberry coulis – If you want to create a more interesting dessert, make small holes in the center of your muffins and fill them with lemon curd or Raspberry coulis.
Lemon extract – If want to intensify the lemon flavor, you can add lemon extract on top of fresh lemon juice and zest.
Chocolate chips – Make lemon chocolate chip muffins by adding chocolate chips directly to your muffin batter.
FAQ
Store them at room temperature for up 4 days. I like to place them on a plate and loosely cover them with plastic wrap. Frosted with cream cheese frosting or another type of frosting, store the muffins in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Yes, you can freeze them for up to 2 months.
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Recipe card
Lemon poppy seed muffins
Equipment
- Digital kitchen scale
- Whisk
- 2 Mixing bowl
- Muffin pan
- 9 Muffin liners
Ingredients
Muffins
- 200 g all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ tablespoon poppy seeds
- 2 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 160 g white granulated sugar
- 100 ml whole milk at room temperature
- Zest of one lemon
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 60 g vegetable oil
- 60 g unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Sugar icing
- 60 g powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Lemon zest as a topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160C (320F) and line a muffin pan with 9 paper liners.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the flour baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, granulated sugar, milk, lemon juice, zest, butter, oil, and vanilla extract.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ones and mix just until no dry ingredients are left.
- Divide the batter between muffin liners and bake for 25-27 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
- Remove muffins onto a cooling rack to cool them down to room temperature.
- In a bowl, whisk together the sugar icing ingredients and drizzle on top of completely cooled muffins. Optionally, sprinkle lemon zest on top so it sticks, and serve.
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