These easy Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are light and fluffy, with a fresh citrus taste and a little crunch from the seeds. Glazed or not, they are sure to brighten your day!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Every Saturday, I set out my baking tools and make muffins for my kiddos. Sometimes I make my bakery-style chocolate chip muffins and sometimes my perfect blueberry muffins.
Recently, most likely driven by the search for more sunshine, I made these Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. They look and taste as if they were just bought at the bakery but are made from scratch in my kitchen.
The refreshing lemon zest is a bright pop of flavor and poppy seeds add texture. If you are a fan of muffins like I am, you will love these! Serve them freshly baked or drizzle with a sweet lemon glaze.
Ingredients:
- flour: all-purpose, make sure to fluff it before measuring;
- sugar: granulated, white; I use ¾ of a cup but you can use as little as ½ cup;
- baking powder and baking soda: important for proper rising and browning;
- poppy seeds: available at the spice aisle of a grocery store;
- lemon zest: if you like lemon desserts, zest the whole lemon;
- buttermilk: makes the best crumb in muffins; feel free to make my homemade buttermilk substitute;
- egg: to bind the ingredients and add moisture;
- oil: vegetable, canola, grapeseed or coconut.
How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins from Scratch?
- Start by whisking together dry ingredients.
- Add lemon zest and poppy seeds and stir in.
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- In a glass measuring cup, mix buttermilk (or make your own with vinegar and milk), vanilla, egg and oil.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir in with a spatula.
- Divide the batter among muffin cups in the baking pan.
- Bake at high temperature first to achieve the high tops, then lower the temperature and finish baking the muffins. See the recipe below for details.
- Glaze if desired.
Helpful Tips!
- Make sure to use a dry ingredient measuring cup (without a spout) and fluff the flour before measuring out.
- Make your own buttermilk by following my fail-proof recipe. No reason to buy it at the store.
- Use parchment paper liners. The colorful ones tend to stick.
How to make a glaze for muffins?
To make the simple glaze, mix ¼ cup of powdered sugar with 2 to 3 teaspoons of lemon juice or milk. It should be a pourable consistency. Drizzle each muffin or dunk it upside down in the glaze, then set it on a rack to set.
Recipe FAQs:
Absolutely! To freeze muffins, place them in a freezer bag and make sure to release as much air as possible. Freeze for up to 6 months. Thaw on the counter, at room temperature.
To keep the muffins fresh, you can store them on a cake stand with a lid, in a bread box, or covered with plastic wrap.
More baked goods recipes:
If you like this recipe and make it, let me know in the comments below! Don't forget to rate it if you enjoyed it!
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F.
- Line muffin tin with paper liners. I recommend the parchment kind.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt.2 cups all-purpose flour, ¾ cup granulated sugar, 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Add lemon zest and poppy seeds and stir in.2 tablespoons lemon zest, 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- In a glass measuring cup, mix buttermilk (or make your own with vinegar and milk), vanilla, egg and oil.1 cup buttermilk, 1 large egg, ¼ cup vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir in with a spatula.
- Divide the batter among muffin cups in the baking pan, using a spring ice cream scoop.
- Bake muffins for 7 minutes at the high temperature to achieve the high tops. Without opening the oven door, lower the temperature to 375° F and bake the muffins for 13 to 15 minutes more, or until the tops are domed and golden light brown.
- Glaze muffins, if desired. To do so, mix ¼ cup of powdered sugar with 2 teaspoons of milk or lemon juice.
Notes
- Make your own buttermilk by following my fail-proof recipe. No reason to buy it at the store.
- Add ¼ teaspoon lemon extract, to amp up the flavor.
- Please note, that the nutrition value can vary depending on what product you use. The information below is an estimate. Always use calorie counter you are familiar with.
Zoey says
As someone who doesn’t like sour cream or yogurt it’s hard to find a lemon poppy seed muffin recipe but these are SO good! For the buttermilk I recommend making your own unless you have extra because it goes bad super fast, I make it with almond milk! I also only do 1 tbsp poppy seed because I found 2 tbsp was too many! This recipe is delicious now I just need a recipe to use the lemon juice for 🙂
Zoey says
I love these muffins! They are more bready than other muffins because it has no sour cream or yogurt but I love that. I’m a picky eater and don’t eat sour cream or yogurt and this recipe is perfect for me. I recommend making your own buttermilk (look in notes) because it saves so much because buttermilk goes bad fast!
Savanna says
These came out with a lovely texture. I cut down the sugar just slightly and added a tbsp of lemon juice. The lemon flavor was still subtle, I probably could've added a bit more. I did not add a glaze, that probably would've made the lemon flavor spot on. I quadrupled the recipe so I could freeze some for quick breakfasts for my kiddos so didn't want a ton of sugar. After all that said, we loved these and I would definitely make them again for that purpose!
Anna says
Thank you so much, Savanna! If you want to boost the lemon flavor, add more zest as well. And yes, the glaze adds more flavor too. 🙂 Thank you for making my recipe and for the comment! Have a beautiful day!
Izzy says
How sweet are these? My mom doesn’t really like sweet stuff so just checking 🙂
Matt says
Wow. Just wow. These came out fantastic. I was a bit skeptic after not seeing lemon juice in the recipe but they tasted great. Very light and fluffy. Not heavy at all. I used a jumbo muffin tin so I increased the baking time by about ten minutes. They looked and tasted like they came from a bakery. I was very impressed. The only problem I had was I didn’t have enough lemon zest. I zested two lemons but still only ended up with about one Tbsp instead of two. They were smaller lemons though so that’s my mistake. Next time I’ll get jumbo lemons. And to be completely honest, I waited a little too long to make these so the lemons were just beginning to soften and the zest didn’t smell as fresh and pungent as they did a few days ago. But even with all that, to my surprise they still came out with a subtle and pleasant lemon taste. This recipe is a keeper. I can’t wait to make them again, next time with fresher, bigger lemons.
Emily says
They were very delicious. Would recommend using the oven temperature trick on all muffins and cupcakes as it makes a huge difference. Excited to try more of her recipes!!
Anna says
Thank you so much, Emily! I am so glad the muffins were a success!
Kim says
I love the idea of making muffins every Saturday! Printing now!
Anna says
Thanks, Kim!
April says
Such a classic recipe! Love them!
Anna says
I am so glad! Thank you, April!
Louann Stark says
These make me feel so bright and sunny. What a great recipe!
Anna says
Mission accomplished! Thank you, Louann!