This post may contain affiliate links. See our disclosure policy.
These lemon poppy seed muffins bake up beautifully every time and are never dry. They are fresh, easy to make, and bursting with flavor!
Featured with this recipe
- Ingredients in Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- How to Get Perfect Muffin Tops
- Optional Icing Flavors
- Need More Lemon Flavor?
- Additional Mix Ins
- How to Store Muffins
- Frequently Asked Questions about Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- More Delicious Muffin Recipes
- How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins Recipe
Lemon poppy seed muffins are the perfect muffin to complement Easter or Sunday brunch. Light and fluffy with a vibrant lemon flavor, they also make for a great breakfast side or a springtime snack. You’ll love the bright lemon flavor and a drizzle of sweet glaze that’s the perfect topper. Serve them alongside your favorite breakfast foods and think of it almost like a dessert for brunch or breakfast. They make a gorgeous springtime gift to give to family and friends. And you won’t believe how easy homemade muffins are to make!
Ingredients in Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
It may seem like the list of ingredients is a little long for these muffins, but trust me, every single step is worth the bursting flavor you’ll have at the end. Just gather your dry ingredients and wet ingredients together and enjoy baking something from scratch. Combine the following in a large bowl:
- Flour – two cups all purpose flour, sifted. You can also substitute gluten-free flour for gluten free muffins.
- Baking powder – one whole tablespoon. That’s right. See notes below about why we use extra baking powder in this recipe. You’ll love the muffin tops!
- Baking soda – one teaspoon
- Poppy seeds – you’ll need two heaping tablespoons of these
- Lemon zest – use the zest of a whole lemon for extra lemon flavour.
- Salt – half a teaspoon
- Sugar – regular granulated sugar, about a cup.
- Butter – half a cup, or one cube of unsalted butter, melted
- Large Egg
- Almond extract – one tablespoon, which seems like a lot, but it gives the muffins a nutty, rich flavor that can’t be beat!
- Vanilla extract – one teaspoon
- Sour cream – you can substitute Greek yogurt or regular yogurt in place of the sour cream if you like.
- Milk – one third cup of any type of milk you like.
- Juice from 1 lemon – you can also use the bottled lemon juice if that’s what you have on hand.
For the Glaze:
A quick icing comes together with about two cups of powdered sugar and a few tablespoons of milk. Mix until it’s the right consistency, then drizzle on top of the lemon poppyseed muffins. Delish!
How to Get Perfect Muffin Tops
I found this advice from our friend Lizzy at Your Cup of Cake. She is an excellent baker and knows all the fun baking tricks! She suggests adding a good amount of baking powder to the batter so the tops rise nicely above the muffin cups (which is why we use a full tablespoon in this recipe). This trick works great and doesn’t alter the taste at all. She also suggests baking at a higher temperature to begin with so the muffin tops rise quickly and then reducing the temperature to allow the middle of the muffin to bake through without the outside edges getting too toasty. Test the middle of the muffins by inserting a toothpick to make sure it comes out clean. It’s up to you whether you use paper liners for these muffins; just make sure to grease your muffin tin well so they don’t stick.
Optional Icing Flavors
The biggest debate when it comes to lemon poppy seed muffins is what kind of icing or glaze goes best over the top. I, personally, like a glaze without any other flavors added (as directed in the recipe below). Others prefer a lemon glaze.
- For this recipe I use a little milk with powdered sugar but if you want to give your icing a little more “zing”, replace the milk with fresh lemon juice and a little fresh lemon zest.
- For an almond glaze, prepare as directed below and add a little splash (about ¼ tsp.) of almond extract. You can ice them right in the muffin tins before you set them out on a wire rack to cool.
Need More Lemon Flavor?
These muffins have a bright, fresh lemon flavor but it’s not too overpowering. If you want muffins that have a good punch of lemon flavor, simply add some zest from fresh lemons and a little more lemon juice to the batter. As mentioned above, you can also use a lemon glaze instead of a plain glaze. Feel free to make your muffins as lemony and zesty as you’d like!
Add bright, fresh lemon to any meal with some of our favorite tangy lemon recipes. For breakfast, try these Lemon Blueberry Scones, for lunch serve up this Chicken Pizza with Lemon, cozy up to a big bowl of Lemon Spaghetti for supper and finish off the day with a slice of Lemon Bundt Cake. YUM!
Additional Mix Ins
There are so many different ways you can add variety to this muffin recipe! Replace the poppy seeds with any of these different mix-in’s to your batter before baking:
- Blueberries (fresh or frozen)
- Cranberries (fresh or frozen)
- Raspberries (fresh or frozen)
- Lime juice/zest
- Shredded coconut
Tip: Remember to toss any berry add-ins with a little flour before folding in to prevent them from sinking to the bottom inside the muffin tin.
How to Store Muffins
These muffins taste absolutely delicious fresh, but they can be kept for later too! Store leftovers in an airtight container either on the counter for up to two days, or in the freezer for up to a month. Allow them to come to room temperature or pop them into the oven for a few minutes to serve warm. These can be baked with or without muffin liners. Just make sure that the muffins cool completely from baking before storing them in the freezer.
Frequently Asked Questions about Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
I often wondered that myself! Poppy seeds can provide a rich, nutty flavor as well as a mild nutty aroma in the otherwise sweet and tart lemon muffins. The seeds also provide a deliciously light crunchy texture.
As a general rule, poppy seeds can be given to babies after one year, depending on how they’re processed.
They do! You’ll notice a nutty, almost fruity flavor in the muffins when you bite into poppy seeds.
READ NEXT: 33+ Breakfast Ideas
More Delicious Muffin Recipes
How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- lemon zest from 1 lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 1 large egg
- 1 Tablespoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/3 cup milk
- juice from 1 lemon
For the icing:
- 2-3 Tablespoons milk
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400-degrees. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together four, baking powder, baking soda, salt, poppy seeds, and lemon zest. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together sugar and melted butter until well combined.
- Stir in egg, almond extract, vanilla extract, sour cream, milk and juice from 1 lemon.
- Add flour and stir until all ingredients are just combnied (don't over mix). It's ok if it's a little lumpy (like pancake batter).
- Place baking liners in a muffin/cupcake pan. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop the muffin batter into each liner. The liner should be a little more than ¾ of the way full.
- Bake at 400-degrees for about 8 minutes, you should notice the top of the muffins rising nicely.
- After 8 minutes, reduce heat to 350 for another 10-15 minutes or until edges become golden brown. Remove muffins from oven and allow to cool 5 minutes before icing.
For the icing:
- Stir milk and powdered sugar together until smooth. Add more milk (to thin) or powdered sugar (thicken) until you reach your desired consistency.
- After muffins have cooled for 5 minutes, use a pastry brush and brush glaze genersousy on each muffin.
- Allow muffins to cool completely before serving or until icing sets.
Notes
- Blueberries (fresh or frozen)
- Cranberries (fresh or frozen)
- Raspberries (fresh or frozen)
- Lime juice/zest
- Shredded coconut
Hello! 🙂
I just put these in the oven and am excited to taste them! I did notice though, that the ingredients list says “1 egg”, but it is never mentioned in the instructions. I’m assuming it goes in with all the wet ingredients, but unfortunately I didn’t realize it was omitted until after the batter was in all the liners. Hopefully they’ll be okay without the egg this time 😉
Oh thank you for catching that! I fixed it in the instructions, and you were right about where it goes!
I just love these muffins! The lemon has such a light, fresh flavor…plus they are easy to make and always a hit at my house!
Using the larger amount of baking powder definitely helped puff up the tops. I love the flavor in these muffins.
Delicious moist muffins everytime. My kids just love the icing too.
My daughter loves poppy seeds and we enjoyed making these lemon poppy seed muffins together! They were delicious.
No better combination than lemon and poppy seed, these look like the perfect breakfast muffins! Thanks for sharing this delectable recipe