Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are a classic muffin flavor that any lemon enthusiast will love! These Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are moist, easy to make, and have a delicious lemon glaze that really makes that lemon flavor pop!
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How to make Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins:
The first step in making these Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins is to prepare the oven and your muffin tin. You’ll want to pre-heat your oven to a 425 to begin with and prepare a muffin tin. I use paper liners but you can also use reusable silicon liners. If you’re using paper and find that sometimes the bottoms of the paper can e greasy after baking, a little trick is to add just a bit of rice under each muffin cup. The rice will absorb any grease and your muffins won’t be greasy on the bottom!
(Adding rice under your liners prevents greasy muffin bottoms!)
After preparing your pan and heating the oven, you can start on the muffin batter. It starts off with the dry ingredients which includes the poppy seeds.
Next, you’ll mix the wet ingredients. These are lemon muffins are made with sour cream which adds so much moisture to them! And not only do they have lemon juice, but also lots of lemon zest so you definitely won’t be missing any lemon flavor!
How to zest a lemon:
Most importantly, you want to make sure that you zest the lemon BEFORE cutting and juicing them. A squished lemon is pretty much impossible to zest. You just want to run your lemon zester gently over the skin of the lemon, as soon as you see white, move on to a new spot. You don’t want to zest the white part because that can be very bitter.
After preparing the wet ingredients, you can add it to the dry and combine everything together. The batter is on the thicker side but not hard to work with.
Can we just take a moment to appreciate how pretty this batter is with all the little poppy seed speckles! You might be wondering though…
Why add poppy seeds to muffins?
Well, they actually do have a slightly nutty flavor that they add to the muffins. They also add such a nice texture and look to the muffins. So while they don’t do quite a big job…they’re still a great addition!
Once that beautiful lemon poppy seed batter is ready, you can fill your muffin cups. You might think you have too much batter but you can feel these pretty high. Not quite to the very top but almost.
Once your muffin tin is filled, you’re ready to bake!
How to get high rising muffins:
The trick to getting a higher rise on your muffins is to start them off at a high oven temp. That gives the muffins a big boost of heat at the beginning that will give you a higher rise. Then after a few minutes, you can lower the temperature and continue to bake.
When the muffins are done baking, you can pull them out of the oven and let them cool while you make the glaze. I did say in the recipe card that the glaze is optional but if you have the time, it’s sooooo worth it!
How to make a lemon glaze:
You only need 2 ingredients to make this lemon glaze. It’s just 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 and 1/4 cup of powdered sugar. They get stirred together and you’ll have yourself the perfect lemon glaze for your lemon muffins!
When your muffins are completely cooled, you can drizzle them with the lemon glaze then sprinkle a little extra lemon zest on top if you want to add even more lemon flavor!
Side note: any time I get to use this little baby whisk…it makes me so happy! 🙂
Other Recipes You’ll Love:
- Cinnamon Apple Muffins (with streusel topping!)
- Creamy Lemonade
- Mini Mocha Muffins with Cream Cheese Spread
- Sausage and Egg Breakfast Hash
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Equipment
- Standard 12-cup muffin tin
- Paper muffin liners or non-stick spray
- Lemon grater or zester
Ingredients
- 2 and ¼ cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 cup sour cream
- ⅓ cup milk
- ½ cup melted butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
Optional Glaze
- 1 and ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- extra lemon zest for topping
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 425° and prepare a standard 12 cup muffin tin by either lining with muffin cups or spraying with non-stick spray.
- Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and poppy seeds to a large bowl and whisk together to combine.
- In a separate bowl, add the sugar, lemon zest and juice, sour cream, milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Whisk together to combine.
- Crack the eggs into the wet mixture and whisk again until the eggs are fully incorporated.
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix together just until combined.
- Fill each muffin cup almost to the top.
- Bake at 425° for 5 minutes then lower the temperature down to 350° and bake for 13-15 more minutes. (They'll be done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean)
Optional Glaze
- Mix together the powdered sugar and lemon juice until the glaze forms
- Drizzle the glaze over the cooled muffins and sprinkle with extra lemon zest.
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