These tangy lemon poppy seed muffins are light, moist and full of fresh lemon flavor! They're super quick and easy to make for breakfast or a fun snack!
You might also like these lemon blueberry muffins, this lemon poppy seed loaf cake, or these lemon poppy seed macarons!
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Ingredient Notes
You just need a few simple ingredients to make these lemon poppy seed muffins!
Almond flour - Substituting a portion of the flour for almond flour is one of my favorite tricks! It yields tender baked goods with a slightly nutty flavor. But if you prefer, just substitute all purpose flour.
Sour cream - The sour cream keep the muffins super moist while also adding a bit of tang! You always want to use full fat sour cream in baking for the best results! You could also use plain full fat yogurt or buttermilk!
Lemon juice & zest - I highly recommend using fresh lemons for the best flavor! But you can always substitute with a little bottled lemon juice if necessary.
Poppy seeds - You can't have lemon poppy seed muffins without poppy seeds! Sometimes they can be super expensive at the regular grocery store, but I've found they can be more affordable online or at your local international grocery store!
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make Muffins
Preheat your oven to 400°F and line a muffin tin with muffin liners.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, and lemon zest. Then add in the eggs and vanilla extract and whisk fully incorporated.
Stir in sour cream and lemon juice until combined.
Fold in the flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until fully incorporated.
Then gently fold in the poppy seeds.
Spoon the batter into your muffin cups so that they are almost full.
Bake at 400°F for about 20-25 minutes for regular sized muffins. Rotate the pan about halfway through so that the muffins brown evenly.
Remove the muffins and let cool on wire rack.
To make the glaze, whisk the lemon juice into the powdered sugar 1 tablespoon at a time until your desired consistency is reached.
Once the lemon poppy seed muffins are cool, drizzle with the lemon glaze. Note: I recommend only glazing the muffins you're planning to eat immediately!
Tips for the Best Baked Goods
Use room temperature ingredients! Always make sure ingredients like butter, eggs, milk, yogurt, etc. are at room temperature before baking (unless the recipe indicates otherwise)! This ensures they'll incorporate into the batter more easily and leads to overall better texture. Remove all ingredients from the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before baking for best results.
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, dense baked goods. [Measure cocoa powder the same way!]
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If you oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all baked goods from cakes to macarons! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature.
Make sure you baking powder is fresh! Baking powder is important for helping baked goods rise properly, but it has a relatively short shelf life once opened, so it's one of the few items I never buy in bulk! To test if your baking powder is still fresh, add a small amount to boiling water. If it bubbles it's still good to use, but if not it's time to toss it!
Recipe FAQ's
These are best eaten the same day but will keep at room temperature (without the glaze) for up to 2 days.
Yes! For mini lemon poppy seed muffins reduce the baking time to 15-20 minutes.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Muffins
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup sour cream, substitute plain yogurt or buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup almond flour, substitute all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-3 tablespoons lemon juice, as needed for desired consistency
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F and line a muffin tin with muffin liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, and lemon zest. Then add in the eggs and vanilla extract and whisk fully incorporated.
- Stir in sour cream and lemon juice until combined.
- Fold in the flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until fully incorporated.
- Then gently fold in the poppy seeds.
- Spoon the batter into your muffin cups so that they are almost full.
- Bake at 400°F for about 20-25 minutes for regular sized muffins. Rotate the pan about halfway through so that the muffins brown evenly.
- Remove the muffins and let cool on wire rack.
- To make the glaze, whisk the lemon juice into the powdered sugar 1 tablespoon at a time until your desired consistency is reached.
- Once the lemon poppy seed muffins are cool, drizzle with the lemon glaze. Note: I recommend only glazing the muffins you're planning to eat immediately!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Gianna says
so summery and delicious