Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

5 from 2 votes

Made with a moist vanilla base infused with fresh lemon zest and a sweet lemon glaze made from fresh lemon juice, these zesty lemon poppy seed muffins are the perfect way to brighten up your breakfast or brunch table!

Prep Time8

Cook Time22

Total Time30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 360kcal

Author: Katalin Nagy

Equipment

Ingredients

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

200 g Granulated sugar
113 g Unsalted butter room temperature
113 g Oil
2 Egg
2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon
310 g All purpose flour
60 g Poppy seed
1 teaspoon Baking powder
½ teaspoon Salt
240 g Whole milk room temperature
1 teaspoon Baking soda
1 teaspoon White vinegar

Lemon glaze

3 tablespoon Freshly squeezed lemon juice
240 g Powdered sugar sifted

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Prepare your muffin tin with muffin liners and pre-heat oven to 175C / 347F (no fan).
Finely zest the lemons into a small mixing bowl using a microplane grater then massage the lemon zest into the granulated sugar for a minute.
In a large bowl, cream the room temperature butter and the lemon sugar with an electric hand mixer for a few minutes until light and fluffy, then whip in the egg one by one slowly, followed by the vanilla extract and lemon zest.
After, slowly pour in the oil while continuing to whip the mixture, then in the same way, slowly pour in the room temperature milk and keep whipping the batter.
Sift in the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt) then switch to a rubber spatula and fold the dry ingredients in. Then, fold in the poppy seed. Do not overmix at this point.
In a small bowl, mix vinegar with baking soda, it will be super bubbly. Immediately fold the vinegar mixture into the muffin batter just until combined.
Pipe or spoon and muffin batter into the cavities of your muffin tin equally until about ¾ of each.
Bake the lemon poppy seed muffins for about 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Do not overbake the muffins as they can dry out.
Let the muffins come to room temperature before glazing.

Lemon glaze

To make the glaze, in a small bowl whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice.
With the help of a teaspoon or ping bag, drizzle the glaze over the muffins, then decorate with lemon zest and poppy seed.
Serve the muffins fresh or store them at room temperature for 2-3 days in an airtight container.

Notes

INGREDIENT NOTES

All ingredients must be at room temperature to properly emulsify: eggs, butter, and milk.
The baking soda and vinegar mixture is my signature baking hack to make muffins and cupcakes super moist and fluffy, do not skip it.
You might be able to make more or less muffins with this recipe, depending on the size of your muffin tin.
Sift powdered sugar before mixing with the lemon juice to avoid lumps.

TECHNIQUE NOTES

A digital scale is required for a consistent, happy baking experience.
Do not overwork the muffin batter. After you whip up the wet ingredients, switch to a rubber spatula to incorporate the dry ingredients.
Always pre-heat your oven and consider using a digital oven thermometer for the best results.
When whipping in the eggs, oil, and milk, make sure they are all at room temperature. Otherwise, the batter will break.
Also, make sure that you whip in the eggs, oil, and milk slowly. Do not pour these wet ingredients in all at once as that can also break the muffin batter and it can curdle.
Baking these muffins takes 22 minutes in my oven however focus on the texture, not the time. Apply the toothpick check (it should come out clean) to avoid underbaked muffins. However, do not overbake them, as that would result in a dry texture.
You might want to fine-tune the texture of the glaze: To make the glaze thicker, add more powdered sugar. To make the glaze thinner, add more lemon juice.

Nutrition