Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins - Gonna Want Seconds (2024)

Delicate and decadent, these tangy Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins-studded with tiny black bits and coated in a sticky-sweet glaze that makes you crave for more!

I read once that “Cupcakes are muffins that believed in miracles!”, but I think these Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are pretty close to miraculous and can hold their own against any cupcake!

Light, luscious, lemony flavor fills every bite of these Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins with glaze. The glaze is what really takes these muffins to the next level. That extra shot of lemony sweetness is just perfect. They’re truly Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins Martha Stewart would approve of!

I love lemon flavored anything! I can’t think of anything better than that tangy sweet combo that comes in things like lemon bars or lemon zucchini bread. Of course, if you want to go for the height of lemony indulgence try our lemon cream cheese pound cake! If all this lemon is too much for you, but you’re craving a muffin that will knock your socks off, try my blueberry muffins. They’re simple to make and bursting with blueberries in every bite.

How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

There’s no need to make Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins from cake mix. They whip up in minutes and are so easy. There’s no need for the cake mix shortcut. Besides, with this recipe, you’ll get total “from scratch” bragging rights!

Preheat oven. Mix all the dry ingredients and set aside. In a separate bowl, mix all the wet ingredients. Combine the dry and wet ingredients, mix it until well combine. Allow the batter to sit for 5 minutes. Spoon batter in the prepared baking tin. Bake. Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack. Make the glaze and drizzle it on top of the muffins.

These Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins use buttermilk to add moisture and a bit of tang. Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins sour cream style can provide moisture too, but it also brings a heavy, dense texture. I love how Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins buttermilk keeps the texture nice and light!

To make these Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins vegan-friendly, you’ll need to experiment a bit, but applesauce, flaxseed, and almond milk are good substitutes to start with!

What Is The Difference Between A Muffin And A Cupcake?

The ingredients for making muffins and cupcakes are very similar – flour, sugar, eggs, fat. The difference is that muffins are usually made with oil and cupcakes usually call for butter.

Each produces a different crumb, so the texture itself is usually enough to tell the difference between the two.

Muffins often have “mix-ins,” too, and there’s always the fail-proof way to tell one from the other – the frosting!

If you’re not the office meetings type, you may just opt to pick up a muffin from your local coffee shop or bakery, but, trust me. Homemade is the way to go here.

These Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are super simple to put together, and, since most of those coffee shop muffins have likely been frozen, there’s just no competing with the quality of fresh-from-scratch.

Recipe Notes for Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins:

• Muffin tin tips – Paper or foil liners (or the reusable silicone option) are a no-brainer when making muffins, but I do occasionally still use a non-stick spray to lightly coat the flat part of the tin around the muffin holes.
  • This provides a little extra protection if your batter spills out of the sides when they’re baking.
  • Another tip is to use either a gravy ladle or an ice cream scoop to get a consistent amount of the batter into the muffins. The muffins will look more uniform, of course, but they’ll also cook more evenly.
• Healthy – If you want to make these Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins healthy (or at least improve the good-for-you factor a bit), you can replace some of the oil with unsweetened applesauce.
• Don’t over-stir– Muffins and quick bread are particularly susceptible to losing their rise if you over-stir and will be dense, flat, and just plain sad! When you combine the wet and dry ingredients, mix until there are no more signs of flour.
  • Make sure you’ve scraped the sides and bottom of the bowl and then stop! Walk away from the batter and let it rest for about five minutes. Don’t worry if it’s a little lumpy! The lumps will disappear when they are baked.
• Best Way To Measure Flour: You might not have given much thought to how you measure flour, but it can make a big difference in the ultimate texture of your Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins.
• Do NOT use the ‘dig method’ where you dig a cup of flour out of the container. This can result in a significant amount of extra flour. Instead, fluff the flour in the container a bit and use a spoon to scoop out flour into your measuring cup until it is heaping.
  • Then level it off with the back of a knife so it’s perfectly even with the top. Whether you are making Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins UK-side of the Atlantic or in the US, the perfect cup of flour should weigh 4.25 ounces!
• Lemon Zest: Zest is the best! Lemon zest packs a powerful flavor punch. It’s packed with flavorful oils that make your taste buds do a happy dance! To tap into this goldmine of flavor, use a microplaneto zest lemons.
  • It’s super easy: Drag the Microplane across the yellow outside peel of the lemon. Keep scraping until you get to the white pith and then move to the next spot. Do not pick up any of the white. It tastes bitter!

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins Recipe

I can’t wait to hear all about your experience with this Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins recipe. I think they’re absolutely perfect and hope you love their lusciously lemony flavor as much as I do!

More Breakfast Recipes:

• Bisquick Breakfast Casserole
• Cinnamon Roll Casserole

More Lemon Desserts…

• Lemon Ricotta Cookies
• Lemon Pound Cake
• Lemon Brownies
• Lemon Lush
• Lemon Blueberry Bars

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