Valentina Ablaev
These lemon poppy seed muffins are the most incredible sweet treat! Soft and fluffy muffins with the perfect zest of fresh lemon flavor. These muffins are perfectly baked, so they stay soft in the center with a gorgeous golden brown color. The cherry on top is the lemon glaze that makes these bakery-style muffins one of our favorite desserts.
Muffins are a great dessert when craving something sweet but not entirely overbearing. Thanks to the fresh lemon flavor, these lemon poppy seed muffins have the perfect level of sweetness.
Muffins are a dessert that tastes so much better when made from scratch! These lemon poppy seed muffins and our homemade banana bread muffins are an incredible dessert.
If you love lemon desserts, be sure to try our homemade lemon tiramisu recipe! The perfect layered lemon cake with classic lemon curd.
Why You’ll Love This Muffin Recipe:
I don’t know about you, but we are tired of dry, old store-bought muffins. These muffins are easy to make and taste much better than anything you could get from the store. You’ll impress everyone when you serve the muffins, and everyone will ask what bakery you got them from.
Ingredients for Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Flour – all-purpose flour is what we used in this recipe.
Gluten-free option: If you want to make gluten-free muffins, swap flour for your favorite gluten-free option. We recommend Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free flour for the best muffin texture. - Poppy seeds – regular poppy seeds are perfect for this recipe. I recommend buying them in bulk for the best price, but you can also purchase them in the spices aisle or in small spice containers.
- Baking powder & baking soda – these ingredients act as a baking agent that makes the muffins fluffy.
- Sugar – granulated sugar is a must for getting the perfect sweetness and texture.
- Eggs – large eggs at room temperature give these muffins a great texture.
Substitute: Don’t have eggs? Did you know that you can substitute eggs with applesauce? Simply use ¼ cup of applesauce per egg! - Vanilla – extract gives these muffins a great flavor.
Other great flavors: Almond extract pairs incredibly well with lemon poppyseed! You can add just a touch of almond extract; it’s very strong, so be careful if using it. ⅛ tsp is all you need. - Sour cream – gives these muffins a great texture.
Don’t have sour cream? Use unflavored Greek yogurt as a sour cream substitute. Use a 1:1 ratio for the perfect muffin. - Milk – we use whole milk for this recipe. It has the perfect fat content.
Substitute: You can also use 2% milk for this recipe, but do not recommend skim or nonfat. - Lemon – freshly squeezed lemon juice and lemon zest give these muffins the best lemony flavor.
- Glaze – powdered sugar mixed with lemon juice is a delicious, zesty glaze.
See the recipe card below for a complete list of ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
- Dry ingredients. Sift the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. Wet ingredients. Mix sugar and eggs in a large bowl until they are light and fluffy. Whisk in vanilla, sour cream, oil, milk, lemon juice, and zest.
Combine. Fold the dry mixture into the wet ingredients.
3. Assemble. Use an ice cream scoop to divide the muffins into a muffin tin lined with muffin liners.
Add the muffin tin to the oven preheated at 375°F and bake for 20-25 minutes.
4. Glaze. Mix the powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl to create a glaze. Once muffins are cooled, drizzle the glaze onto the cooled muffins and serve!
Pro Tips for the Perfect Soft Muffin:
- Don’t overmix the batter. When combining the dry and wet ingredients, be careful not to overmix the batter. This can cause the muffins to deflate. Mix the batter until you don’t see flour streaks anymore, and stop.
- Bigger is better. Though you can use a mini muffin pan, large muffins make for a fluffier muffin. Small muffins tend to overbake easily and turn out dry and hard.
- Allow the muffins to cool. Allowing your baked goods to cool is a test of patience and for a good reason. The muffins finish cooking in the residual heat, and the glaze won’t harden on top of a warm muffin.
Add Streusel to Your Muffins:
We love a buttery streusel topping, and you can add one to these muffins! You can use our blueberry muffin streusel topping:
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, measured then sifted
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter cold
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1½ Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- Combine the ingredients in a bowl with a fork to create crumbles.
- Top each muffin with a sprinkle of streusel before baking.
Muffin FAQ’s
You can use buttermilk in this recipe if you don’t have milk. Use 1 ½ cups of buttermilk instead of milk, sour cream, and only 1 tbsp of lemon juice instead of ¼ cup.
There are many things you can do that give you a soft muffin. Sour cream is the main ingredient in a moist muffin; however, using baking soda & baking powder also helps create a fluffy muffin.
This recipe doesn’t require soaking the poppy seeds.
How to Store Muffins:
- Storage. Keep leftover muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days. You can also store them in the fridge for about a week.
- Freeze. Did you know that you can store muffins in the freezer for longer? Fun fact: if you freeze muffins the day after making them, you’ll enjoy fresh muffins throughout the next few months! Simply add the muffins into a freezer-safe container or a plastic bag. Freeze and store for up to 3 months. Thaw: Add the muffins to the fridge and thaw overnight. You can also microwave it in 30-second intervals until it is thawed.
More Dessert Recipes
If you enjoyed this muffin recipe, be sure to try our other popular dessert recipes; here are some of our favorites:
If you tried this lemon poppy seed muffin recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below – we appreciate it!
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour measured then sifted
- 2 Tbsp poppy seeds
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/3 cup oil
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest
sugar lemon glaze-
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1½ Tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin liners.
- Sift the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, and baking soda, and set aside.
- Whisk the sugar and eggs to a large bowl until light and fluffy. This should take about 1-2 minutes.
- Add in the vanilla, sour cream, oil, milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest, and mix until well combined and smooth.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix gently until the batter is smooth and everything is incorporated.
- Divide the batter evenly amongst the muffin liners using an ice cream scoop or a ¼ measuring cup.
- Don’t overfill the muffin liners because the muffins will rise in the oven while baking.
- Bake the muffins in the oven at 375°F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Once the muffins are baked, remove them from the oven and set them on a wire rack to cool.
- Stir the powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl to create the glaze.
- Once the muffins are cooled completely, drizzle each muffin with the glaze.
- Your muffins are now ready to serve!
Notes
- Be careful not to overmix the muffins. When folding the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, be sure not to overmix the batter. Mix the batter until just combined.
- We recommend using a 12-cup muffin pan instead of a mini muffin pan. Larger muffins tend to be fluffier and more moist.
- Make sure the muffins cool completely before you top them with the glaze.
- Store leftover muffins in an airtight container for 1-2 days.
