Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Fresh and, of course, lemony.
Texture: The interior is ultra tender and moist with those delightful little bites of poppy seeds.
Ease: Super easy.
Pros: Quick, simple, and delish.
Cons: None!!
Would I make this again? Yes.
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I’ve always had a soft spot for muffins, and Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are definitely among my favorites.
In high school, muffins were the little treat to break up the monotony. There would be a muffin cart in the main hallway once a week.
I’m pretty sure the muffins were from Costco. They weren’t wonderful, but it was nice to have a little sweet indulgence to look forward to.
Muffins will probably always have a place in my heart.
They’re truly a multi-purpose treat. They’re perfect for breakfast, as a snack, or even for dessert.
Unfortunately, most muffins are bland. And in my experience, the muffins that often look the prettiest with the tallest muffin tops are often super cakey and dry – even from a good bakery.
I prefer a nice moist muffin with a bit of a springy texture. I don’t want pound cake. Or cake at all. Which I find is what most packaged muffins feel like. And I certainly don’t want a dry muffin. I want MOIST muffins… everyone’s favorite word 😉
So if you feel the same, or are just curious about the science of muffin baking, check out the tips below.
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Don’t Overmix Your Muffin Batter!!
- Be very very careful not to overmix the batter once you combine the wet + dry ingredients. This will create rubbery muffins.
- Gently stir until *just* combined.
- If there’s a few small streaks of flour remaining, that’s perfectly fine.
Secret Baking Science Tip: CHILL The Muffin Batter!
- The BEST thing you can do to make Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (or any muffins!) more tender and even a little taller is to cover and chill your batter in the fridge overnight before baking.
- It’s very similar to chilling cookie dough.
- Think of it like marinating.
- By chilling the batter, the starch in the flour is able to absorb more moisture, resulting in a more tender muffin.
- It also thickens the batter without making it drier, which helps encourage taller muffin tops without that crumbly or cakey texture.
- This technique works particularly well with muffin batter, which is usually made from melted butter or oil (not creamed butter + sugar) and uses only baking powder as the leavener, which is double acting. Meaning, it’s activated both by the moisture of the batter and the heat of the oven. Baking soda is only activated by acid in the batter, not from the heat of the oven.
- If you don’t believe me, just look at the comparison below. And what the image doesn’t quite capture is just how much more TENDER the chilled batter muffins turned out.
How to Chill Muffin Batter:
- Chill the batter in one large bowl, as opposed to chilling it in the individual muffin cavities, to prevent it from drying out.
- Bake directly from the fridge.
How Do I Get MORE Lemon Flavor in These Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins?
Add 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract along with the juice and zest.
How Do I Stop My Muffins From Sticking to the Liner?
- This can sometimes be caused by the brand of liners.
- This is my favorite brand that I order in bulk from Amazon.
- If you find your liners still get stuck and end up ruining your muffins, don’t worry. I’ve actually written an entire article about how to prevent muffin or cupcake liners from sticking here.
What’s the Best Muffin Tin?
I typically don’t like nonstick bakeware, which is why I was so surprised when I fell in love with the Wilton Recipe Right Nonstick Muffin Pan. They bake evenly and achieve lightly golden brown edges and clean up beautifully. I’ve had 3 of these tins for 6+ years and love them!
Can You Freeze Muffins?
Yes! Unglazed Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Defrost on the counter until room temperature. Refresh in a 300°F oven for 5 minutes if desired. If desired, glaze once thawed and at room temperature.
More Muffin Recipes:
- Brown Butter Blueberry Muffins (with a streusel top!)
- Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Pumpkin Muffins
- Chocolate Coffee Toffee Crunch Muffins
- Bakery Style Banana Muffins
More Lemon Recipes:
- Glazed Lemon Cookies
- Lemon Bundt Cake
- Lemon Cheesecake
- Lemon Yogurt Zucchini Bread
- Raspberry Lemonade Cheesecake Bars
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Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups (254 grams) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
- 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon zest
For the lemon glaze:
- 1 cup (125 grams) powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, butter, egg, juice, and zest. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Do not overmix – there should be a couple streaks of flour remaining.* Divide evenly among the muffin tin cups.
- Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the edges are golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool until barely warm.
- Serve, or store in an airtight at room temperature for 3 days. Muffins can also be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Make the glaze:
- In a small bowl, combine the sugar and lemon juice with a fork until a smooth and thick glaze forms. Drizzle or dip each cooled muffin top with the glaze. Let set before serving.
Recipe Notes
This recipe was originally published in 2012 and updated with recipe improvements, new photos, and more baking tips. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
Can we use chia seeds instead of poppy seeds?
Hi Meyan! We haven’t tried that! Feel free to experiment and let us know how it goes 🙂
amazing recipe, cut down the sugar a bit for my mom yet it was still DELICIOUS. Trust the process with this one!!!!!
I wanted a dense, sweet, lemony muffin with enough seeds for a good tasty crunch. Perfect without a fuss. I used glaze in place of the icing because I was out of powdered sugar. Saved last bite for pic but it was a near thing!
A tablespoon of baking powder seemed like a typo so I only used a teaspoon – they turned out great. Easy, quick and perfectly lemony!
Hi there! So glad to hear that you enjoyed these muffins! The baking powder amount is not a typo, and will yield beautifully tall muffins with a fantastic texture, so give it a try next time you make these! Thanks so much for the comment and Happy Baking!
I made these a few days ago for my brother’s birthday and they were incredible. Thank you for the recipe!!!
I have two questions though 😅
1. Can I make these with just lemon juice and leave out the peel? And how much more juice would I need? Lemons are quite expensive were I live and after peeling three lemons that I bought, I still didn’t have the amount needed, but more than enough juice.
2. What kind of poppy seeds do you use? The ones I bought worked beautifully in the batter, but I wasn’t sure whether I could sprinkle them on top because the package said that they needed to be heated up before consumption.
I’m so glad they were enjoyed! Unfortunately, skipping the lemon peel would greatly diminish the lemon flavor in this recipe. You could potentially experiment with adding lemon extract or lemon oil instead, but I’m such a fan of fresh lemon peel that I have no specific advice to offer. I’ve never had any issues garnishing with a small sprinkle of poppyseeds, but I’ve also never seen that warning on any package here in the U.S. so I would heed the package warnings!
I just made these and they came out beautiful and yummy. I dint have a lemon to zest so I added 3Tb juice and 1/2-1 tsp lemon extract-not an exact amount because it’s 7am, I have been up for 24 hours straight so I poured it too fast and spilled it while measuring it into the bowl🤣. I also used all of my lemon juice while making the muffins so to make the icing I used 2Tb whole milk, 1c powdered sugar and 1/4tsp lemon extract.
For an egg sub, do you think applesauce would work okay? Maybe a flax egg?
Hi Margaret! Unfortunately, we have not found anything that quite replicates everything an egg does in baking. Eggs provide so much moisture, structure, stability, and more. Feel free to experiment as you like, though!
Perfect recipe
Fantastic recipe…really loves this, quick and easy
Easiest recipe I found, and they came out super light and fluffy with the perfect lemon flavor. I subbed in 3/4 cup oat milk and 1/4 cup whipping cream just because it’s what I had available. I also added a light splash of vanilla because why not. Definitely making these again!
Can you substitute milk with oat milk?
Hi Omi! We haven’t tried that, so we can’t say for sure! Feel free to experiment and let us know how it goes 🙂
I’ve just tried these with Oat milk and they work amazing!!
Hi! I wanted to double the recipe so I could use a 5oz muffin tin, do you have any tips to make these turn out just as moist? I doubled and they came out a bit drier than just doing the standard size not doubled.
Hi Rosie! We haven’t tried these muffins in larger pans, so we can’t say for sure how to best bake for this – but here are a few tips that may help:
– If your muffin pan is dark in color or has a nonstick coating, it may be causing your muffins to overbake on the outside before the middle has a chance to bake through. You could experiment with dropping the baking temp by 25 degrees (though this can impact the muffins’ rise somewhat).
– Do you have an oven thermometer to verify that your oven is running at the correct temperature? Most home ovens are lying to us about the temp they’re really at! Learn more about that here. If your oven’s temp is off, this could also be why your muffins are drying out.
I hope this helps! Happy baking 🙂
I just made these for the first time! I’m not sure if the room temp was why, but they were the softest, perfectly sweet, and most delicious muffins! Came out perfect on my first try, thank you for this recipe!!