Tessa's Recipe Rundown
Taste: Fresh, vibrant, and tangy lemon balanced with a sweet glaze.
Texture: Soft and tender inside with tall, domed tops and slightly crisp edges.
Ease: Simple mixing method, no mixer or special equipment required!
Why you’ll love this recipe: The quickest and easiest way to turn your kitchen into a fancy cafe.
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Most lemon poppy seed muffins fall into one of two camps: ultra tall and pretty but dry. Or, moist yet flat. I wanted both.
After multiple test batches, I found the sweet spot comes down to three things: a slightly higher bake temperature, a mix of butter and oil, and letting the batter rest (just for 15 minutes!) before baking.
The result? Muffins that rise high with a soft, almost plush crumb and actually taste like lemon without any funky ingredients.
Recipe Ingredients
Muffins are simple, so each ingredient packs a powerful punch.
All-Purpose Flour: Measured correctly (preferably by weight). Too much flour = dense and rubbery muffins.
Buttermilk: This is key for tenderness and flavor. The buttermilk acidity prevents too much gluten formation and the thick texture creates taller muffins. Use plain kefir as 1:1 substitute.
Butter + Oil (Important!): Butter brings flavor, while oil keeps the muffins soft for longer. In testing, using only butter made the muffins slightly drier the next day. Use any neutral oil (vegetable, avocado, etc.).
Baking Powder: This recipe uses a full tablespoon for strong lift. If you’re at altitude, you may need to reduce the measurement slightly.
Lemon Zest + Juice: Zest is where the real flavor lives! The icing contains both juice and zest for maximum lemon flavor, so don’t skip it. You’ll need about 4 medium lemons total (I always buy more in case I’m stuck with a dry lemon).
Poppy Seeds: Always check freshness. If they smell stale or oily, they’ll taste that way in the muffins. I learned this the hard way!
Almond Extract (Optional): In addition to the vanilla, a tiny amount of almond extract enhances the lemon flavor without making the muffins taste almondy. I highly recommend trying it!
How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (Step by Step)
Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt.
Add wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet.
Stir gently to combine. The batter will be slightly lumpy. Don’t overmix.
Rest the batter. If time permits, allow the batter to sit for 15-20 minutes so it thickens slightly for taller muffins.
Fill muffin tin. Line every other cavity with liners and fill completely full for tall muffins. Use two tins, or bake in batches, cooling tin between bakes.
Bake. For 18-19 minutes, or until the edges are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Make the glaze. Whisk together powdered sugar and lemon juice until a thick icing forms. It should fall off the whisk in ribbons.
Glaze. Using a spoon, pour icing over cooled muffins.
Garnish with lemon zest. This isn’t only pretty, but adds extra lemon flavor!
Tessa’s Tips for Taller Muffins
- Fill your muffin tin cavities completely full with batter. This will result in taller muffins with more pronounced muffin tops (and those slightly crisp edges!).
- Space out your muffins. Fill only every other cavity with muffin batter. This is done most easily with two muffin tins. This allows extra room for the muffins to rise tall, as well as enough air flow to cook the muffins more evenly.
- Rest your batter for at least 15 minutes before baking. You can do this in the mixing bowl or in the muffin tin. Rest up to overnight, covered.
Sprinkle of Science
While the batter rests, the starches in the flour have time to absorb more liquid. This thickens the batter without adding extra flour, allowing the muffins to rise higher without creating a drier or denser texture.
This also allows the baking powder to activate to aerate the batter. It’s double acting, meaning it activates once when exposed to liquid, and again with the heat of the oven.
Storage & Make ahead
Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days. To make ahead, mix the batter and refrigerate overnight, then bake straight from the fridge.
Freezing Instructions
Freeze unglazed muffins for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature. Glaze after thawing for best texture.
Test Kitchen Notes
The first version of this recipe was published in 2012, then revamped and updated in 2020. Recently, in 2026, I decided to make the recipe and felt underwhelmed by the results.
I’ve learned a lot in just 6 years, so I began testing out some tweaks to achieve taller, more flavorful muffins without sacrificing a soft and tender texture.
1. Adjusting Ratios
I increased the flour and sugar slightly for better structure, as well as switching to buttermilk for better flavor and height, and adding more lemon zest. Lastly, a touch of oil alongside the melted butter helped create a tender texture that stays soft for longer.
2. Baking Temperatures
Next up I experimented with baking temperatures. The key to tall muffins is a high temperature, but I didn’t want the edges to burn!
3. Resting Batter
The original recipe recommended an overnight rise, so my recipe tester experimented with resting intervals and we learned we really only needed a 15-minute rest (but an overnight rise works too if you want to prep ahead).
Frequently Asked Questions
Fill the muffin cups completely full, fill every other cavity, and let the batter rest before baking. These three steps create a thicker batter and better heat circulation, which leads to higher domes.
Yes, but your muffins won’t rise as tall. Even 15 minutes makes a noticeable difference in height and texture. Which is about the time it takes to preheat the oven and clean up!
The best substitute is plain kefir. Adding lemon juice or vinegar to milk just doesn’t have the same effect but can work in a pinch if you’re out of options.
Overmixing is the most common cause. Stir just until combined, lumps are okay. Too much flour or expired baking powder can also lead to dense muffins.
Yes! Bake and store for up to 2 days, or freeze without glaze for longer storage. You can also mix the batter and refrigerate overnight, then bake straight from the fridge.
Yep, just omit them! The muffins will still have great flavor.
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Ingredients
For the muffins:
- 2 1/4 cups (286 grams) all-purpose flour,
measured correctly - 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds*
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup (240 grams) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil (such as avocado or canola)
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon zest**
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract, optional
For the lemon glaze:
- 1 cup (125 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Lemon zest, for garnish**
Instructions
Make the muffins:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two standard muffin tins with 9 paper liners, spacing them in every other cavity to allow for air flow and larger muffin tops.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, cooled melted butter, oil, eggs, lemon zest, juice, vanilla extract, and almond extract (if using). Pour into the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined.
- If time permits, rest the batter at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes to encourage taller muffin tops. You can also chill this batter, covered, overnight in the fridge. Bake from the fridge.
- Fill each muffin liner completely full with batter. The batter should mound slightly above the rim.
- Bake until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 to 19 minutes. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
Make the glaze:
- In a small bowl, stir together the powdered sugar and lemon juice until a smooth, thick glaze forms. Drizzle or dip the cooled muffins. Top with lemon zest. If transporting or storing, let the glaze set beforehand.
- Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. Muffins can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
Notes
This recipe was originally published in 2012 and updated in 2026 with recipe improvements, new photos, and more baking tips. Photos by Joanie Simon.
LOVE THEM! I had unexpected company and only one egg. I’m so glad I was able to find this recipe and was able to make a tasty treat for my guests. EVERYONE loved them! (I added a streusel topping before baking. One can’t have too much goodness with their morning coffee.)
Wonderful! So glad this recipe worked perfectly for your company and that everyone enjoyed!
The texture and moisture was PERFECT!!! Best muffin I’ve ever had in those terms…even better than muffins I’ve gotten at bakeries!
The glaze was very good. The muffin itself could have used some more lemon flavor. Next time I’ll experiment with a bit of lemon extract. That’s just my preference to make a recipe that is already SO delicious better suited for someone who likes more of a punch.
Yay! So happy you enjoyed them, Christine! Thanks for taking the time to write such a rave review, we appreciate your feedback as well!
Hi,
What can happen if you over mix?
Hi Taji! Over mixed muffins are not light and fluffy, they’re a more tough muffin with a chewy texture. They can have peaked tops and develop “tunnel-shaped” holes in the interior. Sometimes they may not even rise to full volume. We recommend that your batter still contains a few traces of flour when you stop mixing. I hope that helps!
Hi Tessa,
Can I use bread flour for your Lemon Poppyseed Muffins and Ultimate Muffins in lieu of all-purpose?
I am looking forward to making them.
Many thanks,
Robin
We haven’t tried that, though we always recommend making the recipe as written for best results. Bread flour has a higher protein content, so we don’t typically use it in muffin recipes as it can result in a tougher, more chewy muffin.
Hi Emily,
Bread flour is used in your Easy Bakery Style Banana muffins, so before I make these can you please let me know why is doesn’t work for other muffin recipes. I am sure there is a very good reason but I need to know how it works for one and not others.
Warmest wishes,
Robin
No problem, Robin! The bread flour was used in the Banana Muffin recipe to help absorb more of the moisture of the bananas and to help with its structure. Tessa hasn’t actually used bread flour in any other muffin recipes, just all-purpose flour, but you’re more than welcome to try with this one 🙂
Amazing recipe! cant fault it! i tried it with orange instead of lemon and it was also amazing!
Delicious! Love making them with orange instead, so happy you enjoyed this recipe 🙂
These turned out delicious! Thanks
So happy you enjoyed them, thanks for letting us know! 🙂
Hi Tessa,
I live half time in Sun Valley, Idaho at 5900 feet. I have looked at so many recipes that were meant for altitude but it looks like one needs to “try” one or more of three alteration possibilities for baking at altitude (less leavening, higher/lower heat/ less or more flour…eeeks!) ; that requires lots of time and often wasted ingredients.
Do you have any foolproof tips? For example, I recently made a delish lemon meringue pie. One recipe said make the meringue at the same time as the custard…a bit daunting…and spread the egg white on the hot custard and bake. Another was make the custard and refrigerate for 2 hours or more (I did 2 hrs) cover w/the egg whites and bake for 10 min at 400. It looked great tasted good but the custard turned runny.
Any advice?
Love what you do and so happy to see you succeed! Keep it up!
I’m sorry, I don’t bake at high-altitude so I can’t help much-I’d suggest checking out King Arthur Flour’s tips linked here 🙂
Hello, I tried the cheatsheet recipe today, however this version of the recipe is way better than that in the Ultimate Cheatsheet for muffins. The cheatsheet recipe lacks flavor and tender crumb whilst this version of your recipe is perfect!
Thanks for sharing your recipes!
I rarely comment on recipes after I have made alterations because that would be unfair, but this recipe still holds up brilliantly! The muffin was soft and baked up super well without the greasy bottom, it was (sorry) MOIST and fluffy. Definitely make this!
Alterations that I made:
– Reduced granulated sugar by half a cup. If your family doesn’t like sweet recipes, this won’t affect the muffins.
– Lemon drizzle instead of glaze. Ran out of powdered sugar and I’m unorganised. I used the juice of a lemon and 55 grams of granulated sugar then stirred until the sugar dissolved. Poked holes into the muffin and spooned the drizzle over it. FOLLOW THE RECIPE! The drizzle didn’t get absorbed well, but this was still super delicious. If you don’t have powdered sugar I recommend this.
can this be doubled to make a cake instead?
I haven’t tried making these muffins into a 9×13, if you do experiment with it, let me know how it goes! 🙂
First time attempting lemon poppy seed muffins, definitely worried about the texture because I did not want a dense blob. Surprisingly they came out really good, I was really pleased with the result. I already doubled the poppy seeds and lemon juice, but my hubby requested to triple them next time.
I did a some modification; I didn’t have any AP flour so I used cake flour. I didn’t melt the butter but leave it to soften and beat it with sugar which I cut in half since we are trying to go keto. Then top with almond slices before baking. The muffins even have top muffin tops, moist and fluffy soft, better than store bought muffins my hubby claimed lol
Thank you for the recipe, it is a keeper!
Happy to hear they were such a hit! 🙂
Can I substitute orange juice and orange zest for the lemon to make orange and poppyseed muffins?
I haven’t tried that, but you’re welcome to give it a try! Keep me posted on how they turn out! 🙂