Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Fresh and full of bright lemon flavor.
Texture: Ultra tender and moist with those delightful little bites of poppy seeds.
Ease: Super easy.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: The perfect quick and easy muffin recipe full of lemon flavor.
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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.
Free Muffin Cheatsheet!
Dry, dense muffins? Not in your kitchen! Bake the most tender and moist muffins with our Ultimate Muffin Guide.
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. And I certainly don’t want a dry muffin. I want moist, tender, flavorful muffins that are a joy to eat!
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 are a few small streaks of flour remaining, that’s perfectly fine.
Secret Baking Science Tip: Chill Your Muffin Batter!
The very 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 or even marinating meat. By chilling the batter, the starch in the flour is able to absorb more moisture, resulting in a more tender muffin.
Chilling thickens the batter without making it dry, 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 are.
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.
- Portion the batter out in the morning and bake right away. No need to bring it back to room temp!
How Do I Get More Lemon Flavor in These 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 this is a common problem for you, check out my post on 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 three of these tins for 6+ years and love them!
How to Store Muffins
Store cooled muffins inside an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
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:
More Lemon Recipes:
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups (254 grams) all-purpose flour,
measured correctly - 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 (237 grams) 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, sifted
- 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.
I love lemon & poppy seed recipes; we have an old recipe for a cake with a pudding frosting. Anyway…
If time for the overnight chill is the muffin batter already portioned into the tin?
Hi Rita! Tessa talks about this in the pink tip box, above the recipe: “Chill the batter altogether in one bowl as opposed to chilling it in the individual muffin cavities to prevent it from drying out. Bake directly from the fridge.” I hope that helps 🙂 Happy baking!
Was looking for a lemon poppy muffin recipe that wouldn’t use yogurt or sour cream, and this one really delivered. Muffins were moist and flavorful, with just the right amount of sweetness and lemon flavor. Mine only needed 17 minutes in the oven and yielded a great texture with a sturdy crumb. Highly recommend using this recipe!!!
So glad I found this recipe, totally delicious!!! Next time I will try the overnight with the batter. Thank you.
Easy batter to make, they are being refrigerated now. Looking forward to baking them tomorrow. I don’t bake muffins often but this batter won’t “pour” into the muffin papers. It’s pretty stiff, should I add more liquid until the batter actually pours? I am in a very dry state at altitude but I don’t think that had anything to do with it.
Hi Anne! The muffin batter should be relatively thick, but if it’s exceptionally thick, it’s possible something happened along the way! How do you measure your ingredients? By volume (using cups), or by weight (using a digital kitchen scale)? When measuring by volume, it’s so easy to mis-measure ingredients (namely flour) and throw off the entire chemistry of a recipe, resulting in things like overly-thick muffin batter. Tessa talks about how to best measure ingredients to ensure accuracy every time, in this article here! Fingers crossed your muffins will still turn out beautifully and taste delicious! 🙂
I was a bit skeptical because all other recipes used yogurt and it seemed like a lot of baking powder. I didn’t have whole milk so I substituted water and half and half. I also added 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract. Not only did these muffins look great – they tasted incredible! I did cut the baking time down to about 16 minutes. Had the right amount of brown and crunch. Added the glaze (cut in half) to make this great muffin even better. Highly recommend.
Happy to hear how much you enjoyed these muffins, Diane!
Hi Dee! I’m sorry to hear this didn’t work well for you! Was your muffin batter well covered, and still in the bowl? Or did you pre-portion it out into the cups?
Happy with how these turned out! I made the recipe almost exactly, however I did add an extra teaspoon of lemon juice. I used fresh lemons I just picked and refrigerated the batter over night. Next time I might use a touch less sugar as I find them quite sweet (my lemons might have been on the sweeter side). I haven’t got around to add on the glaze, which I’m sure it will give it an extra lemony flavour. I am always a fan of more lemon, but I think the lemon in these was well balanced. I overcooked them a bit but still very moist.
Hi Mikaela! Glad to hear that you enjoyed these muffins!! Just be cautious about lowering the sugar next time; yes, sugar obviously contributes to the sweetness, but it also moistens, provides tender structure, assists with gluten formation, extends the shelf-life (meaning it will be fresh and moist longer), and assists in creating a taller and lighter finished product – just to name a few things! Reducing the sugar content in a recipe doesn’t just lower sweetness; it messes with the recipe’s chemistry and creates a totally different baked good. Of course, feel free to experiment as you like, but I just wanted to mention that! Happy baking 🙂
Simple and delicious. My girls helped make this and we all love them. Great recipe.
Yay! So happy to hear that you and your girls enjoyed these muffins so much, Rebecca!
I just made these; I refrigerated over night, result was tall moist muffins. My only issue was they were burnt at 17 minutes, I’ll have to watch them more closely. They will likely be done at 15 minutes. I wanted a little more of a kick with the glaze, so I added a bit more lemon juice, but that made it too runny, this wasn’t a deal breaker. Live and learn, I’ll make them again for sure and maybe try lemon extract. Thank you.
Hi Ron! I’m glad you enjoyed these muffins, even if they got a little dark on top! Just a thought: perhaps your oven runs a little hot? Ovens are almost always lying to us about their real temperature! We recommend using an oven thermometer, to ensure accuracy, and make sure your baked goods are baking correctly! Tessa talks about oven temperature accuracy and using an oven thermometer, in this article here! As for your glaze, I definitely recommend lemon extract, as you mentioned, for a great lemon punch, without adding too much excess liquid! Good luck with your next batch! Happy baking 🙂
I have made this recipe many times and I love it. It also works as a lemon loaf which I’ve done a few times with the same recipe. Only difference is you have to adjust for a longer baking time and when the toothpick comes out clean you know it’s done. For the reviewer who said it wasn’t enough lemon flavour, I think it’s a preference. There’s no harm in adding more zest or juice to your liking. You can add lemon extract as well but also make sure your lemons are fresh. I also find the flavours come out more when you put the batter in the fridge over night like Tessa posted. The next day it smells way more lemony than when I just made it.
Hi Nina! So happy you enjoyed these muffins (or as a loaf, too- fun tip there!!).
Thanks for the other tips to other readers about the lemony flavor, too – I think you’re totally right, and there’s never any harm in adding more zest or a teaspoon or so of lemon extract. A little bit more lemon juice should be okay, but too much more will add too much liquid to the recipe and throw off the proportions. Great tips, though – thank you again! 🙂
Delicious! Well balanced in flavor and texture. The muffins alone taste lemony, but the lemon glaze sharpens up the whole effect. I’m at high altitude (5800 feet) so I lowered the baking soda and baking powder just a bit and they rose perfectly. I had a good result at 18 minutes cooking time. Thank you for the work you go through to provide nice recipes like this to us amateur bakers.
I’m so excited to hear that these muffins were not only delicious, but worked for you at high altitude with little adjustment! Thank you for taking the time to let us know! 🙂
Hi Hannah! I’m sorry to hear you did not like these muffins. I just want you to know that we never delete reviews; if you scroll down, you can actually see a couple of bad reviews on this recipe alone! I’d love to help you troubleshoot, because we really believe that these muffins are delicious! Did you also use the full 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice in your muffins, as well as the full 1 1/2 tablespoons of fresh lemon zest? Tessa does suggest adding 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract along with the juice and zest if you want ever more lemon flavor in your muffins (mentioned in the pink tip box above the recipe!). Also, refrigerating the batter overnight before baking not only helps give you taller, prettier muffins, but can help intensify the flavor, too! I hope that helps, and I hope you give our lemon poppyseed muffins another try!