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Light, fluffy, and bursting with fresh citrus flavor, these easy lemon poppy seed muffins are the perfect way to start your day!
Table of Contents
Make them ahead for quick grab-and-go breakfasts or snacks throughout the week, add them to a special holiday buffet, or enjoy them with brunch on a lazy Sunday morning. Best of all, you can stir together the moist lemon poppy seed muffins from scratch in just 15 minutes!
Kids and adults go crazy for this easy recipe. While they’re simple to make with basic ingredients like sour cream, lemon zest, and poppy seeds, the bakery-style treats are bursting with bright citrus flavor. They’re light, tender, fluffy, and drizzled with a sweet lemon glaze. Grab a cup of coffee and sink your teeth into the best ever lemon poppy seed muffins!
Flavor and Texture
These lemon and poppy seed muffins have a cake-like texture — similar to a citrus pound cake. They’re moist, light, and tender, thanks to the rich batter that’s made with plenty of sour cream and butter. You don’t need an electric mixer — just a couple of bowls, a whisk, and a wooden spoon. By folding together the batter (but not over-mixing), you’ll keep the muffins fluffy and avoid a dense, dry baked good.
Ingredients
This is just a quick overview of the ingredients that you’ll need to bake a quick batch of easy lemon poppy seed muffins. As always, specific measurements and complete cooking instructions are included in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the post.
- All-purpose flour: the base of the muffins.
- Poppy seeds: add a little bit of flavor and crunch.
- Baking powder and baking soda: the leavening agents that help the muffins rise.
- Salt: to enhance the flavors in the muffins.
- Butter: adds flavor and moisture.
- Granulated sugar and light brown sugar: for just the right amount of sweetness; the brown sugar also adds moisture to the muffins.
- Lemon zest: the outer layer of the lemon peel, where all of the essential oils are found. This is what gives the muffins that bright, fresh, lemon flavor.
- Vanilla extract: for warm flavor.
- Eggs: give the muffins structure.
- Sour cream: adds an acidic element that helps the muffins rise. It also gives them a moist, tender texture, while keeping the batter nice and thick so that the muffins rise high and have a nice dome. Use a full-fat sour cream (not light) for the best flavor and texture. You can also substitute with a full-fat Greek-style plain yogurt.
How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins from Scratch
These homemade lemon poppyseed muffins come together in just minutes, using the standard process of combining the dry ingredients, combining the wet ingredients, and then folding everything together. Once they’re cool, I like to drizzle the tops of the muffins with a sweet, thick, lemon glaze. It’s optional, but highly recommended!
- Whisk together the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla extract.
- Add the eggs, and then the sour cream.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and mix just until combined.
- Divide the batter evenly among 12 muffin cups lined with cupcake liners.
- Bake for 5 minutes at 400°F. Without opening the oven, lower the temperature to 375°F and bake for 11-14 more minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin Glaze
Once the muffins are completely cool, prepare the glaze by whisking together powdered sugar and fresh lemon juice until smooth. The glaze should be very thick. If it seems too thin, add a bit more sugar. If it seems too thick, add a little bit more juice.
Drizzle the glaze over the tops of the muffins. Let the glaze set (if you’re patient), then enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
Lemon poppy seed muffins are such a versatile little treat. You can offer them for a quick grab-and-go breakfast on busy mornings; pile some in a basket as a part of a special brunch buffet; set out a few with a glass of lemonade or iced tea for an afternoon snack; or even add them to your bread basket as a side dish with dinner. We love the variety of a bread basket that includes some homemade bread, a few warm muffins, and a couple wedges of cornbread. It turns an ordinary weeknight meal into a special restaurant-worthy occasion — and you can pull each of these items from your freezer with almost zero effort!
Enjoy the easy homemade muffins at room temperature or serve them warm. They’re best with a smear of soft butter or a dollop of homemade blueberry jam!
If setting out a larger brunch buffet, here are a few easy options that go well with the lemon poppy seed muffins:
- Scrambled eggs or a Baked Ham and Cheese Omelet
- Crustless Spinach Quiche or Quiche Lorraine
- Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole
- Overnight Sausage Breakfast Casserole
- Fresh Fruit Salad
- Ham Steaks with Brown Sugar Glaze
- Cheese Grits
How to Store Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
Allow the muffins to cool completely. Store in a large Ziploc freezer bag or other airtight container. The muffins will last for 2-3 days at room temperature, or you can freeze the muffins for up to 3 months.
The glaze may become slightly runny if frozen and thawed, so if you plan to freeze the muffins right away, skip the glaze and add it later (after you thaw the muffins).
Recipe Variations
- Skip the glaze and sprinkle the muffin tops with coarse sugar before baking.
- Substitute with full-fat plain Greek-style yogurt in lieu of the sour cream.
- Serve these as cupcakes for dessert — just add frosting!
- Make the muffins taste more “lemony” by adding more lemon zest to the batter. Lemon juice doesn’t have much impact on the taste when it’s stirred into the batter, but the zest is where you’ll really get that potent flavor.
- For a mild glaze that doesn’t have that tart lemon flavor, you can swap out the lemon juice and use milk or cream instead.
- Lemon Cranberry Poppy Seed Muffins: Stir 1 cup of sweetened dried cranberries (such as Craisins) into the muffin batter, or fold in about 1 ½ cups of fresh or frozen cranberries for a tart burst of flavor.
- Lemon Blueberry Muffins: Gently fold about 1 ½ cups of fresh or frozen blueberries into the batter.
- Mini Muffins: bake the batter in mini muffin tins in a 350° F oven for 12-15 minutes.
- Lemon Bread: Bake the batter in an 8½ x 4½-inch loaf pan at 350° F for about 45-60 minutes. Add the glaze when the bread is cool.
Tips for the Best Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin Recipe
- When zesting the lemon, be sure that you’re only scraping off the outer layer of the peel (this is where the essential oils and delicious flavor can be found). Be careful not to grate any of the white pith from the fruit, because that is bitter and definitely not what you want in your muffins.
- Fresh lemons and fresh lemon juice are always my preference for both the muffins and the glaze. Don’t try to sub with lemon extract or bottled lemon juice.
- Use full-fat sour cream or full-fat plain greek yogurt for a rich, moist muffin.
- The key to tender muffins is just barely mixing the ingredients. You want them to come together, but a few lumps are fine. This way they’ll stay moist and tender!
- Fill the muffin pan nice and full to give the muffins those nice domes and a high rise.
- To check if the muffins are done, insert a toothpick into the center and make sure it comes out clean. Don’t cook them for too long, or they can dry out.
More Lemon Recipes to Try
Lemon Bundt Cake {using Cake Mix!}
2 hours hrs 55 minutes mins
Old-Fashioned Lemon Squares
3 hours hrs 55 minutes mins
Lemon Poppy Seed Bread {Lemon Loaf Cake}
2 hours hrs 45 minutes mins
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest (from about 1 large lemon)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 8 ounces full-fat sour cream, at room temperature
Glaze:
- ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice, or more to thin if necessary
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line 12 standard-size muffin cups with paper liners; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together melted butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, lemon zest and vanilla extract. Add eggs, whisk to combine. Add sour cream, whisk until smooth.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, combine just until incorporated – do not over-mix.
- Divide batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each cup almost to the top.
- Bake for 5 minutes at 400°F. Without opening the oven, lower the temperature to 375°F and bake for 11-14 more minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the muffins are cool, prepare the glaze by whisking together the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice (or milk). You want the glaze to be thick, but pourable. If it’s too thin, add more confectioners’ sugar. If it’s too thick, add a tiny bit more juice or milk, just until it reaches the desired consistency.
- Drizzle over the muffins.
Notes
- When zesting the lemon, be sure that you’re only scraping off the outer layer of the peel (this is where the essential oils and delicious flavor can be found). Be careful not to grate any of the white pith from the fruit, because that is bitter and definitely not what you want in your muffins.
- Use full-fat sour cream for a rich, moist muffin.
- The key to a perfect muffin is just barely mixing the ingredients. You want them to come together, but a few lumps are fine. This way they’ll stay moist and tender!
- Fill the muffin cups nice and full to give the muffins those nice domes and a high rise.
- To check if the muffins are done, insert a toothpick into the center and make sure it comes out clean. Don’t cook them for too long, or they can dry out.
