Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are just the thing to brighten up your morning! In every bite, you’ll taste the tartness of the lemon juice, moistness from the greek yogurt, and the wonderful added texture of the poppy seeds. This sweet and scrumptious recipe is perfect for a grab and go breakfast or snack to bring a bit of sunshine to your day.
What better way to wake up the household in the morning than the smell of freshly baked lemon poppy seed muffins coming from the oven. These muffins can last through the week, and are perfect to grab in the morning before you start your day!
Reasons You’ll Love These Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Sweet and Tart – The sweetness of the sugar combined with the tartness of the lemon packs a punch of flavor in these little muffins.
Light and Delicious – The greek yogurt and other room-temperature ingredients keep this recipe light and full of flavor.
Make Ahead for the Week – An ideal morning snack to grab on your way to work, dropping the kids off, or running errands!
Simple Ingredients – The ingredients are simple pantry items you most likely already have.
All Can Enjoy – These yummy treats are perfect to pack the kids in the morning, or to give out to friends and family.
This is an overview of the ingredients you will need to make this delicious Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. Important notes and substitutions for certain ingredients are discussed. The full printable recipe, with amounts and specific details, can be found at the bottom of the page.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Greek Yogurt – You want to make sure the yogurt is at room-temperature. This is an important step to make sure those muffins stay fluffy and airy. I prefer to use a plain, full fat yogurt. You could also use sour cream in it’s place.
- Lemon Juice – Fresh lemon juice is the best for this recipe, and make sure it’s kept at room-temperature as well.
- Salted Butter – Salted butter will add an extra layer of flavor to these muffins. Make sure that your butter is at room-temperature. While I like the flavor that butter adds, oil will work too! Just make sure to substitute the same amount.
- Eggs – I may be getting repetitive, but it’s for the greater good! Keep these at room-temperature before using.
- Poppy Seeds – These are what really make these muffins! You can pick this up at most grocery stores.
How To Make Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
1. In a small bowl, mix together the room temperature greek yogurt and lemon juice. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Make sure your oven rack is in the middle position, then prepare your muffin pans by spraying them generously with non-stick spray.
2. Place the sugar in a small bowl and add the lemon zest to it. Rub this mixture together, between your fingers, to allow the lemon oils to permeate the sugar.
3. Cream together the room temperature butter and the lemon sugar.
4. Mix in the room temperature eggs, one at a time. Add the yogurt and lemon juice mixture to this bowl and combine this well.
5. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt. Make a well (hole) in the center of this dry mixture.
6. Pour the wet mixture (butter, yogurt, etc) into the well you made in the dry ingredients. Stir until the mixture is moist. Do not over-mix, or the muffins will be tough. It’s okay if there are still a few clumps. This is a thick batter, so don’t be alarmed when it is not as wet or runny as some other batters might be.
7. Divide the batter equally among the 12 muffin cups. Smooth out the tops of the batter if desired. At this point, I like to let the muffins sit on the counter for about 20 minutes before placing them in the oven. I find that they rise slightly higher if I include this step, but they will still be great without it. Bake at 425 degrees for 5 minutes. Then, turn the oven down to 350 and continue baking for another 12-15 minutes.
8. Make the glaze. The glaze is optional, but it really amps up the lemony flavor. While the muffins are cooling, make the glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar, milk and lemon juice. You may adjust the amount of lemon juice depending on how thin you’d like the glaze to be.
9. Allow the muffins to cool for at least 10 minutes before removing them from the pan and glazing them. When cool, use a fork to drizzle the glaze back and forth across the tops of the muffins.
Recipe Tips and Advice
To Line or Not To Line: These muffins can be baked with or without liners. They tend to rise slightly higher without liners, so it’s up to you if you use them or not. Just remember to grease your muffin pans if you don’t use liners.
Bigger Bakery Style Muffins: If you want larger, bakery style muffins you can fill only 8 or 9 of the muffin tins. They will be very full. They may take just slightly longer to bake.
Room Temperature: Making sure your ingredients are at room temperature will help create a light and airy muffin.
Baking Temperature: I know it may seem like a pain to change the oven temperature, but the change really helps activate the baking powder and gives the muffins a better rise.
Storage: These muffins will last up to 3 days at room temperature, 5 days in the fridge and 3 months in the freezer. Store these in an airtight container.
Recipe FAQs
It’s mainly up to you to decide what’s good for you, but poppy seeds are a great source of protein and fiber. Greek yogurt also has a lot of protein, and is a great probiotic.
For this recipe, you don’t need to!
While I think the results are best when the muffins are made after you make the batter, the mixed batter may be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. When you are ready to bake them, fold the batter gently, if needed, to incorporate everything again.
More Muffin Recipes To Try!
Favorite Lemon Recipes
If you love lemon, here are some of my favorite lemon recipes for you to try!
- Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake
- Lemon Icebox Pie
- Starbucks Lemon Loaf CopyCat
- Lemon Bars
- Lemon Rolls
- Blueberry Lemon Scones
- Lemon Cake with Lemon Glaze
- Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes
- Lemon Cupcakes filled with Lemon Curd
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin Pan
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt room temperature
- 1/2 cup lemon juice room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons lemon zest
- 1/2 cup salted butter room temperature
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Glaze
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Make sure your oven rack is in the middle position, then prepare your muffin pans by spraying them generously with non-stick spray, or by adding paper liners.
- In a small bowl, mix together the room temperature greek yogurt and lemon juice.
- Place the sugar in a small bowl and add the lemon zest to it. Rub this mixture together, between your fingers, to allow the lemon oils to really work into the sugar.
- Cream together the room temperature butter and the lemon sugar.
- Mix in the room temperature eggs, one at a time. Add the yogurt and lemon juice mixture to this bowl and combine this well.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt. Make a well (hole) in the center of this dry mixture.
- Pour the wet mixture (butter, yogurt, etc) into the well you made in the dry ingredients. Stir until the mixture is moist. Do not over-mix, or the muffins will be tough. Batter may be clumpy, and that is okay.
- Divide the batter equally among the 12 muffin cups. Smooth out the tops of the batter if desired. At this point, you can bake right away, or let the muffins sit on the counter for about 20 minutes before placing them in the oven. They rise slightly higher when left to sit for those 20 minutes, but it's optional. They will still be great without it.
- Bake at 425 degrees for 5 minutes. Then, turn the oven down to 350 and continue baking for another 12-15 minutes. Start checking for doneness (toothpick comes out clean or with just a few tiny crumbs) at about the 18 minute mark.
- While the muffins are cooling, make the glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar, milk and lemon juice. You may adjust the amount of lemon juice depending on how thin you’d like the glaze to be.
- Allow the muffins to cool for at least 10 minutes before removing them from the pan and glazing them. When cool, use a fork to drizzle the glaze back and forth across the tops of the muffins.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclaimer
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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