Glazed Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins {gluten-free option}

Trust me - you don't have to love lemon baked goods to love these glazed lemon poppy seed muffins. They're soft and fluffy, with perfectly domed bakery-style muffins tops and a bright burst of lemon flavor. And with an easy ingredient swap, they can be made gluten-free!

this recipe

I'm almost certain that my first experience with poppy seed muffins was of the jumbo Costco variety. You know the ones - huge and cake-like and probably packed with sugar. But with age comes wisdom, and I've found in my older years that homemade baked goods are almost always better than their store-bought counterparts. These lemon poppy seed muffins are certainly no exception. I've never been crazy about lemony sweets, so when I tell you they're good, they're good.

But what's so great about them? Well, since you asked... they're soft & fluffy, with pretty domed tops like any bakery-style muffin must have, and a bright, intense lemon flavor. There's plenty of poppy seeds studding every bite, and a sweet lemon glaze on top that's certainly not mandatory, but makes for a little extra indulgence. If you're looking for extra-healthy lemon poppy seed muffins, this is not your recipe. BUT, if you're looking for muffins that'll rival anything you can get at Costco, a coffee shop, or otherwise, keep reading.

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• Ingredients
• Step-by-Step Instructions
• FAQ
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Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make these muffins:

• all-purpose flour (use a gluten-free blend with xanthan gum to make GF lemon poppy seed muffins)
• poppy seeds - You can find these on the spice rack at your local grocery store
• baking powder - A MUST for creating super-tall and domed muffin tops
• baking soda
• salt
• granulated sugar
• salted butter, softened to room temp
• lemon zest - You can use a zester/grater to zest your lemons
• sour cream (whole milk yogurt should also work in a pinch)
• lemon juice, from freshly-squeezed lemons (fresh always tastes best!)
• eggs, at room temp - You can put eggs in a small bowl filled with warm water to quickly bring them to room temperature
• vanilla extract

And if you want to make the (technically optional, but highly recommended) lemon glaze to drizzle on top, you'll also need confectioner's/powdered sugar and melted butter.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Let's make some lemon poppyseed muffins, shall we?!

Start by preheating your oven to 400ºF and prepping a standard 12-cup muffin tin by greasing it with cooking spray. Be sure to wipe off any excess cooking spray that might land on the top surface - we don't want any spreading muffins tops!

Next, grab a medium sized mixing bowl and whisk together your dry ingredients - flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. (A note on flour - make sure you measure it correctly. This is already a thick batter; adding too much flour would be a no-no.)

In a second, larger bowl, add the sugar, butter, and lemon zest. Use an electric mixer to cream these ingredients together on medium speed. You're looking for the butter and sugar to clump together, which may take a couple of minutes of beating. They mixture will also start to stick to your beaters at this point, so be sure to scrape them down with a spatula as needed.

Add the eggs and beat them in one at a time. The mixture should become smooth, thick, and fluffy.

Next, add the sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla extract, and mix those in on low speed just until everything is smoothly combined. The batter will be much more fluid at this point.

Finally, add the dry ingredient mixture to your mixing bowl and mix together at low speed just until you only see a few streaks of flour left - we never want to overmix! Use a spatula to finish folding the ingredients together by hand. Like I said before, be aware that this is a thicc batter. That's how you get those extra-tall muffins!

Once your muffin batter is made, divide it evenly between the 12 cups in your muffin tin. Each one should be full to the brim so that they bake up with sky-high domed tops. Bake the muffins at 400ºF for 10 minutes, and then reduce the temperature to 350ºF and bake for another 7-10 minutes. They should just be starting to turn golden on top, and a toothpick inserted into the center of one should come out clean. Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, and then move them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely before glazing.

To make the glaze for these muffins, just whisk together powdered sugar, melted butter, lemon juice, and lemon zest until smooth. It should be thick but still fluid - if it looks too thick, add a little more lemon juice, and if it looks too thin, add a little more powdered sugar. Use a spoon to drizzle it over the cooled muffins. Are they dessert now? Still breakfast? I'll let you be the judge.

FAQ

More muffin recipes

If fruit-forward muffins are your thing, here are a few more recipes you can try!

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Recipe Card

If you like this recipe, it'd make my day for you to leave a rating and review below. I also love seeing reader photos on Instagram, so be sure to post a photo of your muffins there; tag me so I can re-share!

Ready for dessert now? Try my gluten-free Lemon Meringue Pie Cupcakes!

This post was originally published in 2015. It has since been updated with new content and photos, as well as some minor recipe adjustments.