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!
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.
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
These are best kept at cool room temperature if unglazed, but should be refrigerated if you decide to glaze them. Either way, keep them in a zip-top bag or other airtight container. If you do refrigerate them, I recommend letting them come to room temperature before serving.
These keep well for about a week. Like all baked goods, the fresher the better.
Just swap the all-purpose flour in this recipe for gluten-free all-purpose flour. Make sure the blend you use contains xanthan gum - most do.
More muffin recipes
If fruit-forward muffins are your thing, here are a few more recipes you can try!
Glazed Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins {gluten-free option}
Fluffy, bakery-style muffins with a big burst of lemon flavor, tons of poppy seeds, and a sweet lemon glaze drizzled on top. These can easily be made gluten-free!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 17 minutes
- Total Time: 37 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins
- Category: muffins
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- 2 ¾ cups, spoon and level (11 ⅝ ounces) all-purpose flour (or use a gluten-free blend with xanthan gum)
- 3 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (4 ounces) salted butter, softened
- 1 tablespoon freshly-grated lemon zest
- 1 ¼ cups (10 ⅝ ounces) sour cream
- ¼ cup (2 ounces) freshly-squeezed lemon juice
- 2 large eggs, room temperature*
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Lemon Glaze
- 1 cup (4 ounces) confectioner's sugar
- 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) salted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon freshly-grated lemon zest
Instructions
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Preheat oven: Preheat oven to 400ºF and grease or line a standard 12-cup muffin pan.
- Mix the dry ingredients: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Mix the wet ingredients: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using a bowl and handheld electric mixer), cream together the sugar, butter, and lemon zest, scraping down the bowl and beater as needed. Beat in eggs one at a time, until fully incorporated, again scraping down as needed. Beat in the sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla until smoothly incorporated.
- Combine: Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix in on lowest speed until mostly incorporated. Finish folding together by hand just until all ingredients are evenly combined - the batter will be thick.
- Fill the muffin tin: Divide batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups (note they will be very full and mounded in centers). Smooth out tops with a fingertip if needed.
- Bake: Bake muffins at 400ºF for 10 minutes, and then reduce heat to 350ºF and bake another 7-10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool muffins in pan for about 10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before glazing.
Lemon Glaze
- Prep the glaze: Combine confectioner's sugar, melted butter, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small mixing bowl and whisk together until smooth. The glaze should be thick and opaque, but still fluid - add more confectioner's sugar or lemon juice as needed to achieve the correct consistency.
- Drizzle: Spoon glaze onto muffins and allow to drizzle down sides. Let set before serving. Muffins can be stored in an airtight container, and should be kept refrigerated if glazed.
Notes
*To quickly bring eggs to room temperature, place in a bowl and cover with warm water. Let sit 5-10 minutes before using.
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.
Lucy
so good they taste old fashioned!!!
Janice Key
What adjustments would you make for high altitude? I live at Lake Tahoe and need to alter everything I bake.
alexandra
Hi Janice,
I don't have much experience with high-altitude baking so rather than me guessing, I'd suggest following whatever guidelines you normally use to tweak recipes for your purposes. King Arthur has some basic guidelines you can follow, but I suspect you may already know what tends to work best for you! I'm sorry this answer isn't more helpful, but feel free to email me if you need anything else!
Linda Kaufman
These muffins are excellent- the sort of moist and dense crumb I love in a bakery creation.
My husband has asked for these so many times, that for a change, I kept to your basic recipe (perfect!), but omitted the poppy seeds and added orange zest and 2 cups of whole cranberries. Baked in large size muffin tin perfectly and just like the bakery's goodness.
I can see your recipe baking up nicely in a bundt pan too.
Thank you so much for this one.
alexandra
Your cranberry orange variation sounds delicious! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this comment; I so appreciate it!
Alex
I love poppyseed in everything especially in muffins. This post reminds me of some of the bakeries I visited in Austria. They make lots of varieties with poppyseeds.
This looks like a great combination! I can’t wait to try some. Awesome job!
Sandra
First of all i like how you laid out the ingredients one must have to prepare these. Just as I suspected, my mom did as well. She immediately went to get some poppy seeds and we were ready to begin! Wow, these were so very good, I can’t explain how much we are enjoying them. Enough to share, too! We are grateful!
Charla
Oh yum! These muffins looks stellar and love that there is a gluten free option.
Beth Sachs
These lemon muffins sound delicious. I love the addition of the poppy seeds.
Genevieve | Fitty Foodlicious
These lemon poppyseed muffins look amazing and super refreshing!
Tara
Lemon and poppyseed is such a wonderful combination! These muffins look absolutely amazing and I love that you included a gluten free option.
Andrea Metlika
Homemade muffins are the best and Lemon poppyseed is one of my favorites. Love the glaze on top too!
Rose
The recipe makes 18-24 muffins. I was suspicious at the amount of flour, but went ahead anyway. I had to add milk or it would have been dough, not batter.
alexandra
It definitely makes 12 muffins if you fill each muffin cup fully. You do fill them higher than you would with some muffin recipes, but because of the way the recipe is formulated, they rise without spreading too much, so it works out.
Ilona @ Ilona's Passion
I am pinning this muffins. Delicious Poppy seed and lemon, yum:)
alexandra
Thanks Ilona! ♡
Cakespy
These pictures give me the bright-eyed joy of coming across an unexpected lemonade stand. What wonderful-looking muffins!!
alexandra
Aw thank you! ♡