Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Published March 2, 2014. Updated August 26, 2019

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.

These Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are topped with a simple lemon glaze. They’re ultra moist and fluffy, and make for a delicious snack or breakfast! 

four Lemon Poppyseed Muffins stacked in baking dish

Easy Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Here’s breakfast at its best — or at least close to it! I absolutely love poppy seed muffins, both lemon and almond poppy seed. I already have an almond poppy seed muffin recipe posted so I think it’s time for the lemon version.

These homemade muffins are abundantly bursting with fresh lemon flavor, and the poppy seeds add that mellow hint of unique flavor. I made this recipe to yield deliciously moist and soft muffins, because that’s the way every muffin should be.

Be sure to add the lemon glaze to the warm muffins because it allows the glaze to slightly absorb into the muffin and just gives the muffin tops the best flavor and texture — it might leave you wishing the muffin was just made up of two muffin tops!

You could just do what my kids do and eat the muffin tops only and save the bottoms for someone else :). They didn’t do that with these though, they ate the entire thing and wanted more.

I simply couldn’t resist having two. Normally I’m better at restraining myself because I’m always surrounded by sweets so I try not to constantly over-indulge, but with these I just couldn’t. I hope you find these hard to resist too!

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins Ingredients

For the muffins, you’ll need:

  • All-purpose flour
  • Poppy seeds
  • Baking powder and baking soda
  • Salt
  • Granulated sugar
  • Unsalted butter
  • Vegetable oil
  • Lemon zest and juice
  • Eggs
  • Vanilla extract
  • Milk
  • Sour cream

And for the lemon glaze, you’ll need:

  • Lemon juice
  • Powdered sugar

three Lemon Poppyseed Muffins on plate with knife

How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

  • In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
  • In a separate bowl, beat butter, sugar, lemon zest and 1 tablespoon oil.
  • Add remaining oil to butter mixture, followed by the eggs, egg yolk and vanilla.
  • In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together milk, sour cream and lemon juice.
  • Fold wet and dry ingredients into the butter mixture, then divide batter among muffin cups.
  • Bake until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
  • Once muffins have cooled slightly, make lemon glaze and drizzle over muffins.

Can I Freeze These Muffins?

Yes, these muffins freeze well. To freeze these lemon poppy seed muffins, let them cool to room temperature before sealing them in a freezer bag. You may want to wait to drizzle on the lemon glaze until you’re ready to eat the frozen muffins.

Can I Add Extra Lemon Zest to These Muffins?

Yes, adding more lemon zest would be fine. Just don’t add extra lemon juice, otherwise the batter may be too runny.

Tips for the Best Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

  • You need to beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, otherwise your muffins won’t be as light as mine.
  • I like large muffins, so I divided the muffin batter between 12 muffin cups. For smaller muffins, divide the batter between 15 muffin cups.
  • You can use any dairy milk you’d like in this recipe, but the higher the fat percentage the moister these muffins will be.

More Lemon Poppy Seed Recipes You’ll Love:

16 Quick & Easy 30 Minute Recipes! (plus weekly recipe updates)

4.91 from 11 votes

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

My favorite lemon poppy seed muffins! They're perfectly soft with big muffin tops and have lots of bright lemon flavor.
Servings: 15
Prep15 minutes
Cook18 minutes
Ready in: 33 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 
  • In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda and salt for 30 seconds. 
  • In a separate large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer set on medium-high speed, whip together sugar, butter, lemon zest and 1 Tbsp canola oil until pale and fluffy. Mix in remaining 3 Tbsp canola oil. Blend in eggs one at a time mixing until combined after each addition. Blend in egg yolk and vanilla extract.
  •  In a 2 cup liquid measuring cup (used to measure milk), whisk together the milk, sour cream and 3 Tbsp lemon juice.
  • Using a rubber spatula and working in three separate batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture, add 1/3 of the flour mixture alternating with half of the milk mixture and fold just until combined after each addition. 
  • Divide batter among 12 - 15 muffin cups**, filling each to the top and bake in preheated oven 15 - 18 minutes until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. 
  • Cool in muffin tin several minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. Drizzle tops with glaze while still warm. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

For the glaze:

  • In a bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and 2 Tbsp lemon juice until well blended.

Notes

  • **I did 12 because I like big muffin tops, but the muffins slightly touched each other on the sides so with that said if that would bother you just make more and don't fill them so heaping full.
  • Recipe Source: Cooking Classy
Nutrition Facts
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Amount Per Serving
Calories 327 Calories from Fat 126
% Daily Value*
Fat 14g22%
Saturated Fat 5g31%
Cholesterol 54mg18%
Sodium 144mg6%
Potassium 158mg5%
Carbohydrates 47g16%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 24g27%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 279IU6%
Vitamin C 3mg4%
Calcium 105mg11%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition values are estimates only. See full disclaimer here.