Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

There is nothing more fitting to usher spring in than filling your home and palate full of the smells and flavors of citrus. Bright lemon-infused sauces, freshly dressed greens with simple lemon vinaigrette and my favorite lemon poppy seed muffins are all signs in our home that cold days are almost forgotten and warmer days are ahead.  

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

While I am admittedly not a baker at heart, I truly enjoy coming up with baked goods and desserts that reflect my style of baking – quick and easy. And that’s exactly what these lemon poppy seed muffins are. Simply mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, mix the two together and bake. That’s it.

Lemon flavor in our muffins comes through in two ways, first with the addition of lemon zest and next, with the addition of AE Whole Milk Lemon Custard Yogurt. Many muffin recipes call for yogurt as ingredient so choosing a flavor that compliments the rest of the muffin is something I love to do. Plus, the whole milk yogurt from AE is high in protein (12g/serving) and probiotics, in addition to its authentic lemony flavor.

Even though most muffin recipes could probably double up as a cupcake, I actually prefer mine to be a little bit less sweet than a typical cupcake. Don’t get me wrong, they will still satisfy your sweet tooth but they won’t give you a sugar crash later In the day.

We finish them off with a super quick lemon glaze and enjoy!  

Ingredients in Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

Flour. You don’t need fancy flour here, simply all-purpose flour will work great.

Baking soda + baking powder. We use a combo of the two because whenever you have an acid like yogurt, you need to use baking soda. The baking soda reacts to the yogurt making it rise and brown. Baking powder simply makes the muffins rise.

Salt. I have never created a baked good recipe or dessert without adding a little bit of salt. It balances out the sweetness and I love a little hint of salt.

Lemon. We use two ways. First, the zest for the muffin itself and second, the juice for the glaze.

Poppy seeds. I am obsessed with poppy seeds in baked goods. I love the little bit of texture they give and they look so darn pretty.

The Wet Ingredients

AE Yogurt. As we mentioned before, to add even more lemon flavor and a little bit of acid, we use AE Whole Milk Lemon Custard Yogurt. It’s smooth, slightly sweet, the perfect amount of tart and a great way to add a little bit of fat and acidity to the muffins.

If you haven’t heard of AE, you’re likely not in the Midwest. Check out their full list of products at the link above. We use all their dairy products (their Sea Salt Cottage Cheese is a family fave) because they’re delicious but also because they are committed to the best quality raw milk sourced directly from Iowa family dairy farmers

I’ve seen firsthand after a tour at their facility in Des Moines how dedicated they are to their milk products. Everything delivered fresh within hours to local grocers. We haven’t had a product we don’t love!

Milk. Again, we’re use AE Milk. We like using their whole milk but you could also use 2%.

Oil. For muffins, I prefer canola oil for the fat component. They make for very moist, airy muffins and the outside of the muffin gets nice and crisp because of it.

Vanilla. You’ll always find a (big) splash of vanilla in our baked goods.

Let’s make Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

Mix the dry ingredients. Grab a large bowl and mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, lemon zest and poppyseeds. Whisk to combine.

Mix the wet ingredients. I like to use a really big measuring cup to mix everything so I don’t have to dirty up more dishes than necessary but if you don’t have a large liquid measuring cup just use a medium bowl. Measure the oil and milk, then add the eggs, yogurt and vanilla together.

Combine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently mix the batter until it’s combined.

Bake! Spoon the batter into a muffin tin and bake until golden brown and cooked through.

Do I have to use Lemon Custard Yogurt?

No. If you can’t find the AE Lemon Custard Yogurt you could use a regular lemon yogurt. I’ve even tried it with their French Vanilla flavor and while it wasn’t as lemon forward, it was delicious.

Why don’t you use muffin liners?

This is a personal preference. Here I like to skip the muffin liners because I like the edges of the muffin to get nice and crisp in the pan. Of course, if you’d prefer, you can absolutely use muffin liners.