These lemon poppy seed muffins are surprisingly tender, and have a wonderful jolt that comes from lots of lemon juice, in both the batter and the icing.
Bake them with a little blueberry jam or a spot of lemon curd in the center. More homemade muffins and breakfast recipes at the end of the page.
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins Recipe
HOMEMADE LEMON MUFFINS
2/3 cup white sugar
grated zest and juice from 1 lemon
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tsp homemade pure vanilla extract
1 stick homemade unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 TBS poppy seeds (optional)
ICING
1 cup homemade powdered sugar
2 to 3 TBS fresh lemon juice
PREHEAT oven to 400 degrees. Butter or spray a regular size muffin tin and fit the molds then with paper muffin cups. Place the pan on a baking sheet.
In a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance is strong with lemon. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and melted butter together until well blended.
Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and gently stir with a spatula until blended. Don’t worry about the lumps – a few lumps are better than over mixing the batter. Stir in the poppy seeds and divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold. Cool the muffins completely before drizzling the lemon icing over them. These are the BEST lemon poppy seed muffins.