Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
These Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins have a deliciously bright lemon flavor, are so moist, and feature a lovely lemony sugar glaze. They are so easy and are sure to be a favorite breakfast for any time of year!
It’s no secret that I love making breakfast each morning for my crew, and that muffins are one of my favorite go to’s for busy mornings. So I love to have fresh recipes to pull from throughout the year, and these Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are one of them! You can never have too many yummy muffin recipes, am I right?!
This Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin recipe is so fluffy and light, filled with sweet and tart lemon flavors. They are a classic lemon poppy seed muffin, with a lovely sweet lemon glaze on top. My crew devours them when I make them! For our busy weekday mornings, I like to make them ahead of time, and make a double batch, so we can have leftovers. They make our afternoon snacks feel like such a treat!
Looking for other tasty muffin recipes for breakfast? Check out my French Toast Muffins, Chocolate Zucchini Muffins, Coffee Cake Muffins, and Apple Cinnamon Muffins recipes.
How to Make these Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Begin by turning your oven heat to 350 degrees.
- Grab a dozen muffin tin, line with paper liners, and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine your flour, baking soda, salt, and poppy seeds. Stir together till mixed thoroughly.
- In a large bowl, whisk room temperature eggs, sugar, oil, yogurt, fresh lemon juice, vanilla extract, and lemon zest. Once that is evenly mixed, add your flour mixture in, and stir well to combine.
- Divide batter evenly between your 12-cup muffin cups using a rubber spatula to scrape the large mixing bowl clean.
- Place your muffin tin into your preheated oven and bake for 18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of a muffin for the perfect tender muffins.
- Remove lemon muffins and allow to cool.
- While the muffins are cooling, it’s time to make your simple lemon glaze.
- In a small bowl, combine your powdered sugar and lemon juice. Whisk until well combined.
- Once your muffins are cool, glaze your muffins as desired. You can drizzle glaze across the tops, or brush on gently for the perfect lemon poppy seed muffin!
- Serve and enjoy the best fluffy muffin breakfast or treat! I like mine with, you guessed it, a cup of coffee!
Dry Ingredients and Wet Ingredients for these Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Flour: All purpose flour works great for these muffins. If you want to make this recipe gluten free, you can substitute your favorite one for one gluten free baking mix. You’ll need 1 ¾ cups.
- Baking Soda: This is such an important ingredient! Once the baking soda is activated, it produces carbon dioxide–this is what makes your muffins light and fluffy! You’ll need ½ teaspoon.
- Salt: I find that using high quality sea salt just makes everything taste better! You’ll only need ¼ teaspoon for this muffin recipe.
- Poppy Seeds: Poppy seeds are not only so tasty, they are good for you! They are rich in antioxidants, promote good digestion and contribute to healthier hair and skin. You’ll need 1 ½ tablespoons.
- Eggs: Eggs are such an important binder in baking. Any brand of chicken egg will work, but for an even more nutritious and delicious option, use pasture-raised eggs! You’ll just need two eggs for this recipe.
- Sugar: Any type of white granulated sugar will work, but I prefer to use unrefined cane sugar to make it just a little bit healthier! You’ll only need ⅔ cups.
- Oil: Oil is one of my favorite ways to make my baking a little healthier. I love to use olive oil or avocado oil–they both give such great results! You’ll need ⅓ cup of oil for these muffins.
- Greek Yogurt or Sour Cream: This is the key to the rich, moist texture of these Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. Be sure not to use regular yogurt, as it will make your batter too runny. If you want to make this recipe dairy free, you can substitute with a plant-based whole milk yogurt (preferably greek yogurt) or sour cream, just make sure it is a thick consistency like the real thing! You’ll just need ⅓ cup.
- Lemon Juice: You can’t have Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins without the lemon, right?! I love to use freshly squeezed lemon juice for a great fresh lemon flavor, but jarred will do in a pinch. You will need ⅓ cup of lemon juice for your batter, and two tablespoons for your glaze.
- Vanilla: Vanilla extract gives such balance and helps all the flavors to meld together so well. One teaspoon is all you need!
- Lemon Zest: Lemon zest gives such a bright and fresh quality to these otherwise sweet muffins. It brings out the best flavor! You’ll need one tablespoon for this recipe.
- Powdered Sugar: You’ll need one cup of powdered sugar for the lemon glaze.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, they are a great (and sweet) way to get some extra nutrition in! Poppy seeds are rich in antioxidants and nutrients, and can encourage good digestion and skin and hair health. You can make these Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins even healthier for you if you use some of my healthy swaps I talk about above!
Yes, they are absolutely safe! If you are feeling hesitant, you can choose to wash them well beforehand, which makes them even safer!
I recommend storing these muffins in an airtight container on your counter for up to 3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days.
Homemade muffins are just one of the best things to make when things are busy and you still want to have something nutritious for your crew. Maybe that’s why I think you can never have too many muffin recipes to choose from!
I hope you give these Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins a try because they are truly a great recipe. If you do, let me know how you like them! Happy Baking!

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup Flour
- ½ tsp Baking soda
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 1 ½ tbsp Poppy seeds
- 2 Eggs
- ⅔ cup Granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup Oil
- ⅓ cup Greek yogurt or Sour cream
- ⅓ cup Lemon juice
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 1 tbsp Lemon zest
Glaze
- 1 cup Powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp Lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º
- Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and poppy seeds in a small bowl
- In a larger mixing bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, oil, yogurt, lemon juice, vanilla, and lemon zest
- Add flour mixture to egg mix, and stir to combine
- Divide batter between 12 paper-lined muffin cups, and bake in preheated oven for 18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
- Remove from oven and let cool
- While muffins cool, combine glaze ingredients
- Glaze muffins as desired