Bakery Style Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Spring is finally here and my baking is reflecting that! I'm starting this beautiful Spring morning off with my hot tea, my planner, and the perfect muffin! These Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are not too sweet making them perfect for breakfast. These muffins have a moist and tender crumb, with a burst of citrus lemon flavor. The poppy seeds provide a nice crunch and the cream cheese glaze adds a touch of sweetness. These lemon poppy seed muffins are absolutely perfect and scream SPRING!

HOW TO GET A HIGH RISE MUFFIN TOP

So this may seem like something that should be easy but once you try baking your own homemade muffins, you may realize its actually really hard. For awhile I was making batches of muffins wondering why they weren't rising. They tasted fine but they wouldn't rise above the muffin liner. I couldn't help but wonder why bakery muffins looked so much better. So of course I tried adding more baking powder and over filling the liners but nothing worked. After a million failed batches, I finally figured it out! Follow these tips exactly and you will have beautiful muffins every single time!

1. Use the exact ratio of baking powder to baking soda that is in the recipe.
2. Let your batter rest in the fridge overnight. I know this can be frustrating when you just want to eat a muffin... but it really helps! When your batter rests, it releases some of those air bubbles which helps your muffins rise!
3. Fill your muffin liners all the way to the very top! Now if you only do this step and not the others then your muffin will overflow and you will get a burnt, flat, muffin top mess. BUT if you follow all the other steps then they will rise up and not out!
4. Place your muffins in the top ⅔ of your oven (usually the second rack).
5. First bake your muffins at 425 degrees F for 10 minutes. Then without opening the oven door, lower the temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for another 10 minutes. This high temperature creates a burst in rise for your muffins. Then the lower temperature will help bake the inside of your muffins.

HOW TO MAKE THIS SUPER SIMPLE BATTER

So I am all about easy recipes with minimal cleanup. And that is this recipe for sure. All you need is one bowl and one whisk! Basically you start by mixing together all of your wet ingredients: sugar, eggs, oil, yogurt, lemon zest and juice, vanilla, and buttermilk. Then in the same bowl add your dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and soda, salt, and poppy seeds. And that is it!

HOW TO GET SUPER SOFT, MOIST, AND TENDER MUFFINS

The secret to super moist and tender lemon poppy seed muffins are a few key ingredients: buttermilk, yogurt, and oil. I have a rule for myself that I rarely break. For things that I want to be moist and cakey (such as muffins, cakes and cupcakes) I use oil. For things that I want to be gooey and chewy (like cookies and brownies) I use butter. And I swear by this! So you will notice that there is NO BUTTER in this recipe. The acid in the buttermilk and yogurt also helps these muffins to be incredibly tender!

Lastly, if you try out this Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins recipe, be sure to leave a comment/rating on how they turned out. I love hearing from you guys and will try my best to reply to every comment! And don’t forget to tag me on Instagram!