Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
A warm cup of tea and bakery style lemon poppy seed muffins make for the most perfect afternoon snack.
Today, while the baby napped, I ate muffins, and sipped on a warm cup of tea. It’s the small things in life we hold near and dear, isn’t it? Well, our children more so, but also our warm (and life sustaining) caffeinated beverages. Anyways, I digress… I hope you enjoy these lemon poppy seed muffins!
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour (I used cake flour)
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp poppy seeds
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup plant milk + 2 tbsp of lemon juice mix and let sit for a few minutes to create a 'buttermilk'. I used cashew milk. Almond, oat, macadamia or coconut milk could be used.
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 2 flax eggs mix 2 tablespoons of ground flax with 6 tablespoons of water. Let sit until it thickens a bit, about 3-5 minutes.
- 1/3 cup plant-based butter, melted. I used Becel Vegan. Earth Balance would work too.
Glaze
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup sugar
- coarse sugar for garnish
Instructions
Muffins
- Preheat oven at 375. Grease wells of a muffin tin or line them with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and poppy seeds until combined. In a small bowl, combine the set flax egg, buttermilk, lemon zest and vanilla. Add the flax mixture to the flour mixture, stirring to combine. Add the melted butter and stir. Do not overmix. If you do, your muffins will be dense.Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the pan after 10 minutes, until the muffins are golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Glaze
- While muffin are baking, simmer sugar and lemon juice together in a small saucepan over medium heat until it turns into a light syrup, about 3-5 minutes. If you overcook, it will turn into hard candy.Let muffins cool in the tin for 5 minutes then remove and place on a cooling rack. Brush with lemon syrup. Sprinkle with coarse sugar. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins : Recipe Notes
- Flax eggs: Ground flax seed is sold everywhere, we get ours at w a l m a r t . Once opened, keep it in the fridge. Much like nuts and seeds, it can go rancid, but it keeps forever in the fridge. Flax eggs make for a great egg substitute in many baking recipes: to make one flax egg, combine one tablespoon of flaxseed meal and three tablespoons of water and allow to sit for about 5 minutes. From here, you can add this ingredient to your recipe just as you would an egg. Now, you can’t make a soufflé or scrambled eggs from flax seeds, but it works well as a substitute in many cases
- “Buttermilk”: This can be made with plant-based milk. I added lemon juice, for obvious reasons, but you could also use vinegar to ‘sour’ the milk.
- Plant-based butter: Most all grocery stores, even those in small rural towns like mine, now carry plant-based butters. W a l m a r t carries a few varieties as well.
- Glaze: The goal of the glaze is to add an extra pop of lemon taste to the muffins. You can omit, however the muffins won’t be as lemony. If you aren’t looking to create a sticky surface for coarse sugar to adhere too, a confectioners sugar based glaze would work nicely. In that case whisk confectioners (icing) sugar and freshly squeezed lemon juice together in a bowl until the glaze is just thin enough to pour. Then drizzle or pour over the muffins.