Start the morning right with these Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. Infused with lemon herbal tea and lemon zest for a delicate lemon flavor, the muffins get crunch from poppy seeds and a coarse sugar topping.
Make a muffin morning of it by serving a basket heaping with Carrot Muffins, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, and these fun lemon treats. These muffins are one of our favorite Tea Party Food Ideas.
Want to save this post?
Enter your email below and get it sent straight to your inbox. Plus, I’ll send you budget recipes and money-saving tips every week!
Early morning? Ooh, muffin sounds good.
Afternoon break? Yeah, I’ll take a muffin.
Bedtime snack? Tea and a muffin? Sure!
Muffins are basically a good idea anytime of day, but especially these Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. You can bake a big batch — or not. They freeze well both baked and unbaked, giving you lots of options for your muffin enjoyment.
Why Make This
They’re super tasty. Flavored with sweet-tart lemon with plenty of crunch from the poppy seeds, coarse sugar, and muffin top, these muffins are super delish.
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are simple to make. With a homemade muffin mix and the right equipment, you can whip up this bulk batch in minutes!
They freeze beautifully. Baked or unbaked, you can fill your freezer with a tasty treat to enjoy for weeks to come.
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to bake a batch of Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins:
lemon herbal tea – The tea acts as the chief liquid in these muffins. Depending on the variety you choose, you can subtly adjust the flavor of the muffins.
poppy seeds – These add crunch and flavor to the muffins. Soaking them in the tea makes them easier to digest. You can leave them out, but they wouldn’t be poppy seed muffins if you did. Be sure to try Lemon Poppy Seed Cake and Pumpkin Dinner Rolls as great ways to use up your package of poppy seeds.
plain yogurt – The plain yogurt, a budget staple to keep on hand, helps make the muffins light and fluffy. You can substitute buttermilk if you like or another milk mixed with a tablespoon of vinegar to bring some acid to the mix. That reacts with the baking powder in the muffin mix.
neutral oil – Use whatever oil you normally use in baking, such as canola, avocado, or sunflower. You can also use butter or margarine if you prefer.
eggs – Eggs help give the muffins a lift. You can use Flaxseed Meal Egg Substitute if you prefer.
homemade muffin mix – This mix is a must-make for the recipe. It’s super easy to make several batches at one time so you can easily make several different kinds whenever you want, such as these Chocolate Cream Cheese Muffins.
lemon zest – You can use fresh, dried, or frozen lemon zest. To change the flavor of the muffin, you can use grapefruit, lime, or orange zest if you prefer.
coarse sugar – This coarse sugar gives the muffin top a nice texture. You can omit it if you prefer.
Variation – Serve them with Sweet Cream Cheese and Lemon Sauce.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with muffin papers. Brew the tea and add the poppy seeds. Allow this mixture to cool.
- Discard the tea bags. In a large mixing bowl combine the tea, poppy seeds, yogurt, oil, and eggs. Whisk until well blended.
- Add the muffin mix and lemon zest. Fold just until combined.
- Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Sprinkle generously with the coarse sugar. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool the baked muffins on a wire rack.
Note: these are smaller, kid-sized muffins. You can easily divide the batter into 12 for super-sized Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins.
Freezing Instructions
To freeze muffins unbaked: Assemble the recipe as directed. Instead of baking, slide the pan into the freezer for several hours until the muffins are frozen solid. Remove the frozen muffin “pucks” from the pan and store them in an airtight container in the freezer. To bake, replace the frozen muffins into a muffin tin and bake, adding five minutes to the baking time if needed.
To freeze baked muffins: Bake the muffins according to the recipe and cool completely on the rack. Place in an airtight container or ziptop bag and store in the freezer, for up to 2 months.
FAQs
Poppy seeds are the edible oil seed of the opium poppy. They are used widely in pastry and bread. While derived from the same plant as opium, the seeds are not considered an opiate, however they can produce a false positive on drug tests.
To make this recipe vegan, you’ll need to make it without yogurt and eggs. Use Flaxseed Meal Egg Substitute for the eggs and substitute 7 tablespoons plant milk and 1 tablespoon vinegar for the yogurt. That will make these dairy-free as well as vegan.
These muffins are delicious served with breakfast or at a coffee or tea break. They can be glazed with a lemon juice-powdered sugar glaze, but they are also delicious split and toasted and slathered with butter and lemon curd.
Recipe Costs
Knowing how much it costs you to prepare a recipe can help you decide if it’s the type of recipe to make regularly or one you might want to save for special occasions. Let’s crunch some numbers and see how this recipe pencils out.
- tea – $0.30
- poppy seeds – $0.15
- yogurt – $0.60
- oil – $0.16
- eggs – $0.30
- muffin mix – $0.92
- lemon zest – $0.10
- coarse sugar – $0.12
Shopping at a mid-range grocery store at non-sale prices, you can expect to pay $2.65 for a bulk batch of these Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. This works out to 11 cents each!
While they are on the smaller size, there’s still no way the grocery store or bakery can beat that. If you prefer, you can make them double size.
More Great Muffin Recipes
Tell us what you think!
We love to hear your experiences with Good Cheap Eats. Click the STARS on the recipe card or leave a STARRED comment to let us know what you think of the recipe.
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Equipment
- large mixing bowl
- glass measuring cup
- wire whisk
- USA muffin pans
- parchment muffin papers
- wire rack
- ziptop freezer bags
- large airtight container
Ingredients
- 2 lemon herbal tea bags
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
- ½ cup plain yogurt
- ½ cup neutral oil
- 2 egg
- 1 batch Mix and Match Muffin Mix
- 1 lemon, zested
- 2 tablespoon coarse sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with muffin papers. Brew the tea and add the poppy seeds. Allow this mixture to cool.
- Discard the tea bags. In a large mixing bowl combine the tea, poppy seeds, yogurt, oil, and eggs. Whisk until well blended.
- Add the muffin mix and lemon zest. Fold just until combined.
- Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Sprinkle generously with coarse sugar.
- Bake about 20 minutes or until a tester comes out with a few crumbs attached. Cool the baked muffins on a wire rack.
- To freeze: cooled muffins can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published on April 25, 2011. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Marci
I dont have lemon tea readily available- what could I use instead? Lemon juice?
Jessica Fisher
I would substitute whatever kind of tea you have and a little lemon zest.