Healthy Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
These Healthy Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are light, fluffy, and bursting with lemon flavour! They’re soft and fluffy and perfect for a healthy breakfast, snack or treat!
The best lemon poppy seed muffins
Can we just take a minute to appreciate how amazing this duo of lemon and poppy seed is? I don’t know about you but I’m a BIG FAN.
Especially when it comes to baked goods, my eyes light up whenever I hear the words…”lemon poppy seed.” Heck, I’ve made Lemon Poppyseed Bliss Balls and Lemon Poppy seed Spelt Pancakes, so naturally, I decided it would be the right move to stock my kitchen full of the best lemon poppy seed muffins.
So what makes for the best lemon poppy seed muffins?
First off, I think a good muffin recipe should always be easy to make. Which means you won’t need any mixers or fancy kitchen gadgets to make these. (Ok, you will need a muffin pan though.)
I love these muffins because they’re filled with fresh, light healthy ingredients. Which makes them perfect for breakfast, a snack or a dessert.
Let’s take a closer look at what we’ve got going on in these muffins, shall we?
- Greek yogurt for some added protein
- Spelt flour for healthy whole grains (though you can easily substitute gluten-free flour or all-purpose flour if you prefer)
- Organic cane sugar (not too much, but just the right amount to make them sweet)
- PLENTY of lemon and poppy seeds!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Easy to make. These muffins are super easy to make right in a mixing bowl without having to use a stand mixer or hand mixer. They also have minimal cleanup!
- Simple ingredients. These lemon poppy seed muffins are made with simple ingredients for a healthier muffin that’s not too sweet.
- Freezer-friendly. Made too many muffins? No problem! These muffins store well in the freezer for up to 2 months.
How to make lemon poppy seed muffins
Step 1
Whisk together the egg, greek yogurt, avocado oil and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl until well combined. In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar and lemon zest.
Step 2
Whisk the lemon sugar into the bowl of wet ingredients until combined. Then add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and gently fold everything together.
Step 3
Add the poppy seeds to the muffin batter and gently fold them together again to combine.
Step 4
Line a muffin pan with muffin liners and bake the muffins in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Once the muffins are baked and cooled you can optionally add the lemon glaze on top, though it’s not necessary and the muffins are delicious as is!
How to store
Store these muffins in an airtight container on the countertop for up to 5 days or in the fridge for up to 7 days.
These muffins are also freezer-friendly. To freeze the muffins place them in a freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to 2 months. To defrost the muffins let them thaw on the countertop.
Tips for making lemon poppy seed muffins
- Mix up the flour. If you can’t find spelt flour, you can use all-purpose flour a 1-1 gluten-free flour blend, or half whole-wheat flour and half all-purpose flour.
- Don’t substitute with almond flour or coconut flour. These types of flour cannot be used in an equal ratio to wheat flour as they absorb much more liquid. The muffins won’t turn out properly with these flours.
- Make them dairy-free. To make these muffins dairy-free, use plant-based yogurt (like coconut yogurt) and plant-based milk.
- Don’t overmix the batter. This will create dense muffins. Just gently mix until everything is incorporated.
- Make it a lemon poppy seed loaf. To make this recipe into a loaf, use an 8×4 inch loaf pan and bake for 45-60 minutes.
More muffin recipes to try
- Oat Flour Banana Muffins
- Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Healthy Banana Nut Muffins
- Healthy Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
- Vegan Coffee Cake Streusel Muffins
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
If you tried these Healthy Lemon Poppy seed Muffins or any other recipe on the blog let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment/rating below! Be sure to follow along on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook for even more deliciousness!
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Healthy Lemon Poppy seed Muffins
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
- Category: Breakfast, Snack, Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
These healthy lemon poppy seed muffins are seriously just the BEST. Soft and fluffy, sweet and tangy, they’re the perfect breakfast treat!
Ingredients
Muffins
- 1 3/4 cups Spelt flour (can sub all-purpose flour, 1-1 gluten-free flour )
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp lemon zest
- 1/2 cup organic cane sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 cup greek yogurt (can sub dairy-free yogurt)
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/3 avocado oil (can sub any neutral-tasting oil)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp poppy seeds
Lemon glaze
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a muffin pan.
- Mix the sugar and lemon zest together in another bowl.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, Greek yogurt, milk, lemon juice, avocado oil and vanilla extract.
- Add the lemon sugar to the wet ingredients and mix until the sugar is dissolved.
- Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the bowl of wet ingredients and gently mix just until combined. Don’t overmix.
- Add the poppy seeds and gently mix again.
- Spoon the batter into the muffin pan filling 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake for 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- To make the glaze mix together the powdered sugar and lemon juice, then use a spoon to drizzle the glaze onto the muffins. (Let the muffins cool before adding the glaze.)
Notes
The lemon glaze is optional. These muffins are delicious too without it!
Store in an airtight container on the counter for 5 days or in the fridge for 7 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 150
- Sugar: 9g
- Fat: 6g
- Carbohydrates: 23g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 5g
Keywords: healthy lemon poppy seed muffins, easy lemon poppy seed muffins
Have you tried a vegan substitute for the egg? They look good, but I need them to be vegan.
Any ideas?
Try using a flaxseed egg! Use 1 Tablespoon of ground flaxseed, and mix 1 Tablespoon of hot water into it. (Make sure the water is warm/hot otherwise it doesn’t work well) Mix together, let it sit for 5ish minutes and it’ll be kind of mucus-y like a regular egg! But 1 Tbspn flaxseed egg, is the 1:1 equivalent to a regular egg. I’ve tried this with other recipes when cooking for my vegan brother in law and have had good luck, so I’m hoping this does the trick for you!
I was at whole foods yesterday and they had samples of lemon poppy seed muffins. Of course they were so delicious but they were also 700 calories and so much sugat. I thought I’d try and make my own muffins. I’m shocked at how good these are. Pretty simple recipe and very moist. I swapped out the oil for butter (I only had spray avocado oil) and I used monk fruit instead of sugar. Thanks so much for this recipe
★★★★★
So happy you enjoyed them 🙂
I love, love, love these muffins! They always turn out lovely. Not too sweet but enough to satisfy a sugar craving. Very quick to prepare and easy to make. Thank you for sharing.
If I wanted to make a chocolate chip version of this. Substituting the poppy seeds for chocolate chips and lemon zest/juice for maple syrup, would that work?
★★★★★
So happy you loved the recipe Carla 🙂
Great recipe. I have been scouring the web for a healthy lemon poppyseed recipe. Most use a whole stick of butter or a full cup of sugar.
I made a few swaps, 1 & 1/2 cups of all purpose flour and 1/4 of whole wheat flour. I had yogurt on hand but not plain yogurt so I substituted sour cream.
Anyway the lemon flavor was spot on.
Thanks
Barb
Glad you enjoyed Barb!
What would the baking time be to make these as Mimi muffins?
Hi Ann! I haven’t tested these out as mini muffins- but I imagine they would need around 10 minutes
Is it a total of 1 3/4 cup flour? Confused be the 1-1? Thanks
Hi Kathleen, the total is 1 3/4 cup of flour. The suggestion in the brackets is that you can substitute the flour for a 1-1 gluten-free flour, if you’d like to make these gluten-free. A 1-1 gluten-free flour means a gluten-free flour that contains xantham gum and a balance of ingredients that you can equally substitute it for regular flour.)
I used 1cup erythritol and few drops of stevia to make this no added sugar. They tasted so good! Bit doughy and all stuck to the paper… then I realised id left the butter out! Oops it was still cooking in the microwave! Will make them tomorrow with the butter! And these ones won’t go to waste.
★★★★★
Hope they came out the second time !:)
Sorry…. is the spelt flour whole wheat or white ?
thanks
You can use either! I use white
LOVE these muffins!!!! So so good and fluffy
★★★★★
Thanks Hannah! Happy you enjoyed!
Hi Jess! Would it be possible to substitute the butter/ coconut oil with vegetable oil like canola? Should the amount remain the same? Thanks so much !
yup! wouldn’t be a problem, same amount.
Super yummy and easy to make!! Perfect lemon flavor. I made mini loaves instead of muffins, so I baked them for 10 extra minutes.
★★★★★
So happy you liked them Agnes! Great tip on using a mini loaf pan!
Hi! Is Greek yogurt for this recipe plain or vanilla?
Thanks. 🙂
Hi Sheryl! This recipe calls for plain, but vanilla would work too! Would add a little bit more sweetness 🙂
I just made these muffins using gluten free flour and maple syrup instead of cane sugar. The muffins came out nice and fluffy, however, I should’ve added more maple syrup as they are not sweet at all. Also I don’t taste the lemon much. Next time I would add more Lemon zest.
★★★★
Maple syrup tends to bake down in terms of sweetness, whereas cane sugar stays the same, so that part makes sense! I’m glad some of the substitutions worked!
Always beautiful pictures! I just love it !
I made the recipe yesterday, with coconut flour and rice flour. I added almond milk because it was very pasty. And during the cooking : It remained the same, as not cooked, it remained flat and white. Is it because of the flours ?
I put the Greek yogurt and all the other ingredients, like your recipe 🙂
Thank you so much !
Thank you so much! The issue your having is because of the flour you used. Coconut flour cannot be substituted like other flours, it absorbs much more liquid than a typical flour does and can lead to very dense dry baked goods if not used properly. I would recommend just using a whole wheat flour, or a 1-1 gluten-free flour for these muffins 🙂
Have you tried subbing coconut sugar for the cane sugar to make it refined sugar free? Do you think I would need to add extra coconut sugar since it’s not quite as sweet after baking? I’m excited to try this recipe, it looks great!
Hi Sarah, you can definitely use coconut sugar! I don’t believe you would need more, though this may alter the colour of the muffins a bit it will taste great!
Do you think I could possibly sub applesauce or honey for some or all the sugar?
Hi Julia, I wouldn’t recommend subbing applesauce for honey, this will change the texture of the muffins. If you want to cut down the sugar I’d replace half of the honey with some stevia!
They sound and look amazing. Never tried this combo before. I think it´s time 🙂
Happy Monday
★★★★★
Thank you Melanie! I hope you enjoy! xo
The texture of these muffins looks PERFECT!! They’re so fluffy!
Thanks Sarah! They’re super yummy 🙂
Hello! I am planning on making these muffins some time next week but I only have chia seeds. Would I be able to sub chia seeds for poppyseeds, or should I try to find poppyseds instead. Thanks!
Hi Ava, you can use a small amount of chia seeds, though i do highly recommend poppy seeds for the flavour