Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Jammy blueberries and the tartness of lemon elevate classic poppy seed muffins into something special. These are great for making ahead and freeze well–perfect for busy back to school mornings!

Cake for breakfast? Yes please! And these blueberry lemon poppy seed muffins check all the boxes. Perfectly sweet, studded with juicy, soft berries, giving the tang of lemons and the subtle bite and flavor of poppy seeds. They’re light and fluffy without being too much like cake.

And while they’re perfect for breakfast, my kids also love them for afternoon and bedtime snacking. You can make twelve regular sized muffins, or about 36 mini muffins. Choose wisely with the latter option–it’s easy to eat far too many.

Also, if you love this recipe, you’d also like lemon curd muffins! Same bright lemon flavor with a lemon curd center.

Tips & Notes for the Best Muffins

• Don’t over-mix the dry ingredients! If you do, the gluten in the flour will be activated, and the muffins will be less delicate and more dense.
• When you’re filling the muffin tins, fill them in a lattice pattern, skipping every other cup. This allows more heat to surround each muffin as it bakes, which creates a fluffier, rounder top on each muffin.
• If you only have Greek yogurt on hand, replace 2-3 tablespoons of the cup of yogurt with milk or your batter and muffins will be dry.
• It may seem like 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda isn’t going to be enough leavener, but I promise it really is. It reacts with the yogurt and lemon to make the muffins rise to the perfect consistency–not too fluffy, but not at all dense.
• I’m not a medical professional, but it’s good to know that poppy seeds can cause a positive on a drug test. So if you have to test frequently for work (or other) reasons, you can completely skip the poppy seeds in this recipe.

Can I use Frozen Blueberries in Muffins?

You can use frozen blueberries in muffins! You should know that the ice in the blueberries will melt into the dough and turn it a purple-y color, but it won’t affect the flavor or texture at all. Use the same amount of frozen blueberries as you would of the fresh.

Equipment You’ll Need

Muffins are pretty simple in the equipment department, and you probably have everything you need on hand.

• 12 cup muffin tin– these will make standard sized muffins, but you can also make 6 jumbo muffins or a lot of mini muffins. A lot is a scientific number, ok?
• Muffin paper cups– completely optional, but helpful in the dishwashing department! You can also directly grease the muffin tin cups if you prefer to avoid the waste of a paper liner
• Mixing bowl & spoon– for the actual making of the muffin batter.
• Measuring spoons & cups or scale– I like to weigh most of my ingredients with a baking scale, but measuring cups work great too! For smaller ingredients like salt and baking soda, I like to use a measuring spoon.
• Measuring scoop– This is completely unnecessary, but really handy. A portion scoop like this (typically they’re used for ice cream or cookie dough) gives you equal sized muffins quickly and with minimal mess.

Ingredients

• Butter–I prefer salted, but if you’ve only got unsalted, go for it!
• Granulated sugar
• Zest of a lemon
• Eggs
• Plain yogurt–you need regular yogurt, not Greek, due to the different liquid content. See the recipe notes on how to adjust the recipe if you only have Greek yogurt.
• Vanilla extract
• Fresh lemon juice–squeeze the above-mentioned lemon you’ve already zested
• All-purpose flour
• Salt
• Baking soda–aka, fluff powder
• Poppy seeds
• Blueberries–like I mentioned above, these can be fresh or frozen

How To Make Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Start by heating your oven to 400ºF and line 12 muffin cups with paper cup liners (or grease them).

In a mixing bowl, beat together the softened butter, sugar, and the zest of a lemon until they’re all well combined and fragrant. Add one egg and stir until it’s mixed in, the stir in the other. Add the yogurt, lemon juice, and vanilla extract and stir until the mixture is well combined. It may look a bit chunky and curdled, but don’t worry! Some dry ingredients will straighten it out.

Add the flour, poppy seeds, salt, and baking soda to the wet ingredients. Stir it all in until the flour is mostly combined, then gently fold in the blueberries.

Once the muffin batter is completely mixed, scoop it into the lined muffin tins. I like to put them in every other cup (like in the picture above). This gives the muffins more even heat around each cup, which helps give them a higher rise.

Place the filled muffin tin on the center rack of the preheated oven and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the edges are beginning to turn golden brown and the centers of the ovens feel firm and not squishy when you tap them.

Remove the muffins from the oven and, with a knife or fork, lift them from the pan. Allow them to cool some, but they are delicious served warm!

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