In the event of some sort of big fat natural disaster in California, I may be up a creek without a paddle. Sure, I’ve got the canned tuna, the emergency gallons of water and a few flashlights with dying batteries. I’ve got the walking shoes, a space blanket and pepper spray… you need those things, right? It’s just that I’m not sure the internets or my cellphone are going to do me much good in the event of a meltdown. Won’t all the cell towers be jammed? How am I going to reach out to my family? I don’t think Twitter will quite do the trick. Clearly my only option is to jog to them… in a space blanket. That seems to make the most sense.
My parents? I think they’re just ahead of me in the emergency game. They’ve got cell phones from 1993 and a telephone land line. At least the land line will come in handy.
My grandfather!? He’ll fare better than all of us in an emergency. He’s got Ham Radio. Ham Radio is a sort of amateur radio system that allows people to talk to one another all over the world. Don’t be fooled by the name. Ham Radio is actually pretty badass. Sort of like… trucker radio meets old school technology meets grandfather hobby. In emergencies, Ham Radio is booming. You better believe that in an emergency, my grandfather will be all over that radio. Who he’ll be talking to? I’m not exactly sure. He’ll probably be saving the world. I’ll be jogging my way to safety. My parents will still be screening their phone calls with their answering machine. Who is the hero? Grandpa.
I tell you all of this because Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (specifically the giant ((seriously giant)) kind from Costco) are my grandfather’s favorite. He no doubt has a 48 pack of those giant muffins in his emergency kit. You think I’m kidding. I’m not.
Note: my descriptions of Ham Radio here may hinge on trite and are most certainly superficial and inadequate.
How many of these muffins did I eat Sunday morning? What? You weren’t counting. Good. I did count and it wasn’t pretty… I ate five of these muffins with extra glaze. I had to. I did.
These are simple muffins. You know these muffins. They’re no big surprise to you. Lemon. Buttermilk. A little crunch from poppy seeds. Sugary lemon glaze. It’s a beautiful thing. If you’d like to freeze these beauties to enjoy all week, do so without the glaze. Success.
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
adapted from Baking
2/3 cup granulated sugar
zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk or sour cream
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick (8 Tablespoons) butter, melted until browned and cooled
2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar (for topping the batter before baking)
For the Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar whisked together with 2 or 3 Tablespoons of lemon juice
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 12 mold, regular sized muffin tray with paper muffin liners, place the muffin pan on a baking sheet and set aside.
In a large bowl, rub the granulated sugar with the lemon zest until the sugar is lightly colored and scented with lemon. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a medium sized bowl whisk together the eggs, buttermilk (or sour cream) vanilla extract, melted butter and lemon juice.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold together. When almost thoroughly mixed, add the poppy seeds. Divide batter between muffin cups. Sprinkle each would be muffing with granulated sugar.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until the tops are golden and a skewer inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.
Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before glazing. If you’re freezing the cupcakes for future eating, skip the glaze. It doesn’t freeze well.
{ 92 comments… read them below or add one }
Looks so delicious!!! I love muffins!
Those look delicious!
I haven’t been keeping up with your blog for a while now. I really like your new blog design!
Ah ah ah!! You’re soo funny! It seems to me you’re pretty organized for an emergency. Your grandad too. Why our parents are so different from their parents and us? Have you ever thought about that? It’s kind of strange… we are more likely our grandparents than our parents!
Enjoy the muffins, they look fabulous
Martina
Perfect timing, I love lemon and poppy seed, and happen to have both lemons and seeds waiting in the cupboard.
I’m not sure what I’d do in an emergency. Stay at home and quilt and knit like mad in the hopes of taking my mind off it. Definitely a reason to have a batch of these in the freezer. And you know, if the power went off, you’d just have to eat them all. Shame!
Fabulous muffins and a hilarious post
This post cracks me up! I love this combination…pity I can’t get poppy seeds here in Singapore.
I love muffins, thank you very much! And lemon too, this is the right season.
oh my lord they look GOOD!
isn’t that image of the mountain of poppy seeds just waiting to be combined, amazing?
i am making these for a breakfast meeting tomorrow morning.
wow~ once again you wow me with your fun stories and humour and photos! Thanks, Joy!
They look sooo good. I bet I would’ve eaten more than 5!
That book looks familiar! I’ve made these muffins! They are pretty awesome.
I love the Costco Muffins!! I can see them being part of my emergency kit ;)
I’ve never made lemon poppy seed muffins before, but they’re one of my favorite!
the muffins look gorgeous!
These muffins look great! I wish I were eating a lemon poppyseed muffin for breakfast right now. ;)
Love the muffins, they look great, the post had me rolling on the floor here at work!
You’re right – Costco muffins are soooo good… but these look way better! I loved your story! :)
How fortunate you have a grandfather! Mine both passed when I was very young. Only memories are of two random photos. But to have grandfather memories AND a food memory with him….huge blessing. Looking forward to these muffins, I love lemon in baked goods. Just not my water. Haha.
My mom makes lemon poppyseed cake. It’s so amazing. I can’t wait to try these!
Joy, thank you for the recipe for the muffins!
BUT, I need to take exception to the way you worded the third paragraph. In addition to making all of the baked products we eat, I am also a Ham Radio operator. You said that “Ham radio is a sort of amateur radio system that allows people to talk to one another.” In reality, the term Ham Radio operator IS a slang term for Amateur Radio operators who are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission in the USA, and their corresponding federal governmental organizations around the world. To get a license, we have had to pass technical tests and then be authorized by the government to operate our radios within limited frequencies, in compliance with various legal standards dictated by governments. Anyone can listen, but only those people who have been licensed can transmit, (talk).
For those that do not care to be legal, the CB, (Citizens Band), radios are available in stores around the world. The difference is that CB radios are limited to 40 set frequencies, generally with a range of 5 to 10 miles, while Ham radios can talk to people around the world, and even to those in “outer space”, but only if they have the proper licenses. There are several “bands” allowing different ranges, but to purchase a radio with different ranges, the buyer must produce a copy of their federal license showing that they are permitted to use the set of frequencies that the radio is capable of transmitting on.
These look fantastic. I’m guessing that your fresh muffins are unlike anything found at Costco other than in size. I could use one this morning – the lemon somehow signals “WAKE-UP” – and I could use that right now.
Okay seeing how you ate 5 of those delicious looking glazed muffins, I have officially stopped feeling terrible about the THREE chocolate cupcakes I ate yesterday while testing a new recipe.
ps: Oh snap. Patricia the Ham Radio Operator got all technical on you!
there aren’t any words for this…i just want to gobble those up!
lemon poppy–my fave muffine! :) btw–20 lb bag of rice, dozen or so cans of tuna, jug of canola oil, bottled water, & maybe some powdered milk. boring yes, set for disaster yes…
Sweet lookin’ muffins! I would love to find the person who thought up the lemon-poppyseed combo and kiss them on the mouth. Always a winner!
And Joy, thanks for taking one for the team. We’ve all learned our lesson about referring to Ham Radio on our blogs.
great looking muffins.
Breaker, breaker 1-9 … we got a driveby for some fab-looking lemon poppy seed muffins … over and out.
I love lemon-poppyseed muffins!
They were the only kind of muffins I would eat when I was a kid..besides chocolate, of course.
Thanks for the recipe!
These muffins sound incredible! Your parents knew what they were doing when they named you Joy. I always leave your blog happy. Thanks, and happy Thanksgiving.
Joy as a ham radio operator……….great muffins
Someone in my family can’t eat poppy seeds, can I omit them?
Of course you can leave the poppy seeds out if you need to. These will still be dang good lemon muffins!
Hooray! I have been testing loads of different poppyseed muffin recipes, and I can’t seem to find one I like. Maybe this will be it! I’m excited to try it and find out. Thanks for the recipe!
I have friend who is bringing me back poppy seeds from Germany for Christmas. These muffins will most certainly be made. Yum!
I love lemon poppyseed anything. YUM!
They look delightful.
Sweet fabulousness. You’ve done it again. Inspired my taste buds to drool all over the place! Love it! Love you!
This is in the oven right now. However, not in muffin form but in a round cake pan since I figured out too late that I don’t own 2 muffin tins and lent one to a friend! I don’t care what shape they’re in, I just can’t wait to eat it!
So I have to admit that I follow your blog; not to recreate the recipes but to modify them for my diet. (That said, I can’t have anything that is bleached or refined or I end up with a horrible reaction internally that is quite disgusting… that means no normal flours or sugars.) What I am trying to say is that this recipe looks perfect in every way and I don’t know what I am going to do to tweak it to fit into my odd dietary restrictions. Any hints would be LOVELY! Thanks for all the great ideas and the yummy photos of treats. :)
these look GREAT and i am all about not being prepared for an emergency. cause i guess, that’s what an emergency is. not being prepared and kind of winging it. our house burned down when i was little. we did what we could. we are still alive today. and i love muffins
Those lemon poppyseed muffins from Costco use to be my absolute favorite. I hadn’t thought about them in years and it puts a smile on my face knowing that now I have a great recipe to make them (although probably as more normal size muffins) at home. Thanks!
Lemon poppy seed muffins are my favorite! These look fantastic :)
These look fantastic! I’m a huge fan of muffins in general, and lemon poppy seed?? Yes, please! Thanks for the great recipe!
Ham Radio IS badass! Your so right! But noting compares to surviving the world meltdown with lemon poppy seed muffins!
YUM! Lemon poppyseed muffins are one of my favorite flavors. Thanks for sharing!
And I loved the hilarity of this post, so cute as always. :)
omg i would bite the screen of my computer if i thought it would leave me with the taste of those amazing looking muffins. lemon poppy seed were my childhood fav and i havent had them in FOREVER. im sooooo making these
HI! I was wondering if you have any tips for hi altitude muffing baking. Mine tend to be flat and dense here at 4000 ft.
Thanks!!!
hi there!
tried to answer your tweet but don’t know if you got it in regard to etsy shops–i’d love it if you featured mine
alyssaettinger.etsy.com
these muffins look so freakin’ good, and as per usual, you hit the nail on the head…in this past week, i was looking for a recipe for…(drum roll please)… lemon poppyseed muffins. so once again, i am amazed. i shall try your recipe.
hay joy — you should put out a cookbook, i know i would buy it! just don’t call it ‘the joy of cooking’ ;)
Hey, Joy, I wanna know how your grandfather liked the muffins? Did they stack up?
So these muffins look just godly. So good. Way better than the chemistry test i’m supposed to be studying for. Well, i know what i’m doing after school. (:
Lovely! And extra glaze is the best :)
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