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.
Maya Mehrotra
I just made these and they’re bomb, thanks for the recipe!
Rachel
These muffins were so delicious! I used buttermilk instead of sour cream. However, mine did not brown on the top like the ones in the photos. They were fully baked at 18 minutes, so I didn’t want to leave them in the oven longer than that. Any idea why this happened?
joythebaker
Maybe they needed to be higher up in the oven, try the 1/3 mark to the top, that’s the perfect spot.
Rachel
I will try that next time! Thank you!
Gaga
I made these muffins because I had some poppy seeds to use. I am French and it seemed to me that lemon & poppy seed muffins were classical muffins and I hence had to give it a try. I was not really keen on it. I was definitely wrong. They were so good that I ended up having remorses for having eaten so much batter (couldn’t stop myself!) and I was left having only 11 tiny muffins. My family loved these. I will make them again in a couple of days. This recipe is a keeper: probably the best muffins I ever made.
Maria Vachon
These were so fun to make! Simple and really yummy. I think i messed up the glaze because it tends to drip off the sides. I tried putting the glaze in the fridge for a few hours but that didn’t seem to help either:( other than that the muffins are terrific!
Becca
I really liked how these turned out! I ended up making these and posting the pictures on my blog, if you’re interested. I was a little surprised how gloopy and lumpy the wet ingredients were after mixing them together, but it ended up taking delicious in the end, so that’s what matters!
Heidi
Great recipe. I love lemon. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Buy Here Pay Here
Missy
I bought poppy seeds about a month ago because I wanted to make a lemon poppy seed muffin that a certain “BAM” chef had on the Food channel. They came out….meh. So then I ran across your lemon poppy seed pancake recipe and those were scrumptious!
I still have like 1/3 of a pound of poppy seeds! (They were cheaper in bulk…luckily they don’t expire until next year.) So from the pancake recipe I got to these. I just finished making them for my daughter’s first day of fall break tomorrow morning. She loves all things lemon and poppyseed since I’ve started the whole adventure so I thought she’d enjoy these. So I made them tonight and I’ve already scarfed down one and am working on the second trying to figure out my story for my husband in the morning that I halved the batch. These are AMAZING. I followed the recipe to a tee, including the brown butter which I can TOTALLY taste. It adds a crispy (is that a flavor?) nutty thing to them that is so tasty. The only thing that I did do was add a whole other lemon of zest. I kept the juice the same, but I really, really like super lemony stuff. Other than that, all followed to the tee and without a doubt the best, fluffiest, most moist muffin I’ve ever made. Yay! Thanks for the recipe!
Katie O
They are in the oven and I already can see they are going to be amazing. I’ve never made muffins that actually rose above the pan……….SO EXCITED
Missy
Also, as an aside. I’ve noticed a lot of comments about how much healthier the cottage cheese substitution is. Cottage cheese is MUCH, MUCH saltier than buttermilk and if you use low fat buttermilk (which is what most stores carry) the fat content is almost the same. It might taste better, but I’m not sure if it’s actually healthier. Just something to consider.
Missy
That wasn’t meant to be a reply to your post. Oops!
Barefoot Pregnant and In The Kitchen
I just made this recipe today with a couple changes and blogged about it. This is by far the best muffin I have ever tasted. I’m in LOVE! I used yogurt instead of the buttermilk and basil instead of poppy. YUMMMMMMM
Missy
How much basil did you use? 2 tblspoons? That sounds so good! I must try…especially since I have basil in the garden and I totally love this muffin recipe. I’m ready to modify with new flavors.
Samantha
i just made these. joy, you are brilliant!
tia
I have these muffins in the oven right now! They smell great. My son keeps coming in the kitchen wanting to know when they will be ready. I love your blog and am having such a great time trying your recipes.
Charlotte
I just made this recipe the other day and it was great! I used whole wheat flour since that’s all we had, and it turned out pretty awesome. Thanks! They’re all gone now and I’m about to make some more.
Annika
I have lemons at home and found poppy seeds in my pantry.
I also keep a list of the things I want to bake and to my surprise had 2 recipes for these muffins. So I checked the list of ingredients to decide which one to make.
Well, they are identical. Yours seem to be an exact replica of Dorie Greenspans from the book “Baking: From my home to yours”. Sure, these are just muffins. Similarities aren’t uncommon.
I feel awkward, mentioning this now. At the same time, if you did use Dorie’s recipe, you should give credit, no?
MH
She does give Dorie credit. Not only is Dorie’s book shown in the photos of the muffin, but also at the top of the recipe, it says: “Adapted from…” with a link to Dorie’s book on Amazon. Duh!
Valerie
I’m totally making these tonight… they look SO good!
Great pics, too!
Deanna
Lemon poppy seed is my favvvvvvorite. Thankfully I cut this recipe in half because they came out of the oven about 10 minutes ago and I’ve already eaten 2. Delicious! Thanks for sharing, Joy!
Kim
I just finished devouring two of these so I figured that I oughtta come and leave a comment about how AMAZING these muffins are.
Albeit, I did make some changes, mostly to suit my husband’s diet:
I used Bob’s Red Mill’s All-Purpose Gluten-Free flour blend, and added xanthan gum accordingly. I also halved the amount of sugar and used honey instead, as he’s trying to stay away from white sugar (sadly this means no glaze for him *sniff*).
I also didn’t have sour cream OR buttermilk, so I used regular ol’ heavy whipping cream instead and figured it wouldn’t make too much of a difference since there’s a lot of lemon juice.
Overall, a wonderfully easy recipe to whip up on a whim. I can’t wait to make these again. Thanks so much, Joy.
ami
I love poppy seed muffins and I love your website. I’m sixteen and i am so passionate about baking. i aspire to own my own bakery one day.
Kirstin
Joy, these are amazing! I just ate one straight out of the oven (I didn’t even make the glaze yet) and they are soft and lemony and perfect. I opted for buttermilk and took them out of the oven before they got too brown. Thanks for the recipe!
Seisha
I made these today…. oh goodness…
they are so wonderful and perfect.
I made the icing out of a lime instead of a lemon because i used my last one in the batter… but it was a nice flavor.
jeanology
Made these last night to take to my boss today. She’s a super professional manhattanite who has never cooked for herself, much less baked something, so I’m having second thoughts about giving them to her. She already thinks I’m a hillbilly since I’m originally from the south. My mom always says “kill her with kindness,” which for me means baking someone’s favorite muffin. Fingers crossed she won’t cock one eyebrow and look down her nose at them . . . at least I know they’re delicious, though! Thanks for the recipe, Joy.
Lia
I LOVE lemon poppy seeds muffins and if eating them, can put me again into a bikini, I go straight to the kitchen (lol)!!
Amazing post, like always!
Cheers,
Lia.
Jen
These are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Just made them a few hours ago and glazed them. I made six jumbo muffins and cooked them for 21 minutes. They definitely weren’t dry, so not sure about those comments. I used the buttermilk and king arthur’s all-purpose flour. So good, and hubby loves them too! Thank you!
Casey
Hey everyone, i just got into baking and this is my favorite recipe so far. I took Irena’s advice with the cottage cheese and they turned out delicious and healthier! Thanks so much Irena and joy for your blog!! i would definitely recommend using the cottage cheese instead.
Irena
:) I just made these and they were absolutely fantastic!!! I made one alteration however instead of the buttermilk/sour cream I used low fat cottage cheese ( i blended it to a smooth consistency in a blender) . It sounds gross, I know, but it is a great and healthy substitute. They tasted fantastic, where moist and not spongy. I would definitely recommend this recipe especially with the adjustment. Ohh, and also i did not have enough lemon for the glaze so i just used milk and a touch of vanilla extract and it was amazing. Thanks for posting!! A great recipe best one I have found, did you make it up yourself???? : ) thanks
Anne
Hi! Possibly a weird question, but do the poppy seeds have to be ground for this recipe? In Europe we only use ground poppy seeds, and somehow I’ve been labouring under the impression that they were unhealthy in their plain condition. But it would be so much more convenient to use whole poppy seeds…
joythebaker
poppy seeds are super tiny dots. we don’t grind them here and they’re just lovely.
Lyndsey
I made these today and they are AMAZING!!!
Probably the best thing I have ever baked. Thanks Joy!
Max
Just made them for the second time… ready to get out of the oven and straight to the freezer… I’m pilling them up for the my B-Boyz next week! thanks for all the magnificent cupcake/muffin recipes… My kids love’em!!
TaraTakesTheCake
made these yesterday and they came out well, but not a home run. not a strong enough lemon flavor for me in the muffins themselves (although the delicious glaze saved them in that department), browned butter taste didnt come through at all, and mine were also (like the last poster) slightly tough. My batter was fairly dry, despite having used an extra half lemon. I think next time I will go with buttermilk instead of the sour cream (all I had on hand) and up the liquids slightly making it easier to stir together.
a good base, but for me needs some tweaking.
thanks for keeping up one of my favorite blogs!
Irena
When i made them with blended cottage cheese instead of buttermilk or sour cream they were just fantastic and not tough at all!!!! they were light and fluffy!!! Try getting low fat cottage cheese and blending till its smooth in a blender!!!! It is a great substitute and healthy too :)
Peggy
I just made them this morning. I didn’t realize there were more comments. Any ways my batter looked really dry but I had also subbed half the flour with whole wheat pastry flour that prob needed sifting first. I had just poured some milk into the batter and hoped that I wasn’t over mixing. I did use sour cream. I also used coconut oil instead of the browned butter.
Hettar7
Just made these yesterday. They have a really good really lemony flavor. I think I overmixed my batter a mite though as they were a little dense. Muffins should not be badass tough guys, they should be light on their feet sissy boys. But alas, I can never seem to restrain the muffin mixing hand. I loved the flavor of the brown butter, but I didn’t taste it in the muffins. Have you made this with just plain melted butter? Is there a discernible difference? Just wondering. I’m going to try these again and try, try, try to not overmix them. At least that’s the only thing I can think that I did “wrong”. If you can call any sort of muffin wrong. :)
Love your blog, btw.
Corinne
FYI, I made these thinking I could just butter and flour the muffin tins, but alas… they still would not break free, so I ended up with 12 beautiful muffin tops, and 12 sad little bottoms stuck in the pan… *pout
I know better next time, and will line with cupcake liners…
karin freeman
I made this, they are good. I felt you are a wee bit heavy on the butter, so I am going to make it again using two T less, and increasing the flour to 2 and 3/4. Also I was using myer lemons that were ripe and I couldn’t get a decent zest. I think I’ll freeze it. Nice pictures, descent presentation. Would you like to know how they turn out with changes? K
Stacy
I love to bake… so I was digging thru my spice cupboard and spied poppy seeds. Bought back when I was married? So… 2003? (cringe) lol! So I went searching for a lemon poppy seed something, and these were what I found.
Yum. They’re sublime and I totally agree, extra icing takes the cake. Thank you!
Nicole
Oh my god, how did I miss this post?!
Adding this to the growing pile of baking I am planning (key word) on doing this week, yummmm.
There was a local cafe I always lunched at in high school that made ginormous lemon poppy seed muffins with extra big tops… and sometimes they would have lemon curd centers, but not always. Hmmmm….
Cassie Allan
Oh Joy I finally made these muffins! Amazing and I think my new fav!!! They disapeared in an afternoon. They are such a light treat to eat as it is shaping up for another hot Christmas here in Australia.
My poor boyfriend was so upset that I didnt make enough for him to take to work and share…oh well will just have to make them again! Thanks for such inspiring tasty delights. You have inspired me to get into the kitchen more often. I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas! xxoo Cass
Jess
I just discovered your blog today, and I have to tell you that I cannot wait to make every single recipe you have on here! They all look soo delicious.
Avanika (Yumsilicious Bakes)
:D These look delicious!! And a Dorie recipe too! Must taste amazing too!
emily s
sooooooooo need to make these! hoping i can manage to find poppy seeds here ))
Bettye N.
Just wanted to say that I sure enjoying reading about your adventures in the kitchen, let alone the “wonderful” recipes that you tell us!!!!
Keep up the good work, you bring a “smile” on my face!!!
Geraldine
I love Joys muffins but these didn’t come out too great. They were very doughy in texture. Taste was muted. But I started using those silicone muffin wraps to save money. Do I need to adjust temperature? Joy please give some guidance.
Keri
You inspired me to finally bake these and I’m glad I did. They’re great! Thanks Joy! Happy Thanksgiving!
Laura
Can’t wait to try these.
Reagan
I have been crushing on your tree stump plate thingy! Where did you get it?!
Michelle Nardine R.D.
Joy, I was cracking up! My g-pa is a total ham radio freak (sorry g-pa for calling you freak). Not only does he have an entire room devoted to ham equipment, he even has his call letters on the license plate of his car. I remember talking to people from foreign countries with him when I was little. And I also remember getting on there with my friends when I was a little older and pranking people (very illegal to be unlicensed and ham). Great post!!
Sues
Mmmm these look yummy! And I LOVE the look of the icing :) Happy Thanksgiving!!
josephine
Lemon poppy seed muffins are my favorite pick at any coffee shop! .. i’m sure to try this recipe out!
CookiePie
Lovely! And extra glaze is the best :)
Sam
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. (:
Faye
Hey, Joy, I wanna know how your grandfather liked the muffins? Did they stack up?
Lisa
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’ ;)
alyssa
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
Beth
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!!!
tara
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
Andrea
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. :)
Jessanna
Ham Radio IS badass! Your so right! But noting compares to surviving the world meltdown with lemon poppy seed muffins!
Laura
These look fantastic! I’m a huge fan of muffins in general, and lemon poppy seed?? Yes, please! Thanks for the great recipe!
Sara
Lemon poppy seed muffins are my favorite! These look fantastic :)
Shoshana
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!
Bonnie Lewis
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
Rachel
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. :)
Jen
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!
Terresa Wellborn
Sweet fabulousness. You’ve done it again. Inspired my taste buds to drool all over the place! Love it! Love you!
Alicia
They look delightful.
Sassy Molassy
I love lemon poppyseed anything. YUM!
Linds
I have friend who is bringing me back poppy seeds from Germany for Christmas. These muffins will most certainly be made. Yum!
Eridqua
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!
Elizabeth
Someone in my family can’t eat poppy seeds, can I omit them?
joythebaker
Of course you can leave the poppy seeds out if you need to. These will still be dang good lemon muffins!
Posty
Joy as a ham radio operator……….great muffins
Dani
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.
Chaitali
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!
Evie
Breaker, breaker 1-9 … we got a driveby for some fab-looking lemon poppy seed muffins … over and out.
Food Hunter
great looking muffins.
Shauna from Piece of Cake
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.
jonquil
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…
Mandie
there aren’t any words for this…i just want to gobble those up!
Erika from The Pastry Chef At Home
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!
Scate
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.
KD5... (Patricia)
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.
Claire
My mom makes lemon poppyseed cake. It’s so amazing. I can’t wait to try these!
Jen-
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.
Rebecca
You’re right – Costco muffins are soooo good… but these look way better! I loved your story! :)
Rebecca
Love the muffins, they look great, the post had me rolling on the floor here at work!
christine louise
These muffins look great! I wish I were eating a lemon poppyseed muffin for breakfast right now. ;)
peachkins
the muffins look gorgeous!
Estela @ Weekly Bite
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!
Romy
That book looks familiar! I’ve made these muffins! They are pretty awesome.
Jessica @ How Sweet It Is
They look sooo good. I bet I would’ve eaten more than 5!
the domestic mama
wow~ once again you wow me with your fun stories and humour and photos! Thanks, Joy!
the projectivist
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.
Silvia
I love muffins, thank you very much! And lemon too, this is the right season.
Allie
This post cracks me up! I love this combination…pity I can’t get poppy seeds here in Singapore.
Sumi
Fabulous muffins and a hilarious post
Rebecca
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!
martina
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
middleagedmom
Those look delicious!
I haven’t been keeping up with your blog for a while now. I really like your new blog design!
marina mott
Looks so delicious!!! I love muffins!