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Healthy Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe Rate Recipe
Posted:3/2/20
Updated:3/6/20

A healthier take on a classic flavor, these Whole Grain Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are made using whole grain flours, a little oil and happen to be dairy-free. Moist, flavorful and perfect for lemon lovers!

Recipe and post originally published in March 2016. Photos and recipe slightly updated (with better results!) March 2020.

glazed lemon poppy seed muffin pinterest

Is anyone else obsessed with lemon poppy seed? It’s one of my FAVORITE flavors and Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are one of my top favorite muffins.

Basically if I am picking baked goods it’s:

  1. chocolate (and/or peanut butter)
  2. banana (and/or peanut butter)
  3. lemon

Not necessarily in that order… it definitely depends on the baked good or dessert.

Anyways, I thought I’d share this post has been given a tiny bit of a facelift! I am talking new photos and a few modifications made to the recipe that I feel better about compared to the original version.

As my site gets older, I’ve been going back to some of my original favorites from several years ago and re-testing them to make sure they’re going to give you the best results.

This is one of those recipes that I felt needed some tiny tweaks…

Don’t worry, if you made this recipe before and loved it, you won’t even be able to tell a difference!

A Healthy Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin Recipe

glazed lemon poppy seed muffin

These lemon poppy seed muffins use a mix of whole wheat white flour and oat flour. I like using oats here for a little fiber boost but between you and me… I’ve made this recipe with just whole wheat pastry flour and the results are just about the same.

However you decide to make these muffins, they’re moist and bursting with lemon-y goodness.

AND

They’re made with some healthier ingredients including >>

  • whole wheat white flour
  • oat flour
  • freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • a non-dairy milk of choice
  • coconut oil

Let’s Talk About How Lemon Muffins

Muffins are easy peasy, lemon squeezy. You can use an electric mixer to speed things up, or mix by hand.

Get out all of your ingredients, bowls, measuring cups and muffin pan and let’s get to it.

Step 1 – lemon juice + milk

We’re essentially making a homemade buttermilk here by adding the lemon juice and milk together. I like to use my glass measuring cups for this.

Step 2 – mix dry ingredients

Add the flours, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest in one bowl and set aside.

Step 3 – mix wet ingredients

Whisk together the sugar with oil, then add in eggs and the milk-lemon mixture.

Step 4 – time to combine

Now it’s time to combine the ingredients together to create the lemon poppy seed muffin batter.

mixing bowl with lemon poppy seed muffin batter

Step 5 – transfer to muffin pan

You can spray with oil, use liners, or use a silicone pan.

Evenly distribute muffin batter into the 12-cup muffin pan, filling about 3/4 way full.

lemon poppy seed muffin batter in muffin pan
Top with even more lemon zest if you’d like!

Step 6 – Now we Bake

Bake the muffins at 375ºF for about 15 minutes – check with inserted toothpick at this time for wet batter. If just little crumbs (or no crumbs) comes out on toothpick, your muffins are done!

cooled lemon poppy seed muffin in pan

And a little lemon glaze is always a good idea with muffins. You can mix about 1/2 cup powdered sugar with 1/2 tsp lemon juice for a drizzle glaze.

You could also opt for melted coconut butter!

Or leave plain…

  • half of lemon poppy seed muffin with glaze
  • half lemon muffins on pink plate

Whatever you decide, these muffins need to get on your list!

If you make this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and review below! I love hearing from you, and it helps others learn about the recipe too! Xx Ashley

glazed lemon poppy seed muffin

★★★★★

5 from 4 reviews

How to Make…

Healthy Whole Grain Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins [dairy-free]

A healthier take on a classic flavor, these Whole Grain Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are made using whole grain flours and coconut oil. Dairy free!

  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 25 mins
  • Yield: 12 1x
  • Scale:
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Ingredients

  • 1 cup whole wheat white flour (or whole wheat pastry)
  • 3/4 cup oat flour
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar 
  • 2 1/2 TBS poppy seeds
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • zest of 3 medium lemons
  • 1/4 cup room temperature non-dairy milk (oat, cashew, coconut, etc.)
  • 1/3 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice, approximately 3 small lemons
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted & cooled (or avocado)
  • 1/4 tsp pure almond extract (or vanilla)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375ºF and line muffin pan with liners or grease with oil; set aside.
  2. In a glass measuring cup add lemon juice and milk together, set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl stir together both of the flours, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest. Set aside.
  4. In a large bowl whisk together oil, sugar and egg; slowly stir in lemon-milk until combined.
  5. Add dry ingredients to bowl of wet ingredients, slowly stirring until just combined (don’t overmix).
  6. Evenly disperse batter into greased muffin pan, filling about 3/4 way full. 
  7. Bake muffins for 15-20 minutes, checking muffins at 15 minutes with inserted toothpick. Allow muffins to cool in pan for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack. 
  8. Store muffins in container at room temperature – best enjoyed within 3-4 days.

Recipes Notes:

FLOUR: You can also use unbleached all-purpose flour. I would add 2 more tablespoons if going this route.

*When using melted coconut oil, it is always a good idea to use the rest of the ingredients at room temperature, as to make sure the coconut oil does not solidify. Just set out your egg and milk about 30 minutes before prepping the rest of the ingredients.

Nutrition Information:

  • Serving Size: 1
  • Calories: 204
  • Sugar: 12
  • Sodium: 238
  • Fat: 6
  • Saturated Fat: 4
  • Unsaturated Fat: 2
  • Trans Fat: 0
  • Carbohydrates: 32
  • Fiber: 1
  • Protein: 3
  • Cholesterol: 16mg
Category: Muffins Method: Baking Cuisine: American
Keywords: Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, healthy muffins
Author: Ashley @ Fit Mitten Kitchen

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Like this recipe? Pin it for later

lemon muffins pinterest

Photos by: Erin Alvarez.

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Reader Interactions

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  1. Jess @hellotofit says

    3/11/2016 at 7:49 pm

    I HATE zesting, as well. Whenever I go to Homegoods I”ll pick up a microplane b/c I know they’re amazeballs…but then I put it down and pick up some piece of decor. Oops.

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      3/14/2016 at 6:09 am

      Hahhah, yes I know what you mean. 😉

      Reply
  2. Chelsea LeBlanc says

    3/12/2016 at 1:23 pm

    These look AMAZING!!!

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      3/14/2016 at 6:08 am

      Thanks Chelsea! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Kristy @ Southern In Law says

    3/12/2016 at 2:50 pm

    These look amazing! I always go for fruity muffins like blueberry or banana but Jesse will ALWAYS choose lemon/orange and poppyseed if it’s available (and he HATES blueberry muffins which I think is totally odd! Haha)

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      3/15/2016 at 6:11 am

      Oh it would totally be a toss up for me between banana and lemon! Buutttt for some reason I’m leaning towards lemon right now. But now I am craving blueberry muffins so I think that flavor needs to be up on the blog next! Thanks Kristy 🙂

      Reply
  4. Pal says

    3/18/2016 at 3:08 pm

    I cannot believe how many bloggers don’t have a microplane zester…. They’re life-changing!!!!

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      3/19/2016 at 2:44 pm

      Hahaha, will definitely be buying one before I zest anything else for another recipe :-p

      Reply
  5. Pal says

    3/21/2016 at 11:42 pm

    I had to comment again, bud. I could honestly CRY, this muffin is so delicious. Andy actually just made an audible sound as he ate his…. NO JOKE. Please make many, many more muffins with this base. Really close to the top of my FMK list….

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      3/22/2016 at 5:53 am

      Oh em GEE Pal! YAY Gosh I can always count on you to reassure me if my baked goods are truly good 😀 <3 love you so much!

      Reply
  6. Katie says

    3/24/2020 at 4:34 pm

    These turned out amazing! I’ve never melted coconut butter for a drizzle..so good! Thank you 🙂

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      3/26/2020 at 6:57 pm

      So glad you liked, Katie! Thanks so much for sharing and leaving a review!

      Reply
  7. D says

    4/13/2020 at 10:38 am

    Can I use brown sugar or coconut sugar or maple syrup or honey? If so what portion would you recommend? I’m trying to avoid white sugar

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      4/13/2020 at 10:40 am

      Yes you can use brown or coconut – same amount! The muffins will be a little darker in color but subbing another granulated sugar here is the best option (versus maple syrup or honey).

      Reply
  8. Steph says

    5/5/2020 at 10:38 am

    These are so good! I made them with a gluten free 1:1 mix, with arthur and bobs red mill and they taste great

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      5/5/2020 at 10:39 am

      Awesome! So glad you were able to use that mix too 😀 Thanks for sharing. It’s a huge help!

      Reply
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