These lemon poppy seed muffins are bakery style muffins with huge lemon flavour! They are filled with a sweet meringue filling that makes you think of lemon meringue pies!
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🍋These muffins are perfect for spring & summer!
Lemon poppy seed muffins are so perfect for the warm seasons, with all their bright, tart, lemon taste! These muffins are moist and have the perfect bakery-style muffin tops to them.
I love lemon meringue desserts (see here!), and so I decided to add a meringue filling to these muffins. The meringue makes these muffins so reminiscent of lemon meringue pie. Although these muffins are pretty perfect on their own, the meringue is such a perfect addition!
These muffins are really easy to make. You simply stir the batter together in a couple of mixing bowls. No mixer required! To make it even easier, leave out the meringue. Or make the muffins the day before and then make the meringue and fill the next day!
🥘Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Milk - I use full milk in all my baking recipes. You can substitute with 2% milk, but I don't recommend using any lighter milk than that.
- Unsalted butter - You can substitute with salted butter. Omit the extra salt in the recipe.
- Lemons - Fresh lemons are best! You will need approximately 3 lemons for this recipe.
🔪Instructions
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
In a medium sized bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and poppy seeds together. Set aside.
Add sugar, milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Whisk in butter. Add in dry ingredients and stir until combined. Don't overmix.
Divide batter evenly between 12 muffin cups pan. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Meringue Filling
Add 2 inches of water to a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium heat.
Add sugar, cream of tartar, vanilla, and egg whites to a medium bowl, and place it over the saucepan with boiling water in it. Whisk until the egg mixture reaches 160°F (71°C). Remove from heat and use an electric mixer or a stand mixer to beat it until stiff glossy peaks form.
Use a knife or the sharp end of a small piping tip to cut a hole in the bottom of a muffin about ½-inch deep. Keep the cored muffin piece to use as a "plug." Use a pastry bag to pipe meringue filling into the muffin. Plug the hole up with some of the excess muffin. Repeat with all remaining muffins.
✔️Expert Tips
- Don't overmix the batter. This will cause gluten to over develop and will result in a tougher muffin. We want nice and tender muffins, so mix until the flour is just combined.
- Let the muffins cool completely before filling with the meringue. If they are too warm, they will be difficult to handle, and the meringue would melt.
- Want some more sweetness? A lemon glaze would be a nice addition. Mix together 1 cup powdered sugar and 1-3 tablespoons of lemon juice. Drizzle it over cooled muffins!
- You can make the muffins the day before filling them. Store at room temperature in a air tight container.
💭FAQs
Poppy seeds provide a slightly crunchy texture and a bit of nutty flavour, that goes so well with lemon!
Some people like to soak poppy seeds in warm water to make them more soft. I didn't add this step in my recipe, but if you don't like the crunchy texture, soak them ahead of time.
Poppy seeds are commonly used as spice or flavouring in foods. Baking with them are completely fine if used in small quantities. This recipe calls for only 1 tablespoon of poppy seeds.
🔖Related Recipes
📋 Recipe
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Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Ingredients
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice about 3 lemons
- 2 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
Meringue Filling
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large egg whites
Instructions
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners, and set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and poppy seeds together. Set aside.
- Add sugar, milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Whisk in butter.
- Add in dry ingredients and stir until combined. Don't overmix.
- Divide batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let muffins cool on a wire rack until fully cooled.
Meringue Filling
- Add 2 inches of water to a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium heat.
- Add sugar, cream of tartar, vanilla, and egg whites to a medium bowl, and place it over the saucepan with boiling water in it.
- Whisk until the egg mixture reaches 160°F (71°C). Remove from heat and use an electric mixer or a stand mixer to beat it until stiff glossy peaks form.
- Use a knife or the sharp end of a small piping tip to cut a hole in the bottom of a muffin about ½-inch deep. Keep the cored muffin piece to use as a "plug."
- Use a pastry bag to pipe meringue filling into the muffin. Plug the hole up with some of the excess muffin. Repeat with all remaining muffins.
- Store muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Notes
- Don't overmix the batter. This will cause gluten to over develop and will result in a tougher muffin. We want nice and tender muffins, so mix until the flour is just combined.
- Let the muffins cool completely before filling with the meringue. If they are too warm, they will be difficult to handle, and the meringue would melt.
- Want some more sweetness? A lemon glaze would be a nice addition. Mix together 1 cup powdered sugar and 1-3 tablespoons of lemon juice. Drizzle it over cooled muffins!
- You can make the muffins the day before filling them. Store at room temperature in a air tight container.
Did you try this recipe? Comment below to let me know ☺️