These bakery-style Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are tall, moist, fluffy, and full of juicy blueberries. The poppy seeds add a lovely texture. These muffins are finished with a tangy lemon glaze.
These muffins combine two of my favorite flavors, blueberry and lemon poppy seed. They are perfect for spring.
If you love these, try my Blackberry Lemon Bread next. It has a very similar texture and is baked in a loaf pan.
Looking for a savory muffin recipe? Try my Bacon & Cheese Muffins.
My Cheddar Chive Muffins are another blog favorite!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Soft – The texture is super soft and fluffy.
- Moist – The sour cream/yogurt ensures these muffins do not dry out.
- Tall – The baking powder in the batter and resting time creates a tall domed muffin.
- Loaded with blueberries – Not only do the blueberries add flavor and texture, they also add moisture.
- Extra lemon – This recipe is loaded with lemon juice and zest ensuring a prominent lemon flavor. They are also finished with a simple & tangy lemon glaze.
- Hint of almond – The little bit of almond extract gives these muffins a rich flavor.
- Perfect for spring – The combination of the berries and lemon scream spring/summer.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Milk: Any milk will work, dairy or nondairy.
- Almond Extract: Almond extract has a strong flavor that gives the batter that signature lemon poppy seed flavor. If you do not like it, it can be omitted. I personally love it.
Complete list of ingredients and amounts is located on the recipe card below.
How to Make Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Quick Overview
- Whisk the dry ingredients.
- Whisk the wet ingredients.
- Fold together & rest.
- Fill liners.
- Bake & cool.
- Glaze!
Step by Step Instructions
Do not overmix the batter. Once the flour is absorbed, immediately stop folding.
Step 1: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Step 2: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, eggs, sour cream, milk, lemon juice, zest, poppy seeds, vanilla, and almond extra until well combined.
Step 3: Pour the dry ingredients into the wet. Fold until the flour is about halfway absorbed.
Step 4: Pour in the blueberries and continue folding just until all of the flour is absorbed. Cover with a towel and let the batter rest at room temperature for 1 hour. (Option: Rest overnight in the refrigerator.)
Step 5: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a 12 count muffin pan with paper liners. (Option: For taller muffins, only fill every other muffin cup (six total).) Once the batter has rested, do not stir. Gently scoop the batter into the prepared cups, filling them all the way to the top.
If you glaze the muffins while they are still slightly warm the glaze will absorb more.
Step 6: Bake the muffins for exactly 7 minutes. After 7 minutes and while the muffins are still in the oven, immediately reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. Bake for another 13-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.
Step 7: While the muffins bake, make the glaze. Whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice until smooth.
Step 8: Allow the muffins to cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan and then remove them. Drizzle each muffin with glaze.
Expert Tips & Variations
- Use a kitchen scale. Weighing the ingredients yields more accurate measurements. If the muffins come out dry, there was likely too much flour added. If you do not have a scale, be sure to spoon the flour gently into a measuring cup and then level the top with the back of a butter knife. Be sure to not compact or scoop the flour with the measuring cup.
- Make the batter in advance. You can either rest the batter on the counter at room temperature for one hour or you can make it the night before and rest it in the refrigerator covered.
- Mix up the berries. Try this recipe with blackberries or raspberries instead.
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator. The muffins will stay fresh for 3-4 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
Tips for Tall Muffins
- Use enough baking powder. Before you start baking, always check the expiration date on the leavening agent (in this case baking powder). If it is expired, the muffins definitely will not rise. This recipe calls for a full tablespoon of baking powder for extra lift.
- Rest the batter. Resting the batter allows time for the flour to absorb completely. It also gives the baking powder a head start. You will notice all of the air bubbles when you scoop the batter.
- Gently scoop the batter. Piggybacking off the previous point, you want to be gentle when scooping so you do not deflate the batter.
- Fill the liners to the top. No need to leave any space!
- Start with a hot oven. Baking the muffins at 425 degrees for 7 minutes creates steam quickly which lifts the batter more.
- Only bake 6 muffins at a time. The hot air that is able to circulate between the muffins when the pan is not full allows them to bake more evenly. This is not required, just another tip if you want super tall muffins.
Recipe FAQs
They add a nice texture and a subtle nutty flavor.
For this recipe, 1 1/2 Tablespoons of poppy seeds is the perfect amount.
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Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Ingredients
Muffins
- 2 1/4 cups (293 g) all purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter melted
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup (120 g) full fat sour cream or greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup milk*
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons lemon zest, about 2 lemons
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract*
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
Glaze
- 1 cup (120 g) confectioners’ sugar
- 2 1/2 Tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, eggs, sour cream, milk, lemon juice, zest, poppy seeds, vanilla, and almond extra until well combined.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet. Fold until the flour is about halfway absorbed.
- Pour in the blueberries and continue folding just until all of the flour is absorbed. The batter should be thick and fluffy. Cover with a towel and let the batter rest at room temperature for 1 hour. (Option: Rest overnight in the refrigerator.)
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a 12 count muffin pan with paper liners. (Option: For taller muffins, only fill every other muffin cup (six total).) Once the batter has rested, do not stir. Gently scoop the batter into the prepared cups, filling them all the way to the top.
- Bake the muffins for exactly 7 minutes. After 7 minutes and while the muffins are still in the oven, immediately reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. Bake for another 13-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.
- While the muffins bake, make the glaze. Whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice until smooth.
- Allow the muffins to cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan and then remove them. Drizzle each muffin with glaze.
Notes
- Milk: Any milk will work, dairy or nondairy.
- Almond Extract: Almond extract has a strong flavor that gives the batter that signature lemon poppy seed flavor. If you do not like it, it can be omitted. I personally love it.
- Use a kitchen scale. Weighing the ingredients yields more accurate measurements. If the muffins come out dry, there was likely too much flour added. If you do not have a scale, be sure to spoon the flour gently into a measuring cup and then level the top with the back of a butter knife. Be sure to not compact or scoop the flour with the measuring cup.
- Make the batter in advance. You can either rest the batter on the counter at room temperature for one hour or you can make it the night before and rest it in the refrigerator covered.
- Mix up the berries. Try this recipe with blackberries or raspberries instead.
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator. The muffins will stay fresh for 3-4 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I hate to use white sugar, what would be a healthier alternative?
alternative
I made these muffins as directed and the amount of baking powder really doesn’t taste good. It makes the muffins taste chemically in a weird way. It’s not worth the little bit of height you get on the muffins. They didn’t see that much taller than if I used a normal amount of baking powder and really throw off the taste. I like all these flavors so I might try again without as much baking powder.
I have never had any issues. Are you sure you did not accidentally use baking soda? That would cause a weird flavor.
Do you use melted butter or just softened? I’m new to baking and I don’t want to mess it up
Sorry for the late reply. Melted! See ingredients photo. I will also add a note.
Have you tried this as a loaf instead of muffins? I was thinking of using a 9×5 loaf pan and baking at 350F for around 50 min.
I have not but I think it would work fine. It will take at least 50 minutes (maybe 60 minutes). Tent with foil if it begins to brown too quickly. After 50-55 minutes, check it with a toothpick and bake longer if needed. Let me know how it comes out!
Blueberry lemon poppy seed muffins looks delicious I need to try it.
My kids loved it! If they could eat it from lunch and dinner, they would have!
Love those muffins! They are cute AND delicious! So awesome! The whole family loved them!
Lemon and blueberries – one of my favorite flavor combinations. The texture and taste of these muffins are perfect and I like the addition of the poppy seeds.
Love how easy this recipe sounds! And I’m always down for anything blueberry and lemon!