Bakery-Style Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Bakery-Style Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are a breeze to make and ready in 30 minutes! Full of zesty lemon flavor and crunchy poppy seeds, this healthy snack will transport you straight to springtime. Topped with a sweet berry jam glaze, they're perfect for brunch or Mother's Day!  Gluten-free option listed as well.

Lemon is a classically bright flavor for cooler months, which is part of the reason why I consider lemon poppyseed such a happy flavor - it really helps signal spring! That is the inspiration for this bakery-style recipe. These muffins are fluffy, perfectly tart, stuffed with poppy seeds, and topped with a bright, berry jam glaze.

Love lemon? Try these Soft Batch Lemon Crinkle Cookies next.

How to Make Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, combine ground flax seeds with water and mix. Set aside for 5 minutes to firm up.
2. To the same large bowl, add applesauce, lemon juice, coconut oil, almond extract, maple syrup, almond milk, brown sugar, sea salt, and baking soda. Whisk for 30 seconds or so until foamy and blended.
3. Add in poppy seeds, flour, and oats. It should be fairly thick.Divide batter in muffin tins with generous scoops. Bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown and fragrant. Check this by sticking a knife in the center of one of the muffins. If it comes out clean, they are ready.
4. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes in the tin before transferring to cool completely on a rack.

How to Make Bakery-Style Muffins

If you're not familiar, the term "bakery-style" here refers to the overly large and fluffy muffins we often see in glass cases at cafes and coffee shops. Here are a few tips to emulate this at home:

• Ensure your baking soda is fresh.  Rising agents like baking soda and baking powder lose their effectiveness over time, so try to use it within 6 months of opening. If does not go "bad" necessarily, but will not be as powerful. This article includes a test you can perform to check if your baking soda is good prior to using.
• Work quickly. Again, baking soda can be finicky to be work with. It is alkaline, so will begin releasing carbon dioxide as soon as it mixes with an acid (in this recipe, that acid is lemon juice). To ensure you're maximizing the amount of leavening that happens while your muffins are baking, it's best to not let the batter sit around before going into the oven.
• Overfill the muffin tins. While this may sound obvious, portioning this recipe into 8-9 muffins as opposed to the standard 12 will help us achieve that perfectly domed shape.

More Tips For Making Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

1. Use not one but TWO flax eggs, and let them sit for a full five minutes to bind together.
2. Measure your flour correctly. I have been known to just dunk my measuring cup into the flour bag (it's SO much easier) but exact quantities really do make a difference. This video explains some helpful tips for the level method.

Where to Buy Poppy Seeds

Many smaller grocery stores or organic markets will stock poppy seeds in their bulk section. Another place to look is the spice aisle. Amazon also sells a large bag, which may be worth the investment if you plan to make a few poppy seed recipes.

Looking for more bakery-inspired recipes? Try one of these next!

• Extra-Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls
• Salted Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Grapefruit Poppy Seed Loaf Cake
• Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
• Vegan Apple Strudel

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Bakery-Style Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are a breeze to make and ready in 30 minutes! Full of zesty lemon flavor and crunchy poppy seeds, this healthy snack will transport you straight to springtime. Topped with a sweet lemon glaze, they're perfect for brunch or Mother's Day!  Gluten-free option listed as well.

5 from 7 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine American

Servings 8 muffins

Calories 268 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

Muffins

• ▢ 2 TBS ground flax seeds
• ▢ ¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
• ▢ ⅓ cup lemon juice from about 2 large lemons
• ▢ ⅓ cup melted coconut or canola oil
• ▢ ½ teaspoon almond extract
• ▢ ¼ cup maple syrup
• ▢ ¼ cup almond milk
• ▢ ⅓ cup brown sugar
• ▢ ¾ teaspoon sea salt
• ▢ 2 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 2 TBS poppy seeds
• ▢ 1 and ½ cup white whole wheat flour*
• ▢ ½ cup rolled oats

Glaze (optional)

• ▢ 1 cup powdered sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ▢ 2 TBS berry jam of choice

Instructions

 

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and lightly oil or line a muffin tin with wrappers. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 TBS ground flax seeds with 5 TBS water and mix. Set aside for 5 minutes to firm up; this will act as your egg substitute.
• To the same large bowl, add applesauce, lemon juice, coconut oil, almond extract, maple syrup, almond milk, brown sugar, sea salt, and baking soda. Whisk for 30 seconds or so until foamy and blended.
• Add in poppy seeds, flour, and oats. Stir until incorporated but try not to over-mix. It should be fairly thick.Divide batter in muffin tins with generous scoops; you should only make about nine or ten muffins.Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and fragrant. Check this by sticking a knife in the center of one of the muffins. If it comes out clean, they are ready.
• Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes in the tin before transferring to cool completely on a rack.To glaze, in a small cup whisk together powdered sugar, lemon juice, and jam until thick without clumps. Drizzle on muffins and enjoy! These are best stored in the fridge where they will last for about a week.

Video

Notes

*All purpose, Gluten-Free One For One, and fine oat flour will all work in place

Nutrition

Serving: 1muffinCalories: 268kcalCarbohydrates: 39.7gProtein: 4.5gFat: 11.3gSaturated Fat: 7.7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3.6gSodium: 233mgFiber: 4.1gSugar: 17.4g

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