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These gluten free lemon poppyseed muffins have all the brightness of lemon and the nutty crunch of poppyseeds in a tender sour cream muffin.
The pleasure of baking with lemons
Bite into these lightly sweet muffins through a thin layer of sugar crunch, and they're super soft & moist inside. The poppyseeds add a pleasant fruity crunch.
Lemons are like the salt of the citrus world. They make everything better. Even just a bit of lemon squeezed over your dinner or into your favorite cake will brighten everything up.
Growing lemons
I don't have a lemon tree in my yard or anything. But I would very much like to move somewhere I could have a lemon tree in the yard. ?
Sometimes I see people growing lemons indoors. I live in N.Y., but I wonder if I could grow them in a container, and bring the tree indoors during the cold months.
I imagine myself lovingly pruning my tiny lemon tree, and think my dream might come true. But then I remember. I have 2 cats and 3 dogs and the dream dies.
Can you substitute chia seeds for poppyseeds?
If you just don't happen to have poppyseeds on hand, consider buying them. They're so good sprinkled on all kinds of things, from bagels to salads.
But if you can't have poppyseeds, or you're afraid of failing a drug test after you eat poppyseeds because they may contain very small, trace amounts of opium extract, you can replace them with chia seeds.
Black chia seeds look a lot like poppyseeds, but they're larger and denser when they're dry. That will make them more distracting than poppyseeds when you bite into the muffin.
Instead of mixing the chia seeds into the dry ingredients that get whisked together, try adding them to the wet ingredients. It might help them soften up a bit before baking.
Ingredients and substitutions
Dairy
If you can't have butter, you can try replacing it with Melt or Miyoko's Kitchen brand vegan butter. They're my favorite butter substitutes.
You might also be able to use Earth Balance buttery sticks in this recipe in place of butter, but you might find that your muffins rise more and then fall more. Earth Balance has more moisture than butter, so the balance of ingredients will be disturbed.
If you can't have sour cream, plain Greek yogurt is a great substitute. If you can't have dairy yogurt and can't find nondairy plain Greek yogurt, try straining plain nondairy yogurt until it's the proper consistency.
Eggs
There are three whole eggs in this recipe, and they're really important to the rise and texture. I don't recommend trying to replace each of them with an egg replacer, but if you'd like to try, go with one “chia egg” per egg (1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel).
Gluten Free Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups (280 g) all purpose gluten free flour, (I used Better Batter; please click thru for details on appropriate blends)
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum, (omit if your blend already contains it)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
- Zest and juice of 1 medium lemon (3 tablespoons juice), separated
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup (240 g) sour cream, at room temperature
- 3 (150 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs, at room temperature, beaten
Instructions
- Grease or line a standard 12-cup muffin tin and set it aside. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, lemon zest, and poppy seeds, and whisk to combine well.2 cups all purpose gluten free flour, 1 teaspoon xanthan gum, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons poppy seeds, Zest and juice of 1 medium lemon (3 tablespoons juice)
- In a separate, 4 cup measuring cup or bowl, place the butter, sour cream, lemon juice, and eggs, and whisk until very well combined and smooth.8 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 cup sour cream, 3 eggs
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined.
- Fill the prepared cups of the muffin tin full. Smooth the tops of the batter with wet fingers.
- Sprinkle the tops lightly with more granulated sugar (about 1/8 tesapoon per muffin).3/4 cup granulated sugar
- Place the muffin tin in the center of the preheated oven, and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Allow the muffins to cool in the muffin tin for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool before serving.
Storage instructions
- Completely cooled muffins can be sealed tightly, then frozen. Defrost at room temperature or in a microwave oven.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
What size lemons? I have large ones and smaller normal sized ones…?
Good question! I clarified in the recipe that it’s 1 medium lemon, or 3 tablespoon of juice.
Hi! I made these GF lemon poppyseed muffins and they are super good! We are also dairy free so I used plain coconut yogurt strained through cheesecloth, and vegan buttery sticks. I also substituted Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 All Purposed Gluten Free Baking Flour and skipped the xantham gum. It al l miraculously worked well.
I’m glad you had good results, Carmen. I do have to say that Bob’s Red Mill flour blends generally do not work in my recipes, and I can’t recommend them or promise results if you use them. Please click the link for the “all purpose gluten free flour blends” page that is linked in this and every other recipe where I call for that ingredient for full information.
Hey!
I am wanting to make your recipe for cherry liquorice. Just wondering does it need to be kept in the fridge once made? How long does it last? I didnt see info about that on the recipe so just wondering! Thanks so much.
-Jenn
Hi, Jennifer, yes, I would store it in the refrigerator. It lasts for quite a while, because the sugar is a preservative, but the sweetened condensed milk will spoil eventually and it will also get softer over time.
Love this recipe! I did try chia seeds once in a lemon poppyseed bread and it definitely messed up the texture. I’m thinking I could have skipped one of the eggs perhaps. Not really my thing, I prefer the poppyseeds they’re just hard to come by where I live. I haven’t tried chia seeds in this particular recipe though!
I can only get Robin Hood gluten free flour – will this work?
I’m afraid I don’t recommend that, no, Dana.
I’m going to mix some lemon zest with the sugar for topping the muffins also. Love the tartness.
Also yes you can grow a miniature lemon tree in a large pot. Put a small decorative fencing around the inside of the pot to deter the cats and dogs from sniffing. When you bring it inside make sure it still gets lots of sun.
Great idea, Carol. Thank you for the suggestion about the lemon tree! I’m just imagining my cats jumping on it and knocking it over, and the dogs just, like, eating the dirt at the very least.