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    Home » Recipes » Quick Breads & Muffins

    Gluten-free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

    Published: May 25, 2020 · Updated: Jul 19, 2020 by Katie | Wheat by the Wayside · This post may contain affiliate links, through which I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

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    GF Lemon poppy seed muffin with bite taken to show texture.

    Gluten-free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are light and fluffy with bright citrus flavor! The poppy seeds add lots of great texture and the lemon icing boosts the tart lemon flavor!

    Gluten-free lemon poppy seed muffins in an old ecko muffin tin, on a wooden board, next to a bowl of lemons.

    I'm on a tear with muffins lately and this Gluten-free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin might just be my new favorite! I don't know about you but I love all things citrus, lemon is no exception! If you are also a lemon-lover, you will love this recipe!

    These lemony muffins are a fun change-up from the usual banana or blueberry muffin with their bright sunshiney flavor. As with my other muffins, even though they are gluten-free, they are still light and fluffy with a great texture! The poppy seeds don't add much flavor but they sure are pretty! I love the subtle crunch that they add! You don't have to add the icing on top of the muffins, but if you love lemon flavor... well then, the icing is a must!

    Ingredients for Gluten-free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

    I love that most baking starts with ingredients right from the pantry. Whenever the craving hits or boredom sets in, just bake!

    Ingredients for the muffins laid out in bowls on a white wooden board.

    • Measure for Measure Gluten-free Flour Blend: I tested this recipe with Bob's Red Mill and Cup4Cup. I'm confident Pamela's would work as well. Always choose a flour blend with a binder, such as Xanthan gum, included.
    • Almond Flour: I like adding a little almond flour for enhanced flavor and texture! If you don't want to use it, substite with an equal amount of gluten-free flour blend.
    • Fresh Lemon Juice & Zest: Please get a fresh lemon for this recipe! Don't use the kind from a plastic bottle! Speaking of zest... Do you ever zest your lemons? You should! It really enhances the lemon flavor! Just make sure not to get any of the white pith. You only want the yellow lemon zest or you could end up with bites that taste bitter.
    • Poppy Seeds: Find them in the spice aisle!
    • Butter, Milk & Sour Cream: You could substitute the sour cream with yogurt. I did not test with dairy-free alternatives.

    Making the Muffins

    This muffin recipe is as easy as any other. It follows the typical muffin-making steps of mixing wet ingredients together and then blending in the dry ingredients.

    The first steps to making the muffins, mixing flour, creaming the wet ingredients, then adding in the flour.

    Don't over-mix your muffins!

    While we don't need to worry about over-developing gluten (because there isn't any) it is possible to incorporate too much air! If that happens, your muffins may puff up and then deflate when they come out of the oven! Deflated muffins = sad muffins. Gently mix until everything is well incorporated and then stop!

    The muffin batter mixed with hand mixer, then scooped into lined muffin tins.  Baked until golden brown.

    Fill 'em up!

    Fill muffin tins almost to the top for a nice dome-shaped muffin! A heaping ¼ cup of batter in each standard muffin should make a great muffin! Bake those little beauties until they are lightly golden brown. Then whip up that yummy lemon glaze!

    Mixing the icing and drizzling it into a bowl, muffins are being iced with lemon icing in a criss-cross pattern.

    Let's talk icing!

    The icing can be as thick or thin as you like! If you keep it thicker, you can put the icing in a plastic bag or piping bag to get the defined icing lines that you see above. Thin the icing a little more and you can drizzle it over the muffins with a spoon. It will spread out and be more like a glaze. Either way, so delicious!!

    Add only a tiny bit of milk at a time and stir after each addition until you get the consistency you like. It doesn't take much liquid at all to get an icing that is way too thin. It's harder to add more powdered sugar to correct icing that's too thin, than it is to add a few drops of milk to correct icing that's too thick.

    To get the right consistency for the criss-cross lines, the icing should be thin enough to drizzle from the whisk but when drizzled on top of itself in a bowl, the lines should not immediately disappear, but rather fade after a few seconds.

    Always cool the muffins completely before icing them. It will be so hard to wait, believe me, but so worth it!

    A muffin with bite removed to show texture surrounded by more muffins in parchment liners.

    Store the muffins at room temperature for 2-3 days, in an airtight container, although these delicious muffins don't usually last that long in my house!

    For more gluten-free muffins, check out these apple granola, zucchini, or carrot muffins!

    GF Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins in old enamelware pie tin.

    Gluten-free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

    Katie | Wheat by the Wayside
    Gluten-free lemon poppy seed muffins are light and fluffy with bright citrus flavor! Poppyseeds add little dots of texture and lemon icing boosts the tart lemon flavor!
    5 from 3 votes
    Pin Recipe Print Recipe Save Saved!
    Prep Time 20 mins
    Cook Time 25 mins
    Total Time 45 mins
    Course Breakfast
    Diet Gluten Free
    Servings 12 Muffins
    Calories 279 kcal
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    Ingredients
      

    • 1 ½ cup Gluten-free Flour Blend, , with Xanthan gum or binder, like Bob's Red Mill 1:1, Cup4Cup, or Pamela's Artisan Blend
    • ½ cup Almond Flour
    • 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
    • ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
    • ½ teaspoon Salt
    • 1 stick Butter,, softened
    • ¾ cup Sugar
    • 2 eggs
    • ½ cup Sour Cream
    • ¼ cup Milk
    • 2 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice, from 1-2 lemons
    • 1 Tablespoon Lemon Zest
    • 1 Tablespoon Poppy Seeds

    Lemon Icing

    • 1 ¼ cup Powdered Sugar
    • 1 ½ Tablespoons Lemon Juice
    • 1-2 teaspoons Milk

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease or line muffin tins with cupcake liners.
    • Whisk together the dry ingredients.
    • In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
    • Mix in the eggs, milk, sour cream.
    • Then add the lemon juice, zest, and poppy seeds. Stir until combined.
    • Blend in the dry ingredients. Don't overmix, stir until just combined.
    • Fill muffin tins with batter. Bake at 350°F 24-29 minutes, until lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean.

    Lemon Icing

    • When muffins are completely cool, make the icing. Combine icing ingredients. Add a tiny amount of milk at a time until the desired consistency is reached. Keep icing thick for defined criss-cross lines*, thinner icing will be more glaze-like.
    • For thick icing, scoop the icing into a piping or plastic bag and pipe lines over the muffins.
      For thinner icing, use a spoon to drizzle the icing over the muffins. Allow icing to set.

    Notes

    *Thick icing for criss-cross lines should still be thin enough to drizzle from the whisk.  When drizzled on top of itself in a bowl, the lines should not immediately disappear, but rather fade after a few seconds.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1muffinCalories: 279kcalCarbohydrates: 38gProtein: 4gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 54mgSodium: 232mgPotassium: 44mgFiber: 2gSugar: 26gVitamin A: 344IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 74mgIron: 1mg
    Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and star rating below!
    GF Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins and lemons alternated on a bronze wire rack.

    More Gluten-free Muffins and Quick Breads

    • Gluten-Free Apple Granola Muffins
    • Buckwheat Banana Bread (Gluten-Free)
    • Gluten-Free Jiffy Cornbread Muffin Mix (Dairy-Free and Egg-Free Options)
    • Gluten-free Zucchini Banana Bread (Dairy-free)

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    1. Sreya Dutta

      September 03, 2020 at 8:02 pm

      Going to try for the first time. Do I really need the sour cream?

      Reply
      • Katie Olesen

        September 04, 2020 at 8:45 am

        I haven’t tried the recipe without. If you don’t like sour cream you could also substitute yogurt.

        Reply
    2. Erin Louise

      January 28, 2021 at 4:03 pm

      5 stars
      I just made these muffins about 2 hours ago and I am absolutely in love with them. I have tried 2 other Lemon Poppyseed muffin recipes from other websites/cookbooks before and they didn't turn out nearly as well as these. All of my roommates ate one and could also not stop talking about how incredible they were. They are so full of flavor and were the perfect moist/fluffiness. It was like eating a gourmet muffin from a bakery! So easy and quick and so worth it! Highly recommend this recipe to everyone!

      Reply
      • Katie | Wheat by the Wayside

        January 30, 2021 at 1:37 pm

        Erin! I am so happy you loved these muffins! Thank you for sharing!

        Reply
    3. Kay

      March 07, 2021 at 7:34 pm

      The BEST poppyseed muffins! I replaced the lemon juice in the frosting with a tap of almond extract. My family said they were better than Perkins! I’d say that’s a win

      Reply
      • Sylvia Frias

        January 29, 2022 at 4:17 pm

        5 stars
        Followed the exact recipe. Best muffins I’ve ever had!! Better than AP flour. I checked at 20 minutes and they were done. Depends on your oven. Thank you for this recipe!

        Reply
        • Katie | Wheat by the Wayside

          February 05, 2022 at 11:16 am

          Oh yes, ovens vary! Glad you checked on them! So happy you enjoyed the recipe!

          Reply

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    Hi, I'm Katie! I'm the blogger behind Wheat by the Wayside. I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 2018 and have been following a strict gluten-free diet ever since. The goal of WBTW is to share tried and tested, easy, and delicious gluten-free recipes to give you confidence in the kitchen! 

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