Gluten-free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

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!

I'm on a roll with gluten-free 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 gluten-free banana muffin or gluten-free blueberry muffin with their bright sunshiny 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!

If you enjoy this recipe, be sure to check out these gluten-free zucchini muffins loaded with walnuts and chocolate chips!

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!

• 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! Use up the rest of your poppy seeds, make some everything bagel seasoning.
• 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.

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!

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!

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!

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 gluten-free apple granola muffins, gluten-free zucchini muffins, or gluten-free carrot muffins!

Recipe