Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Making small-batch muffin recipes is officially my favorite new activity and the latest to join the group is these easy & moist Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins! These dairy-free & eggless muffins are full of lemon flavor from using fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, lemon paste, AND a tangy lemon glaze.

If you’ve been following SGTO for awhile you know we are HUGE fans of basically anything & everything lemon over here. I think I add lemon juice or zest to at least 50%  of the recipes on my blog (I mean there’s a reason it’s in my logo afterall!).

These lemon muffins are a twist on my Vegan Lemon Olive Oil Cupcakes but they are made to be a little more dense & moist for that perfect muffin texture. Plus, I decided to make this as a small-batch recipe so it makes 6-8 perfect muffins!

Ingredients:

Luckily, these muffins contain easy to find ingredients and are made in only one bowl! Here’s a quick breakfast down of the ingredients.

• Oat milk (or any plant-based milk)
• Organic sugar
• Lemon juice & lemon zest
• Lemon extract or paste (optional, for more lemon flavor!)
• Vanilla extract
• Olive oil (or any liquid oil)
• Applesauce (the secret ingredient to SUPER moist muffins!)
• Poppy Seeds
• All-purpose flour
• Baking powder & baking soda
• Salt
• Powdered sugar (for the lemon glaze!)

While my lemon cupcakes call for baking soda and baking powder, we use a bit less lemon in the batter here, so we are relying mostly on baking powder for the leavening in this recipe. 

The trick to a REALLY lemony muffin? We are using lemon juice AND extract (and even an optional lemon paste). Plus, each muffin with extra lemon glaze. This one’s for you lemon lovers!

Tips for making homemade muffins

This muffin recipe really couldn’t be easier.

Make the vegan buttermilk and then add all the wet ingredients to a bowl and mix.

Next add in the dry ingredients and mix JUST until a thick muffin batter forms.

After that fill the muffin liners to the top, let the batter rest, bake, and drizzle with lemon glaze!

Here are some of my favorite tips for perfect muffins every time:

Applesauce for moisture!

You may have noticed that I use applesauce/banana/ plant-based yogurt  in all of my muffin recipes like my Vegan Chocolate Muffin and Banana Nut Muffins.That’s because using these ingredients gives muffins the extra moist texture we want with. These ingredients don’t make it into my cupcake recipes since they can sometimes weigh them down when using pastry flour. But, don’t worry, these muffins are still plenty fluffy because we are using enough flour and baking powder to help build structure!

Don’t overmix the batter

This is really CRUCIAL for muffins. Mix the batter JUST until the streaks of flour are gone and not a minute longer. Otherwise, you may end up with dense and rubbery muffins which is no good. Just remember, when it comes to muffins, a lumpy batter is good.

Fill muffin liners 7/8 full

This allows us to get the absolute best muffin peaks! While my cupcake recipes call for filling up each muffin liner 3/4 full, muffins can be filled a bit more because they have more flour and baking powder for structure (see picture above for reference). The muffin pan I used is slightly bigger than a traditional tin, so it made 6 muffins, but for most people this recipe will make around 7- 8 muffins.

Let muffin batter rest before baking

This is another great tip I recommend following for every muffin recipe on SGTO. Letting the batter rest for just 30 minutes will help to give any gluten that may have formed while mixing the batter time to relax.  This rest time allows the muffin batter to get much thicker and leads to more tender muffins. This is a trick I learned from Lori at TheKitchenWhisperer!

Always add glaze!

Seriously the glaze MAKES these muffins. Some of the lemon flavor goes away after baking which is where the simple lemon glaze comes into play. It’s just three ingredients (powdered sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice), but it gives these muffins the tang they need. 

FAQ & Substitutions:

How do I store muffins as leftovers?

Lemon Poppy Seed muffins will keep at room temperature in a closed container or wrapped in tin foil on a counter for 2-3 days.

They can also also be stored in a closed container in the fridge up to 5 days and in the freezer for up to 1 month. If you do refrigerate them, they are best after being warmed in the microwave for 20-30 seconds. If frozen, let defrost on the counter and either eat at room temperature or reheat in the microwave until warm.

One thing to note is if you do microwave these with the glaze on them, it will melt a bit, so I recommend holding off on the glaze until you are ready to eat any leftovers stored in the fridge/freezer.

Can I make these muffins refined-sugar free or gluten-free?

I personally haven’t tried with this recipe, but it should work.

For refined sugar-free muffins I would strongly recommend maple sugar over coconut sugar so these muffins are sweet enough! It must be a granulated sugar and not a liquid sugar to work in this recipe. 

Also, only a 1:1 gluten-free flour mix will work, not a flour such as almond or coconut as it’s not a 1:1 substitution. If you try this recipe GF or with a sugar alternative, let me know in the comments below!

Can I make this recipe without poppy seeds or with other add-ins?

Of course! These vegan lemon muffins taste great with or without poppy seeds! If you want to replace poppy seeds with other seeds or just omit them altogether, go for it. 

Any substitutes for applesauce?

Yep! Subbing applesauce for a plant-based yogurt 1:1 works (though the muffins will be slightly less sweet).

Mashed bananas also works, but in that case the muffins may have a slight banana flavor. I prefer applesauce because it adds natural sweetness without altering the flavor of these dairy-free & eggless lemon muffins!

I hope you all love the newest vegan lemon dessert to make it to SGTO! I’m pretty obsessed with eating these Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins for breakfast, as a mid-day pick me up, or even as a dessert. Enjoy!

Looking for more vegan lemon dessert recipes? Check out these SGTO favorites!

 Lemon Sugar Cookies

Lemon Spelt Pancakes

Vegan Lemon Curd

Lemon Lavender Doughnuts

Candied Lemon Scones

Continue to Content

Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Yield: 6-8 muffins

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 17 minutes

Inactive Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 2 minutes

These lemon poppy seed muffins are FILLED with lemon flavor from using fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, lemon paste, AND a lemon filled glaze. YUM!

Print

Ingredients

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins:

• 1/2 cup oat milk (118 ml, any plant-based milk works 1:1)
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice (30 grams)
• 1/3 cup organic sugar (72 grams)
• 2 Tbsp applesauce (32 grams)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil ( 30 grams, any liquid oil works 1:1)
• 1 Tbsp lemon zest ( 6 grams, zest of 1 whole lemon)
• 1 tsp lemon paste (optional, for extra lemon flavor)
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (156 grams)
• 2 tsp poppy seeds (use up to 4 tsp)
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt

Lemon Glaze

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted (50 grams, measure and then sift)
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice (15 grams)
• 1 tsp lemon zest

Instructions

1. Before you juice the lemons, zest them and set aside the lemon zest.
2. Then, add the oat milk and lemon juice to a mixing bowl and let sit about 5 minutes until curdled. This makes a vegan "buttermilk".
3. Once the milk has curdled, add the organic sugar, applesauce, olive oil, lemon zest, and optional lemon paste to the mixing bowl. Gently mix to combine.
4. Next, add in the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make sure to add the flour first and pile the other ingredients on top. Then, use a fork to gently mix the baking powder, baking soda, poppy seeds, and salt into the flour to sift together. Finally, mix everything together JUST until a thick batter forms and all streaks of flour are gone. It's important not to over-mix the batter and it's okay if the batter is lumpy- that's actually ideal for these muffins.
5. Fill a muffin pan with 6-8 cupcake liners and fill each liner with batter until 7/8 full, but not overflowing.  Since the muffins will rise and may spread to the sides a bit, it's also a good idea to rub butter or oil along the top of the muffin pan for easier removal. Then, let the muffin batter rest for 30 minutes before baking. While letting the batter rest isn’t 100% necessary, it will allow the batter to rise more. If you want to skip this step the muffins will still taste great, but not rise as high in the oven.
6. Towards the end of letting the batter rest, preheat the oven to 375F. Then, add the muffins to the middle rack in the oven and bake for 15-17 minutes until cooked through. Try not to open the oven door to check on the muffins or they may deflate and just check them with an oven light.
7. Remove the muffins from the oven and let cool in the baking tray for 5 minutes. Then, remove and let cool completely on a wire rack. If the muffins are sticking to the baking tray at all, gently run a knife along the edges to help remove. Do not let them cool completely in the pan or they will overcook and risk turning dry.
8. While the muffins are cooling, make the lemon glaze. Add the sifted powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest to a bowl and use a fork to whisk together until a thick glaze forms. Drizzle the glaze on top of the cooled muffins. Let the glaze sit for 5 minutes to give it time to set and harden, then serve and enjoy!

Notes

• Muffins will keep at room temperature in a closed container or wrapped in tin foil on a counter for 2-3 days. They can also also be stored in a closed container in the fridge up to 5 days (but it will affect the texture) and in the freezer for up to 1 month.
• Muffins will store longer without glaze on top. To enjoy frozen muffins, let defrost at room temperature. I personally recommend storing muffins in the freezer if storing longer than 2-3 days to maintain muffin texture.
• Applesauce can be subbed 1:1 (volume not grams) for plant-based yogurt
• The antique muffin tin I used (pictured) is slightly larger than standard muffin tins and made 6 muffins, but when testing this recipe in my standard pan it made 7-8 muffins.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1/6 recipe
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 230Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 275mgCarbohydrates: 44gFiber: 1gSugar: 23gProtein: 3g

ShortGirlTallOrder occasionally offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although shortgirltallorder.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

Did you make this recipe?

Take a picture and tag @shortgirltallorder and #sgtoeats on Instagram so we can see!