Say hello to springy, beautiful healthy lemon poppy seed muffins with a light lemon blueberry glaze! This muffin recipe is guaranteed to brighten your day.
I think you all must be lemon lovers because the number one most requested muffin recipe via Instagram was lemon poppyseed muffins.
To be honest, I was a little shocked as I’ve never gravitated towards anything lemon (orange muffins are my fav). However, after testing (and re-testing) these babies about 8 times, I’ve become a LEMON LOVAH FOR LIFE.
Ingredients in healthy lemon poppy seed muffins
These lemon poppy seed muffins are made especially for all my lemon lovers. They’re fluffy, tender, perfectly moist with pops of citrus lemon flavor in every bite. Here’s what you’ll need to make them:
- Flour: you’ll need whole wheat pastry flour to keep these muffins nice and fluffy.
- Honey: these lemon poppy seed muffins are naturally sweetened with honey!
- Yogurt: I love that they’re packed with a little extra protein thanks to yogurt. I recommend whole milk or 2% yogurt, but plant-based works, too.
- Lemon: you’ll need both fresh lemon juice and zest in the muffin batter and in the glaze.
- Eggs: you’ll also need 2 eggs in this recipe.
- Butter: a little butter gives the muffins the perfect amount of moisture. You can also use olive oil if you’d like.
- Baking staples: don’t forget the baking powder, baking soda, poppy seeds and salt. You’ll also need some almond extract to give the muffins that true lemon poppy seed flavor!
Healthy lemon poppy seed muffins made with yogurt
These muffins also use whole milk greek yogurt to give them their incredible texture and to add a boost of protein. Don’t be afraid of a little fat in your yogurt; I know I used to be, but once I started eating whole milk yogurts my tastebuds started dancing like it was 1999.
- If you don’t have whole milk yogurt, I think you could get away with using low-fat greek yogurt, but the texture may not be the quite the same.
- If you want to make these dairy free, you can use coconut yogurt.
Lemon glaze for healthy lemon poppy seed muffins
Before you get baking, let’s talk about this lemon blueberry glaze situation: I basically want to drizzle my life with this glaze. It’s light but adds a little something extra to every bite (plus look at that gorgeous color!). The glaze is made with:
- Fresh lemon juice & zest
- Powdered sugar
- Butter
- Jam of your choice. I like to use blueberry jam, but you could also use strawberry or raspberry; it’s up to you!
Can I make them gluten free?
To make these lemon poppy seed muffins gluten free I think oat flour would work well. Feel free to use chickpea flour or all purpose gluten free flour, too. If you use either of these, you may need to add a few tablespoons more liquid. Please know that I have not tested these to be gluten free, these are only suggestions!
Jazz up your muffins
If you want to make these lemon poppy seed BLUEBERRY muffins, just add ¾ cup blueberries to the batter after mixing the wet and dry ingredients together. YUMMMM.
If you find yourself really loving this recipe, be sure to try out my lemon blueberry paleo bread.
Freeze them for later
Yes, these lemon poppy seed muffins are freezer-friendly! Simply wrap muffins individually in freezer-safe bags or store them in a large freezer bag. When you’re ready to enjoy them, reheat for 30-45 seconds in the microwave or simply thaw them at room temperature. I recommend freezing them without the glaze.
More lemon recipes you might like
- Paleo Lemon Blueberry Bread
- Healthy Lemon Bars
- Lemon Cookies with Lovely Lemon Glaze
- Lemon Poppy Seed Blueberry Baked Oatmeal
- Healthy Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
Get all of our citrus recipes here!
Can’t wait to see you guys make these lemon poppy seed muffins. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram and share your creations with the hashtag #ambitiouskitchen. I would also love if you left a comment below and rated the recipe.
Healthy Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins with Lemon Blueberry Glaze
Ingredients
- Dry ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or all purpose flour*
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- Wet ingredients
- Zest from 2 large lemons (about 2 tablespoons)
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup plain or vanilla greek yogurt (I recommend whole milk or 2% yogurt)
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 1 large lemon)
- ½ teaspoon almond extract (feel free to skip if you don't have it)
- ¼ cup butter, melted and cooled (or sub olive oil)
- Optional:
- ¾ cup blueberries
- For the glaze:
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon low sugar blueberry preserves (or jam of choice)
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 tablespoon melted butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with 9 muffin liners and spray the inside of the liners with nonstick cooking spray. Do not skip spraying them!
- In a medium bowl, whisk together whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and poppyseeds. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl add lemon zest, honey, eggs, yogurt, lemon juice and almond extract. Whisk together until smooth and well combined.
- Gently fold in the dry ingredients until just combined, then stir in melted and cooled butter (or coconut oil or olive oil). Fold in your blueberries if using.
- Divide batter evenly between the 9 prepared muffin cups. Bake for 11-15 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
- While your muffins are cooling, make your glaze: Add powdered sugar, blueberry jam, lemon zest, lemon juice, and melted butter to a small bowl, stir until well combined.
- Once muffins are completely cooled, lightly dip each muffin into the glaze or spoon a bit on top.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
140 comments
Yum, these look amazing! Lemon poppyseed is my fave, especially with blueberries or raspberries!
Would I be able to use almond flour in place if the pastry flour?
Love them!! Almond flour won’t bake up the same 1:1 here – it’s has a much different consistency than pastry flour. I’ve added some suggestions for trying a gluten free flour above!
Awesome, thanks so much! I’m gonna try them out today
This is a great recipe for almond flour cake using egg whites as the binder. You’ll have to experiment a bit to get the proportions right, but I’ve made this cake before for strawberry shortcake and it’s gotten rave reviews even from people who don’t mind eating gluten (including myself)
Oops, sorry. Here’s the recipe.
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/strawberry-almond-flour-cake-recipe
These look delicious.. I second the question about regarding almond flour. And do you know of calories not including icing? Thanks!
They’re one of my favs! I’ve added some suggestions for trying a gluten free flour above, but would not suggest using almond flour. I believe they’re just under 200 calories without the icing.
I seriously suck at baking so much, but I made the carrot cake banana bread and it turned out great, so I am gonna give these a go (after I make grandma’s bran muffins tonight)…but the optional things are making me so indecisive. I don’t know if I should risk adding blueberries, but it sounds so good! I think I’ll make them without for the first go round, fingers crossed I don’t F it up like most baked goods I try! 🙂
I hope you loved these ones Denise!!
Do you only glaze them if you are eating immediately or will the glaze harden if you’re making them in advance for a party? Also any tips when subbing cup for cup types of gluten free flour to make them less dense? Adding vinegar? Thanks!
I would add the glaze once you’re ready to serve them! Gluten free flours are naturally more dense than regular flour – I would just suggest adding a few more tablespoons of liquid 🙂
Hi Monique! I am most definitely making these this afternoon! My one question is, if I wanted to omit the blueberry, and just do all lemon poppyseed with lemon glaze- Is there something I should be adding to it or subbing? Thanks so much! Super excited to make these.
Hi! You can just leave the blueberry out 🙂 Hope you loved these!
Lemon poppyseed anything is always a favorite of mine. Growing up, I used to eat those lemon poppyseed breakfast loaves all the time for breakfast! I never would have thought about adding a blueberry glaze. What a fabulous idea!
It’s such a nostalgic flavor! Reminds me of childhood too 🙂 The blueberry glaze is delicious!
Can I make these GF by using the Bob’s Mill 1 to 1 baking flour?
I think that should work – you might just need a bit more liquid!
These photos are stunning! And the combination of lemon muffin with that beautiful frosting… yum!
Thanks Haley! Best combo 🙂
Super easy to make and delicious!! My husband ate 4!
So happy you both enjoyed!!
Yay!! So glad you’re down with the full fat thing! The fat is good for our brains, satiation, and may even balance out ingredients like sugar. I’ve been a fat fan forever 🙂 Now…onto your incredible recipe. It looks SCRUMPTIOUS. Ticks all the boxes for ‘treat’ and ‘healthy,’ and will be our Easter morning buzz. Thank you for showing me how to make a less sugar glaze!
Absolutely! I hope you loved this one for Easter! 🙂
can these be made with full fat greek yogurt (it’s what i have on hand) or should we stick to regular yogurt? Thanks!
Full fat should work! Enjoy!
I have made these muffins 3 times in the past 2 werks, they ate absolute perfection!!! They hold moisture to perfection. I have made them for a few family members that don’t like “that healthy stuff” and have completed fooled them! I substituted the vanilla yogurt for plain and used xylitol sugar instead of coconut sugar.
Keep em’ coming Monica!!
Can’t wait to try the carrot cake cookies tonight!
Aren’t they awesome?? Glad the family is loving them too 🙂 Enjoy the carrot cake cookies!
i am so excited to try all of your recipes! i dont know where to start!
I’m so glad!! You can’t go wrong 😉
Hi! Can you use coconut yogurt as a substitute? Also is there anything to sub for the eggs (flax eggs or applesauce?). I have a lot of food sensitivity right now but love your recipes!
I have a similar question- do you have suggestions on how to make this recipe vegan?
Hi! Coconut yogurt should work. I haven’t tried this recipe with flax eggs, but let me know if you do!
Could I use sour cream in place of the yogurt?
Yes, but I might suggest adding 1-2 tablespoons more of sugar because I used a vanilla yogurt in the recipe.
These look amazing, I can’t wait to make them! Should I cut down on the amount of honey since I could only find honey vanilla greek yogurt? And if I use a mix of regular whole wheat flour and cake flour is that a good sub for ww pastry flour?
Thanks!
Hi! You can use 1/4 cup or 1/3 cup honey and yes 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup cake flour should work well! Please report back when you make them.
These are phenomenal – wouldn’t change a thing. I add the optional blueberry jam in the topping.
Perfect! So happy to hear that.
I have a funny question…how could I make these a little fattier? I’m trying to help my 2 year old gain weight (with pediatrician’s blessing). Any subs I could make to add more fat? 🙂
Hi! These are meant to be a healthier version of a lemon poppyseed muffin. However you can serve them with extra butter, if that’s what you need.
Love these muffins! I’ve brought them to so many parties and brunches, and they’re always a hit. For all my GF people, I have made these a million times, just subbing Bob’s Red Mill 1-for-1 GF flour and they turn out great. I also sub the sugar for honey when I want them a little less sweet (like for a breakfast), but I use the sugar when I’m eating them more as a dessert. Soooooo good either way. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Amazing! Great tip on the flour and sweetness levels here. One of my go-to muffins, too!
Love these! I’ve made them 3 times now! Just curious, did this recipe recently get updated?
I’m so glad! We made a couple of tweaks along the way but nothing else recently 🙂
These are so amazing!! My favorite muffins of all time. I used normal flour because it is what I had, and they turned out perfect! I love the lemon, it is so fresh.
So happy to hear that! Love love lemon, too.
Hi! I just made these and they are delicious! Wondering what the best way to store them is?
Feel free to store them in an airtight container for up to 4-5 days, or freeze them for up to 3 months!
I really want to make them. But do you think they are sweet enough for a kid with out the topping? Thanksn
They should be plenty sweet as a snack 🙂 let me know how you like them!
They are sweet without the topping but the topping really makes the lemon pop! The topping is not too much, just a hint of sweetness
Hi! I am making these and confused by step 3 that says to mix the zest into the sugar. In the ingredients list there is no added sugar except for in the glaze. Is the sugar that you are talking about in that step just the honey?
Thank you!!
Hi Marissa! Apologies for the confusion – I’ve updated the recipe. Thanks for your catch!
These muffins were great! I made some substitutions for gluten free recipe. I used 1/2 coconut flour and 1/2 almond flour in place of pastry flour and they are fantastic texture and taste! Loved them… my whole family never knew they were gluten free! Yum!
I’m glad those swaps worked out well! The perfect snack 🙂
Incredibly delicious!!!!!!
Glad you love them!
Imagine the scene from Elf… “I’m in love, I’m in love, and I don’t care who knows it.”,.. -> Me.. Dancing around my kitchen eating these amazing muffins.
Haha YES love that!
Hi Ambitious Kithcen, I just made this recipe and absolutely loved it. I’ve been looking for a whole wheat flour lemon poppy seed muffin recipe for some time now and your recipe turned out exactly like I wanted them to be. I used vanilla extract and zest from 1 lemon and 1 lime in the muffin mix, they are perfect even without the glaze (although I forgot to set the timer and baked them for about 20 mins 🙂 Thank you!
Amazing! So happy you found this one 🙂
just made these for quick breakfasts bc i’ve been craving sweet instead of savory! I used maple syrup instead of honey, coconut oil instead of butter & frozen blueberries. They turned out so moist and DELISH! love the almond extract addition.
Perfect! So happy you loved them!
Hi, does the yogurt have to be Greek or can traditional plain yogurt work as well? Thanks.
It can be traditional plain yogurt! It should work okay 🙂
Excited to make these! Wondering if I can use sugar or maple syrup instead of honey and if so, still half a cup?
Yes maple syrup would work well! The same amount.
These are delicious! I like the denser texture and that they’re not super sweet. They’re also so easy to throw together!
Absolutely! Glad you love them 🙂
LOVE this recipe! I tried it with whole grain sprouted spelt flour and coconut oil instead of APF or WWPF, and it turned out great. Required a slightly longer baking time because of the flour type, and had a slightly earthier flavour (definitely a profile I LOVE).
I’m glad that worked out well! So good!
I made these with oat flour like you suggested to make them GF and they were seriously incredible! Subbed mashed blueberries for jam since I didn’t have any and they both worked perfectly! Will definitely have these on heavy rotation!
Perfect! So happy to hear that!
A new favorite muffin recipe. So moist and flavorful. Added extra blueberries and skipped the glaze and they were still great!!
Love it! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
This is my favorite muffin recipe. I am a recipe developer myself and I am a healthnut so I am always trying to create and learn more healthy recipes. This is my wife’s favorite too! She loves it every time I make it! I use the base of this recipe to make different kinds of muffins too. Thank you so much!
I’m so glad! Perfect breakfast or snack 🙂
Thank you so much for this recipe! These super delicious, moist muffins are my absolute favorite. Definitely a must-have! They even taste good without the glaze!
Absolutely! Glad you love them!
Delicious flavors that are perfect together! I’m not a baker but the instructions were super easy to follow and the icing was KEY! Awesome recipe
Amazing! So happy to hear that 🙂
Made a batch of these for my breakfasts for the past week and a half…I swear it has never been easier to get out of bed in the morning because I was so excited to eat one of these muffins every day. I only wish it made a full 12 muffins…guess I will just have to double it and make 18 instead!
Such a great breakfast! Glad you love them 🙂
These are incredible! I made them twice this week already. First time without blueberries and second time with, BOTH INCREDIBLE. So moist, perfect balance of fluffy and sweet all whilst being relatively healthy. These are definitely becoming a staple. Thank you for sharing this incredible recipe!!
Do you think fresh blueberries could be used to the glaze?
I wouldn’t recommend because of the difference in consistency, unless you cooked the blueberries down to a jam. Otherwise they’ll be too watery and lack that potent blueberry flavor!
This recipe turned out amazingly… Fluffy, moist, and just the right amount of sweet to sour taste. Thanks Monique!
So glad you loved it!
Such delicious muffins!! These are a must make. Very flavorful and moist
so glad you loved them!
I’ve been craving grocery store lemon poppyseed muffins for weeks now. So glad I made these instead! The blueberry glaze is delicious, and these are so much better than store bought!
So glad you found these ones!!
These muffins are delicious! I made a double batch but I did not have 3 cups of whole wheat pastry flour. I ended up using 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour, 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour, and 1/2 cup of spelt flour. The texture of the muffins were great and fluffy- they were just like regular muffins! I think I will use more spelt flour next time. I added blueberries to some of the muffins. I put about 7 blueberries into each and covered them up with batter. I love these muffins with or without blueberries! I used a bit less honey- not quite a full cup. The muffins were the perfect sweetness for me and that is without any icing! I decided not to make the blueberry glaze but I will try it next time once I buy blueberry jam. Thank you for this recipe, this will be one of my go-tos from now on! My whole family loved these!
I’m glad that worked out well! Such a great snack or breakfast 🙂
WOW these are delish! Didn’t have poppyseeds but this recipe made the fluffiest muffins ever! Can’t wait to remake
Love it! Glad you enjoyed!
Just made these and they were fantastic!! Definitely will be my go to muffin for our snack!!
So happy to hear that! One of my favs, too 🙂
Used Schär’s gluten free Patisserie mix, 1:1 to flour in this recipe, it worked for me! The muffins came out moist and delicious. I will definietely use this recipe again
I’m glad that worked out well! Perfect snack 🙂
Dang…these are AMAZING! I didn’t have blueberry jam so I used raspberry instead. Next time I may swap out the poppyseeds for chia seeds for a little nutritional boost. Can’t wait to wake up tomorrow & have one for breakfast!
Perfect! Love that 🙂
Love this recipe. I made these at the weekend! So tasty! Had to sub poppyseeds for chia as that’s all I had!
Could this be made as a loaf cake?
So happy you love it! Yes, I think it would be great as a loaf cake. Not sure exactly how long to bake it, as I haven’t tried it, but I’d just bake it until a cake tester/knife/toothpick comes out clean 🙂
This recipe is amazing!! I substituted 2 cups of oat flour for the 1.5 cups of all purpose flour, and the muffins came out perfectly! I also added a little bit of cream cheese to the topping, which turned out nice as well!
So happy to hear that worked well! And YES to cream cheese frosting–yummmm.
The perfect flavor combination for a great muffin. I made these without the glaze and tossed the blueberries into the muffins before baking. They came out a 10/10. Just the right mix of each flavor, the texture was fab. Great summer breakfast/snack/evening finisher (with a little butter!)
So so yummy!!
I doubled the batch and reduced the honey to 230g instead of the 260g it called for. It turned out perfect and not too sweet. I weighed them out to 40g per baking cup and baked them for 13 minutes then also did mini donuts in a donut pan with 15g per donut and baked those for 8 minutes. For the glaze, I used raspberry jam and added some water to make it more liquid.
So happy you enjoyed these! Great idea to turn them into donuts, too!!
Hi!! I was wondering if you could create an almond poppyseed muffin!? 😍😍 I love all your muffins abut this one is missing!
Oh yes! I’d definitely recommend turning this bread recipe into muffins! Hope you enjoy it 🙂
So yummy and not too sweet!
Yay! Happy you loved these, Peyton 🙂
Delish! Used 1 cup oat flour and 1/2 cup brown rice flour to keep them gluten free. They came out beautifully! I’m not even going to glaze them because they are so tasty. We will have them for quick breakfasts this week. Thanks, AK!
Nice! So happy they came out amazing, Randee!
Amazing!
SO glad you loved them! Thanks, Linda 🙂
Me encantan tus recetas. En esta receta podría sustituir las semillas de amapola por chia? Gracias
Sí, puedes hacer esto! Espero que lo disfrutes 😊
I’m not a baker but this recipe made it easy to follow! My husband and I loved it! Not too sweet , it was perfect! I couldn’t find poppy seed anywhere so I replaced it with chia seeds, and it turned out great.
This is the first review I have ever left on a recipe, but I had to share how incredible these muffins truly were. These muffins were a total hit with my family! Such a wonderful recipe and goes to show that you don’t need a ton of butter and refined sugar in a muffin for it to taste amazing. These will be a new addition to my weekly baking❤️ Thanks so much for creating such an amazing recipe!!!
Here are the only differences I made in my muffins if anyone wanted to see how adaptive this recipe is to everyone’s own unique taste:
•I added double the lemon juice and lemon zest, added a half tsp of vanilla extract, and added like 6 fresh blueberries on the top of the batter in the muffin tin so they sunk in throughout! (I added the optional almond extract too)
I also just used regularly AP flour, not whole wheat!
•The recipe says to divide the batter into only 9 muffins but in a standard cupcake tin it made 12 perfectly!
For the glaze on top it calls for blueberry preserves so I made my own:
•2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
•1/3 cup sugar (adjust to how sweet you like yours)
•1/2 tsp vanilla
•zest of one lemon
•juice from one lemon
Throw all those things in a sauce pan and let it boil for like 5-10 minutes and crush the blueberries with the back of a spoon. Once the jam thickens and sticks to the back of a spoon it’s ready, just let it cool before using it in the glaze. I put the leftovers in a mason jar and put it on toast or yogurt and it’s so good!
Thanks again for this recipe!
xx Taylor
Thanks so much for sharing all of this, Taylor! I’m SO happy you loved these, and really appreciate you leaving a review ❤️
Wonderful! Worked well with oat flour as a one to one sub! Wouldn’t recommend baking with oat flour and blueberries because they come out a big soggy from the heaviness of the fruit.
These are the best lemon poppyseed muffins I’ve ever made! Always gets lots of compliments too.
I’m so happy you and everyone you share them with love them, Janice! Thank you!
This muffin recipe is absolutely amazing! Delicious and on the plus side healthy, I added fresh blueberries to the batter and skipped the glaze.
So happy they turned out amazing! Love the idea of fresh blueberries in the batter 🙂
I love this recipe! My mom follows a gluten free diet so I made them gluten free with a combo of almond flour and 1:1 gluten free AP flour and added blueberries to the muffin mix! They turned out soooo tasty! I’m making them again soon as they did NOT last long!
So happy that worked well and that you loved them!!
These turned out awesome! I made gluten and dairy free for my personal allergies. If you use an egg replacement, which I did not, it would make these vegan! Here is what I did:
Subbed King Arthur’s 1:1 gluten free flour
Subbed brown sugar instead of honey (ran out of honey) 1:1 and do not pack the measuring cup
Subbed Silk’s vanilla dairy free greek yogurt
Subbed avocado oil for butter
Right before I put the batter in the tin added 10 TBSP of water
Let them bake for 14 minutes
Just wanted to share as they were fabulous!
Thanks for all these notes, Sarah! SO happy they came out amazing 🙂
This recipe was good but I think the oven temp is too high. At 11 minutes my muffins were nicely browned on top but still raw in the center. I ended up lowering the temp, covering with foil to prevent further browning and baking for 10 more minutes.
Oh no! I am so sorry to hear that. Make sure you are baking them in the middle rack, that might be why it cooked on the outside too quickly.
For the gluten free curious… I used 1 cup Pamela’s all purpose flour mix and 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Oat Flour and they turned out perfect! I honestly wouldn’t have known they were gluten free – the texture was light and fluffy.
Ahh thank you so much for sharing! Glad these turned out great for you ❤️
These were dry and flavorless for me. The bottoms also burnt.
Oh no! I am so sorry these didn’t turn out for you, did you change anything about the recipe?
Made as directed with the almond extract(can taste it and it complements nicely!). Came back to comment bc these are SO good. Fluffy, perfect flavor and texture. So good. I haven’t made the glaze yet. The website won’t let me give 5 stars but it’s definitely worth 5!! Thank you for a great recipe.
Aw this is awesome! So glad these muffins turned out great for you – appreciate your comment 🙂