These Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are tender, moist and full of sweet citrus flavor. Drizzle them with a coconut glaze for a fun and tasty brunch treat or afternoon snack. They’re fast, easy, grain free, dairy free, paleo, and family approved!
If there’s one thing I’m always up for baking, it’s muffins, hands down.
Cookies are a close second, but since cookies seem to always fall into the category of “dessert”, muffins somehow feel more practical and productive, being that most people associate them with breakfast, and “breakfast” is the most “important” meal of the day.
Which means that baking paleo muffins means you’re doing a whole lot of good and nothing else – go with me on this – because we are about to bake some paleo muffins, after all.
Lemon poppy seed muffins are like Spring screaming right in my face, in a good way, of course. They’re light, fluffy, and just moist enough, plus, they’re bursting with lemon flavor – which is totally my thing this time of year, in case you haven’t noticed.
And if you actually haven’t noticed – RUN DON’T WALK to my raspberry lemon cookie crumb bars, nut-free classic paleo lemon bars and lemon crumb cake with creamy lemon curd.
Okay, assuming you’re back now, let’s get into the recipe details!
A long, long time ago I created this recipe for lemon poppy seed donuts. It feels like another lifetime ago, really.
The donuts came out delicious however, and I’ve been basing several of my citrusy muffin recipes off of that original donut recipe. My orange almond poppy seed muffins and pecan cranberry orange muffins are two examples.
Truth be told – this basic recipe could keep me happy forever! However, it does contain quite a bit of almond flour which is why I’m always experimenting with alternatives.
Fine blanched almond flour can feel like the holy grail of paleo baking, BUT there are many people who can’t have nuts AND even more people who don’t feel like spending half they’re paycheck on almond flour (exaggeration, yes, but the struggle is real!)
Back to the muffins now! The combination of almond and tapioca flour along with lemon juice and coconut oil create the perfect texture for these, in my opinion. They’re sweetened with raw honey, and I added both vanilla and almond extracts for a punch of flavor that complements the lemon so well.
For the drizzle, I went with a simple melted coconut butter glaze, sweetened with a bit of raw honey. The flavor of coconut butter isn’t for everyone (and the glaze is entirely optional) but I happen to think the flavors go really well here (I love my coconut butter though!)
The drizzle hardens once it cools just as a traditional icing would, and makes the muffins look picture perfect too – if that’s something you’re going for. With or without the drizzle though, these muffins are going to become a favorite – now let’s bake!
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins {Paleo, GF, DF}
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins {Paleo, GF, DF}
These Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are tender, moist and full of sweet citrus flavor. Drizzle them with a coconut glaze for a fun and tasty brunch treat or afternoon snack. They're fast, easy, grain free, dairy free, paleo, and family approved!
Ingredients
Muffins:
- 4 large eggs room temp
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice about 4 lemons
- Grated zest of one med lemon
- 1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp raw honey melted slightly if necessary to soften
- 1/4 cup coconut oil refined, melted and cooled to almost room temp
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp pure almond extract
- 2 cups blanched almond flour
- 1/3 cup arrowroot flour or tapioca flour
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp poppy seeds
Drizzle:
- 3 Tbsp coconut butter melted (but not hot)
- 2 tsp raw honey melted (but not hot)
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a 12 cup muffin pan with parchment liners.
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In a medium bowl, combine the almond flour, arrowroot, baking soda and salt, set aside.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, lemon juice, zest, honey, coconut oil and both extracts until well combined. Gently stir the dry mixture into the wet until just combined, then stir in the poppy seeds to evenly distribute.
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Divide the muffin batter evenly among the liners, filling 3/4 of the way up to make 12 muffins
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Bake in the preheated oven for about 16-18 mins or until middles are set and domed and toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean
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Cool muffins on wire racks while you make the drizzle. Stir together the melted coconut butter and honey, then drizzle over muffins. It will harden as it cools. Store leftovers loosely covered at room temperature for the first day, and in the refrigerator thereafter. Enjoy!
Nutrition
What I Used To Make My Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins:
Want more delicious paleo muffin recipes? Try one of these!
Orange Almond Poppy Seed Muffins
Lemon Blueberry Muffins {Nut Free}
Sweet Potato Cinnamon Raisin Muffins
Blueberry Muffins with Crumb Top
Cassava Flour Blueberry Muffins
Cranberry Pecan Orange Muffins
Double Chocolate Tahini Muffins
Almond Butter Banana Muffins with Flaxseed
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Natalie says
March 25, 2018 at 6:08 amI love lemon and poppy seeds together! These muffins look so delicious! I love the texture – so fluffy!
Michele says
March 25, 2018 at 3:28 pmYes! The texture is great 🙂
Sue Ivey says
March 25, 2018 at 9:19 amCould I use almond butter in the place of coconut butter for the icing?
Chrissey says
March 25, 2018 at 12:23 pmYeah what is coconut butter? Can we use something else?
Michele says
March 25, 2018 at 6:51 pmCoconut butter is pureed coconut and is solid at room temp, so it works well as a drizzle/glaze. Usually in the nut butter section of stores.
Sandra says
March 25, 2018 at 3:34 pmJust made these. Texture is perfect. Not too sweet. Used maple syrup in place of honey and did not frost. Would like a little more lemon flavor to shine through, so might add lemon extract or essential oil next time. Definitely a keeper though.
Michele says
March 25, 2018 at 6:49 pmGlad you enjoyed! An extract or oil would be great 🙂
Debbie says
March 25, 2018 at 5:20 pmThese were fabulous! I had a little trouble getting the glaze melted to drizzle but added some almond milk and lemon juice and delicious!! Love your recipes
Michele says
March 25, 2018 at 6:49 pmOh glad it worked out! Coconut butter can be finicky to melt properly.
Aditya says
March 26, 2018 at 9:32 amNice post.. Thanks for sharing this.. First time I have visited in your site its looking good.
Tina says
March 31, 2018 at 9:24 amLove these but every time I mix the honey in the coconut butter it forms up no matter how much or little I melt the honey???? Help!
Michele says
April 1, 2018 at 11:11 pmI sometimes have this problem with certain types of coconut butter, my advice is to melt it until it’s warm but not at all hot, keeping the ingredients as close to room temp as possible. If you continue to have problems, you can always drizzle a bit of unsweetened melted coconut butter.
Erin says
April 1, 2018 at 10:43 amAm I missing something? There’s no oil in the ingredient list, but it is mentioned in the post…
Shelli says
April 1, 2018 at 7:45 pmI wonder the same thing. These didn’t turn into better at all. They remained crumbly and dry. Terrible.
Michele says
April 1, 2018 at 11:13 pmThere should be 1/4 cup coconut oil in there that was accidentally omitted. Very sorry about that!
Michele says
April 1, 2018 at 11:12 pmHuge apologies for that one! The coconut oil was accidentally omitted from the recipe but it’s back in there now. The measurement is 1/4 cup.
Chandra says
April 7, 2018 at 3:36 pmWonderful muffins! Thanks!
Michele says
April 7, 2018 at 8:08 pmSo happy you enjoyed!
Michele says
April 9, 2018 at 10:33 amHappy you enjoyed them!
Harriet says
April 12, 2018 at 6:20 amThese look lovely. They look sl light and fluffy.
Amiee says
April 23, 2018 at 3:01 pmSo I tried this recipe twice and both times the muffins did not rise, They look like they are going to and then fall in the middle. They taste great and are light and fluffy but look so sad. Any suggestions?
Michele says
April 24, 2018 at 1:42 pmI honestly have no idea! It sounds like the texture is okay, might be the brand of almond flour, I’d say if you test them again, add 1/4 cup more almond flour and see if it helps or hurts!
Kristen says
June 1, 2018 at 4:22 pmI can’t have tapioca or arrowroot Do you know how the muffins could be made without those ingredients
Michele says
June 1, 2018 at 10:14 pmYou can probably just sub in the same amount of almond flour with good results 🙂
Lothea Lian says
July 27, 2018 at 3:03 pmI can’t have tree nuts…can you suggest a good substitution for the almondy bits?
Michele says
July 31, 2018 at 8:55 pmUnfortunately there is no direct sub for almond flour, but check out several of my nut free baking recipes on the site!
Jessica says
July 28, 2018 at 12:10 pmI love the image of your ingredients used. That is so helpful for me. Baking gf,df, paleo is out of my comfort zone anyway so the graphic is great for me visually to recall what the heck I am doing here!
Mary Karvounis says
August 9, 2018 at 3:30 pmI just made these yesterday and they came out perfect! My husband has Celiac disease and had never had lemon poppy seed muffins ’til now.
Peggy Fetzer says
August 20, 2018 at 9:36 amnutritional info (8 g sugar) equates to what serving size? Number of muffins, with or without drizzle? Apologies if stated and I missed. I read twice but may have missed. Thank you!
Veronika says
January 7, 2019 at 7:32 pmThank you for this recipe! I made these muffins twice and both times they were flat and dented on top. I followed the recipe exactly and they taste good, but don’t look as nice as yours. The batter is pretty liquid, is it supposed to be?
AVV says
January 21, 2019 at 10:50 amMine were flat and caved in also. I filled the recipe exactly. No idea what I did wrong.
Avv says
January 21, 2019 at 10:53 amIs it perhaps because I used arrowroot and the blogger used tapioca flour???
Marie says
January 14, 2019 at 8:13 amSo yummy, easy and quick to make! My new favorite treat, thank you Michele 🙂
Jordan says
February 22, 2019 at 9:04 amDo you have any suggestions for making this as bread instead? Would you bake it for a different time?
Michele says
February 22, 2019 at 3:19 pmYes, you’ll have to bake longer, probably double the amount of time if you’re using a loaf pan, or close to.
Melissa says
March 26, 2019 at 2:23 amI have gluten free tom sawyer flour can I use that in place of the other flours listed on the recipe?
annrbeck@yahoo.com says
April 22, 2019 at 9:52 amWill this work wig flax eggs?
Michele says
April 29, 2019 at 4:05 pmI don’t think you’d get the rise and texture you need from flax eggs unfortunately.
Megan says
April 30, 2019 at 1:09 amThese look amazing!! I am curious if the nutritional facts are for what serving size? Thank you!!
Bridget K. Brisk says
May 4, 2019 at 9:34 pmCan you sub Cornstarch for Tapioca Flour? I know it’s typically interchangeable with arrowroot powder. I’m hoping I don’t need to buy another kind of flour, as these look delicious!
Elisa says
May 19, 2019 at 9:53 pmThis is my go-to muffin recipe! I’ve found it’s crucial to have eggs at room temp and really beat them well before adding them to the other wet ingredients.
I’ve substituted the lemon juice with clementine juice when that’s all I had and maple syrup for the honey. Love em!
hitesh says
May 28, 2019 at 3:29 amNice info! thanks for sharing
carbonated drinks
CB says
June 27, 2019 at 2:07 amAmazing recipe! Such a hit, even with my 13 year old!
I substituted 1/3 C of Monk Fruit sweetener for the honey in the muffin recipe and it worked out great!
First recipe I tried, cant wait to try the white bread recipe next!