Whole Wheat Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Whole Wheat Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins! These tasty muffins are packed with lemon flavor and poppy seeds and drizzled with a lemon glaze.

Perfect for breakfast, brunch or tea.

Whole wheat muffins

I don't often make muffins with whole wheat flour. But these lemon poppy seed muffins are made with 100% whole wheat flour. They aren't heavy or dense like you'd expect because I used white whole wheat flour.

Does that sound like an oxymoron? Yep, but it's not! White whole wheat flour is milled from a different grain than regular whole wheat flour.

White whole wheat flour is from white wheat berries. They are lighter and slightly sweeter than the traditional red wheat berry. It has all the benefits of whole wheat flour.

These whole wheat lemon poppy seed muffins are a great way to start the day. I've added a lemon glaze, which is optional. But you won't want to skip it. The glaze adds so much lemony flavor.

Plus these muffins don't contain a lot of sugar. So a little extra on the top isn't going to put you over the edge! You can add as much glaze as you'd like. If you'd like less sugar, just drizzle a small amount over the top of each muffin.

My favorite part about these muffins, besides the amazing taste, is no one will ever know they are made with whole wheat flour.

Key ingredients

• White Whole Wheat Flour - you could also use all-purpose flour
• Poppy Seeds
• Lemon - you'll want a fresh lemon for the zest and the juice
• Butter and Oil - I've added a bit of oil to help keep these muffins moist
• Sugar - granulated sugar for the muffins and powdered sugar for the glaze

Step by step directions

• Combine butter, oil and sugar together in a mixing bowl. Mix until light and creamy
• Add lemon zest, lemon juice, egg, vanilla and milk. Mix well.

• Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and poppy seeds. Mix just until the ingredients come together. Turn off mixer and continue mixing ingredients together with a spatula.

• Place in muffin tins lined with paper liners or sprayed with a nonstick spray
• Bake in a preheated 400°F oven for 12-14 minutes. Use a toothpick to test muffins.
• Remove from oven and cool for 1-2 minutes in muffin tins then remove muffins and continue cooling on a baking rack.
• Make glaze by combining powdered sugar and lemon juice with a small whisk. Add enough lemon juice to make glaze pourable.
• Drizzle glaze over warm muffins

Recipe tips

• Use softened, but not melted butter
• The mixture may look slightly curdled when adding the lemon juice and milk. This is okay!
• To save time (and a bowl) I will often add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt right to the wet ingredients. I then reach in with a small spoon (with the mixer OFF) and just give the dry ingredients a quick stir. This mixes up the salt and baking powder/soda so it's distributed throughout the flour.
• Once the flour is added, just mix with the mixer a few times. You want the flour to just be barely mixed into the wet ingredients.
• Turn the mixer off and then fold everything together with a spatula. You don't want to overmix or the muffins will become tough.
• Oven temperatures vary, so baking times may vary.
• Check muffins at 12 minutes and test with a toothpick. If needed, bake for 1-2 additional minutes.
• Paper liners may be used for making the muffins or you can simply spray the muffin tin with nonstick spray

Frequently asked questions

More muffin recipes

Having a variety of muffins for breakfast makes breakfast extra special.

• peach muffins
• apple carrot muffins
• blueberry muffins
• banana blueberry muffins
• bran muffins
• blackberry muffins
• peanut butter muffins
• pear muffins
• blackberry muffins

If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below and snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @beyondthechickencoop

Be sure to check out all my delicious muffin recipes!