These fluffy citrus poppyseed muffins are brimful of lemon and orange zest, with poppyseeds aplenty. A bright and happy bite at every turn. You’ll need only one bowl for these babies too, so truly—what more could one ask for?
Let’s get baking!
Some Materials You’ll Need:
- One or two 12 Cup muffin pans (love my USA Pan one!)
- Muffin cup liners
- Large mixing bowl
- Measuring cups/spoons
- Whisk + spatula
- Sifter (to avoid flour clumps)
- Large cookie scoop (optional, helps to fill the muffin cups)
Rubbing Citrus into the Sugar Gives You More Flavor
If you’ve made my Citrus Loaf (with a lemon soak), you’ll be familiar with the citrus sugar step! If not, then welcome—your life is about to change for the better.
Essentially, citrus sugar is just some sort of citrus zest (lemon, orange, etc.) rubbed together with your granulated sugar to create an aromatic, blissful mixture. This process helps coax out those oils in the zest, amplifying the flavor and depths of your bakes that call for it.
The texture is divine as well, something along the lines of a wet sand. Not to mention your kitchen will be filled with the most wonderful citrus aroma. Don’t skip this step! For both the sake of your bake and your mental health.
How to Make Your Muffins Rise and Dome
While achieving that sought-after “dome” top to your muffins is never necessary, it certainly can’t hurt! Here are a few tips and tricks to help your muffins get more rise and hopefully some mounded tops.
Burst of Heat!
You’ll notice I have you start your oven at a higher temperature, bake the muffins for a bit, and then turning the temperature down before continuing to bake the rest of the time. This quick burst of heat at the beginning helps activate and kickstart any leavening agents in the mixture.
Then you’ll turn the oven down to help the muffins bake all the way through, without burning on the outside (I like a darker golden outside to mine). Every oven temperature range is different, but for me the 25° difference at the beginning helps me get more of that “dome” on top!
Fill Those Muffin Cups!
Somewhere and some time ago, we all decide to fill our muffin cups a meager halfway up the liner. When in reality, we should be filling them well above the 3/4 line and some cases, all the way. I’m using about a 1/3 or 1/4 cup cookie scoop to fill my cupcake liners and will get just above that 3/4 line.
It will feel like too much and against your better judgement, but it will only help you get more rise to these citrus poppyseed muffins! You might have to bake your muffins a little longer with the added mixture, yes, but not in any way that makes a huge difference in your bake time.
Ignore your instinct and fill those cups! I promise.
Additional Tips for Light and Fluffy Muffins
To really make these citrus poppyseed muffins shine, here are just a few little tips to keep things extra fluffy and knock down that dish pile in the sink.
- I’ve made this recipe in such a way that you should only need one mixing bowl! Make that citrus sugar, add your eggs to that same bowl, pour in your liquids, then fold in the dry. A lot of recipes have you whisk your dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then add to the wet, but if you sift in your flour to the same bowl you’ll save yourself some dishes.
- Really whisk up those eggs when adding them into your sugar. Beaten eggs are a natural leavening agent with all that air being whipped up. So the more you whisk, the more air you’ll incorporate, and the lighter your muffins will be.
- Be careful not to over-fold or work your mixture once you add in your flour and poppyseeds. Just mix until there are no streaks of flour and your poppyseeds are evenly distributed. The more your mix, the more gluten develops, resulting in a tighter texture/crumb. Which isn’t always a bad thing, just a preference really.
- Let your dough rest for 30 minutes before scooping out into the muffin cups. This will let your dough (flour) hydrate a bit and thicken up, making it easier to scoop and release.
Tag me on Instagram, @joshisbaking if you make these bright and happy citrus poppyseed muffins! Nothing would make me happier (unless you then brought some over to share, just saying).
Happy baking, friends!
Check out my most recent recipes:
- Baked Churro Donuts with Dark Chocolate Ganache
- Cheddar & Strawberry Jam Pastries
- Pistachio Date Pastries
Citrus Poppyseed Muffins
- Prep Time: 25 Minutes
- Rest Time: 30 Min. (optional)
- Cook Time: 20-25 Minutes
- Total Time: ~1 Hr. 20 Min.
- Yield: 14–16 Muffins 1x
Description
These fluffy citrus poppyseed muffins are brimful of lemon and orange zest, with poppyseeds aplenty. A bright and happy bite at every turn!
Ingredients
Citrus Poppyseed Muffins
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (310g)
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest (6g), from 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons orange zest (14g), from 1-2 navel oranges
- 3 large eggs (152g), room temperature
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil (100g, 125 ml)
- 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream (198g, 200ml)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (282g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (3g)
- 1 tablespoon poppyseeds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and position your oven rack in the middle. Prep a 12 cup muffin pan with cupcake liners (if you have a second, prep about 3-5 cups in that one as well). Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add your granulated sugar, lemon zest, and orange zest. Using your fingers, massage/rub the zests and sugar together for about a minute, until the mixture turns a yellow orange. Then add in your 3 eggs, whisking vigorously until fully combined.
- Next, add in your vegetable oil & heavy whipping cream and whisk until fully incorporated. Sift in your all-purpose flour, sprinkle in your baking powder, and fold the mixture together with a spatula until just combined and no streaks of flour remain. Then fold in your poppyseeds (see notes for optional rest).
- Scoop out ~1/3 or 1/4 cup scoops of your cupcake batter into each well (just above 3/4 full). It’ll feel like too much, but trust me. Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 5 minutes, turn the oven down to 375°F (190°C), keeping the cupcakes in the oven, and bake for an additional 16-20 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Let cool in the pans for about 10-15 minutes before moving to a separate rack to cool completely and continue baking your next little batch with the rest of your batter (make sure to get the oven back up to 400°F before putting the next batch in).
These are best enjoyed the first day (for maximum fluffiness), but will keep for up to 3 or so days stored at room temperature in an airtight container.
Notes
- Optional Rest: let your dough rest in the bowl at room temperature for about 30 minutes—this will let it thicken up, be easier to scoop, and even help get more of a rise.
- That initial burst of heat will help your muffins get more of a rise and hopefully dome-shaped tops.
- Let your dough rest in the bowl at room temperature for about 30 minutes—this will let it thicken up, be easier to scoop, and even help get more of a rise.
- Really whisk up your eggs in that sugar mixture for lighter/fluffier muffins. Beaten eggs are a natural leavening agent with a lot of air being whipped up and incorporated into your mixture.
- Fill those muffin cups! Go past that 3/4 line, trust me.
Looking for something else to bake?
Hi! I’m wondering if I want to bake these as just lemon poppyseed, how much more lemon zest should I add? Or should I just leave out the orange zest and not add more lemon zest? Thanks!
I think if you just did 1 more Tablespoon of lemon zest that should be plenty! Just depends on how tart and citrusy you want it really. But as a safe bet, I would just do one more tablespoon at least (for a total of 2 tablespoons of lemon zest). Let me know how they turn out! 🙂
Great! Thank you so much!🙂
Of course!!