Lemon Muffins

I absolutely adore a bakery style muffin. My Pistachio Muffins,  Banana Coffee Cake Muffins, Raspberry Almond Streusel Muffins and Cinnamon Streusel Muffins are just a few muffins recipes I always reach for when I want bakery style muffins. If you’re a fan of delicious bakery style muffins, I know you’ll love this lemon muffin recipe just as much as I do! 

• Layers of flavors and textures: From the moist and fluffy lemon muffin, to the sweet  and tart lemon glaze with lemon zest, these moist lemon muffins will delight your senses. 
• Easy to make, bake and eat: These homemade citrus muffins taste like you just bought them from the bakery, but are so simple to make. All you need is two bowls, a whisk and a muffin pan.

These lemon muffins with lemon glaze requires only a handful of simple ingredients to make and you probably already have them in your house. Here’s what you’ll need.

Dry Ingredients: Gather all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Wet Ingredients: Gather granulated sugar, lemon zest, melted butter, oil, eggs, sour cream, milk, lemon juice and vanilla extract.

Glaze Ingredients: Gather powdered sugar and fresh lemon juice.

These moist lemon filled muffins are as easy to make as they are delicious. Here are my recommended substitutions to make these muffins if you need them.

• All purpose flour: To make these cinnamon crunch muffins gluten free, use a good 1-1 gluten free flour. I recommend using the one from Bob’s Red Mill.
• Melted Butter: Feel free to use an equal amount of salted butter in place of the unsalted butter. Just make sure to omit the added salt. Vegan butter or plant based can also be used in place of regular unsalted butter for this pistachio muffin recipe.
• Canola Oil: Feel free to use any neutral oil in place of the canola oil or use an additional 4 tbsp (57 g) of melted butter in place of the oil.
• Granulated Sugar: This muffin recipe calls for granulated sugar, but maple sugar would also work well to make these muffins refined sugar free. 
• Lemon Zest and Juice: Replace the lemon with any citrus you like. Lime, keylime, meyer lemons or oranges all work well in this recipe!
• Eggs: This recipe has not been tested without eggs. 
• Sour Cream: Greek yogurt works well in place of sour cream.
• Milk: Use any milk you like.
• Vanilla Extract: This adds a lovely background flavor that pairs really well with pistachios.

• Mini Lemon Muffins: Prepare the lemon muffin recipe according to the recipe directions. Grease or line a 24 ct. mini muffin pan with mini cupcake liners. Preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C) and fill each muffin liner with out 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of lemon muffin batter. Bake for 12-14 minutes. This recipe makes about 36 mini muffins. Check out my Mini Blueberry Muffins for another delicious spring and summer muffin recipe. 
• Lemon Streusel Muffins: Make an easy streusel topping by combining ¼ cup (30 g) flour with 2 tbsp (25 g) sugar and 2 tbsp (28 g) cold butter until it forms a sand like consistency. Prepare the lemon muffins according to the recipe directions, top the muffins with the streusel and bake.

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together until well combined.
2. In another bowl whisk the sugar and lemon zest together until well combined with a wet sand consistency. Whisk in the melted butter, oil, eggs, vanilla extract, lemon juice, sour cream and milk together until well combined. 
3. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined. Do not overmix. Let the lemon muffin batter rest at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes. While the muffin batter rests, preheat the oven to 425 F (218 C). Line a 12 ct. muffin pan with cupcake liners. Use a 3 tablespoon sized cookie scoop to scoop the muffin batter into each of the muffin liners, alternating every other cup. This method produces the tallest bakery style tops. If you prefer to bake them all at once, the tops won’t be as high.

4. Bake the muffins at 425 F for 6 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 (177 C) for an additional 7-9 minutes. Do not open the oven door to reduce the temperature. Wait until closer to the minimum baking time. The muffins will bake for a total of 13 - 15 minutes. The muffins are done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes about with a few moist crumbs. Cool the lemon pudding mix muffins in the muffin pan for 5 minutes. Carefully remove the muffins to cool to room temperature and make the lemon glaze
5. Make the 2 ingredient lemon glaze by stirring the fresh lemon juice into the powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency. For a thicker glaze, use 1 - 2 tablespoons. For a thinner glaze, 2 - 3 tablespoons. Spoon the glaze over the mostly cooled lemon muffins. Top with lemon zest if you like and enjoy!

• Store leftover muffins: Place the moist lemon muffins in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Then transfer the muffins to the fridge for up to 3 more days. 
• Freeze the muffins: Make sure the muffins are completely cooled to room temperature. Individually wrap each muffin in plastic wrap. Place each wrapped muffin in a ziplock bag. Store in the freezer for up to 2 months. It’s best not to glaze the muffins if you plan on freezing them. 
• Thaw the muffins: The easiest and tastiest way to thaw the glazed lemon muffins is to let them out at room temperature for at least two hours. Enjoy at room temperature or microwave the muffin for 20 - 30 seconds for that “fresh from the oven” taste.