Strawberry Meyer Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

I love lemons! They are such a bright, happy, versatile fruit. You can use them in savory dishes, salads, dips, drinks, desserts, and breads. You can use the juice, the zest, or even the entire lemon! Lemons are available year round, but my favorite time to use them is in spring and summer. Since we are about a week into spring I decided it was time to start doing some baking with lemons. I kicked off spring baking with these oh so yummy Strawberry Meyer Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins!

Muffins are a great breakfast or snack to have around the house. They are portable and easy to grab on the go when you are in a hurry. These particular muffins use Meyer lemons which are slightly sweeter than a regular lemon, sort of a cross between a lemon and an orange. Since Meyer lemons are in season right now I figured they would be perfect to use in these Strawberry Meyer Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins.

I decided to make these into mini muffins because I love how small and cute they look. They will be perfect to serve at Easter brunch alongside my delicious Salmon Asparagus Frittata and Sunrise Smoothies.

The recipe for these muffins was slightly adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod’s recipe for Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. I absolutely love Maria’s website! She has recipes for the most delicious cookies (her specialty) and breakfast items, as well as many vegetarian dishes, go check her out! Back to these Strawberry Meyer Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. They are as easy to make as any muffin recipe and they are healthy!

To make the muffins healthy I used mostly whole wheat pastry flour and only four tablespoons of butter for 52 mini muffins or 12 regular size muffins. The muffins are kept moist thanks to my favorite butter or oil substitute, non fat Greek yogurt. Of course the star ingredients in these muffins are the Meyer lemon zest and juice, fresh strawberries, and poppy seeds. Poppy seeds aren’t something I use very often but I love how they give these muffins a speckled look and a little crunch.

I also chose to use a little almond extract in the muffins instead of vanilla because it’s a flavor I adore! Check out my Strawberry Almond Cream Cups, Almond Matcha Biscotti with Chocolate Chips, Banana Almond Matcha Smoothie, and Raspberry Coconut Almond Financiers for more recipes involving my obsession with almond. These moist muffins are sweet without being overly sweet, they have a bit of tang from the lemon, freshness from the zest, and the slightest crunch from the poppy seeds. They scream spring which is what I am all about right now. So embrace the spirit of spring and bake a batch of these Strawberry Meyer Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins!

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Yield: 52 mini muffins or 12 standard size muffins

Strawberry Meyer Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

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The perfect muffin to start spring with!

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes

Total Time 27 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 Meyer lemons, zested and juiced
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 2 t. baking powder
• 1/4 t. baking soda
• 1/4 t. kosher salt
• 2 T. poppy seeds
• 1 cup plain non fat Greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 t. almond extract
• 4 T. unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup fresh strawberries, diced

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a mini muffin tin or standard size muffin tin with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl add the sugar and lemon zest.
3. Mix the two together with your fingers until they are completely combined and fragrant.
4. Add the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and poppy seeds to the sugar mixture and whisk together.
5. In a smaller bowl whisk together the lemon juice, melted butter, Greek yogurt, eggs, and almond extract until well combined.
6. Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry and fold together just until combined.
7. Gently fold in the strawberries.
8. Using a cookies scoop or ice cream scoop depending on the size of muffins you are making, scoop the batter into each muffin liner.
9. Bake the muffins for 12 minutes if you are doing mini muffins or 15-18 minutes for regular size muffins.
10. Insert a toothpick into the center of the muffin to check to see if they are done.
11. Cool the muffins on a wire rack.

Notes

If you don't have whole wheat flour you can use just all purpose flour.

If you don't like almond extract simply substitute with a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

More Spring Inspired Muffins:

Blueberry Lime Muffins– The Novice Chef

Orange Sour Cream Muffins with Zesty Orange Glaze– Damn Delicious

Peach Yogurt Muffins– Savory Simple

Lemon Raspberry Muffins– Lemons for Lulu