Mini Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Hello CUTIES (mini muffins)! I love my new MINI muffin pan. With the same recipe, you get twice or even triple the quantity! Minis are perfect as snacks and for sharing with others( :

Besides the quantity, mini muffins also taste better in my opinion. The proportion of the fluffy interior and the slightly crunchy exterior is just perfectly balanced. HAHA. Total BS.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours
- makes 24 mini muffins

*For the Muffins:
2/3 cup sugar
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 cups all purpose flour*
2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
3/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 t pure vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 T poppy seeds

*For the Icing:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2-3 T fresh lemon juice

To Make the Muffins:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F
2. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan (24 molds in a mini- size muffin pan*) or fit the molds with paper muffin cups.
3. In a large bowl, rub the sugar and the lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of the lemon is prominent and strong.
4. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
5. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and melted butter together until well blended.
6. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. (Don’t worry about being thorough-a few lumps are better than over- mixing the batter. )
7. Stir in the poppy seeds. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
8. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean.
9. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.
10. Cool the muffins completely on the rack before icing them.

To Make the Icing:
1. Put the confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl and add about 1 1/2 T of the lemon juice.
2. Stir with a spoon to moisten the sugar, then add enough additional lemon juice, a dribble at a time, to get an icing that is thin enough to drizzle from the tip of the spoon.
3. You can then drizzle lines of icing over the tops of the muffins or coat the tops entirely, the better to get an extra zap of lemon.

*Note:
- Substituted AP flour with whole wheat flour
- Halved the recipe and made 16 mini muffins
- Skipped on the icing



Taste: 4 stars out of 5
Light and refreshing. Sweetness is subtle. Whole wheat flour added a strange taste. (My taste bud no likely whole wheat ):)

Texture: 4 stars out of 5
Slightly moister than the chocolate muffins I previously baked. Possibly due to the sour cream and butter.

On with my search for the best tasting lemon poppy seed muffins! Why is it that none of the recipes I found online reproduce that ONE delicious LPS muffin I ate a while back ): It was so tangy, sweet and SUPER moist! But I guess I am a step closer with each recipe I tried :p
(A link to my first attempt)


^my platter of muffins <3