Lemon Muffins

It's been a while since I've shared a recipe and this is a great one to break that streak! I wanted to find more muffin recipes to send muffins with my husband to work for breakfast and per his request for lemon poppy seed muffins I found THIS recipe at Annie's Eats. I have made enough changes that I thought it would be easiest to give you my altered recipe which is very close to the awesome original!

Lemon Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour (I personally use white whole wheat flour)

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature (1 stick)

1 cup sugar (I use evaporated cane juice which doesn't work for all bakery but was OK for this)

2 large eggs, at room temperature

zest of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup vanilla (or plain) yogurt- because I use white whole wheat flour, I add a few extra tablespoons

**optional- add 2 tablespoons poppy seeds to the flour mixture to make Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1-2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease the bottom of a muffin pan. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt (and poppy seeds if you choose) in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Mix in the lemon zest and vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients in two additions alternating with the yogurt, beating each addition just until incorporated. This is where I determine how much extra yogurt to add; I want it to be thinner than dough but much thicker than let's say cake batter. I personally have never accidentally added too much yogurt but I have had dry muffins if I followed the original recipe, so you judge.

Fill the muffin tins about 2/3 full. I usually fill one pan (12 muffins) and then have enough batter left for 3 more in a second batch (or use two pans.) Bake 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, transfer to a wire rack.

Mix together powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl with a fork. While the muffins are still warm, spread or drizzle a little glaze on top of each muffin. Let the glaze set before serving.

Makes 12-15 muffins.

Annie's Eats is a great food blog for those foodies out there. Her recipes are all "down to earth" where you don't have to drive to three specialty stores to recreate a recipe but at the same time the quality of culinary taste exceeds that of many food websites. I always figure that if a blogger finds a recipe good enough to share of her (or his) personal blog, then I have a much better chance of finding a winner!

Happy Baking!