Starbucks Copycat Lemon Poppy Seeds Muffins

Ever since I published the recipe for Starbucks Copycat Blueberry Muffins, the amount of requests I received from you for the lemon and poppy seeds muffins of that popular café really surprised me. In the past few months I got at least 1-2 emails or messages asking for the recipe, and I just couldn’t stop thinking about it.

As a big fan of lemon muffins, including the combination of lemon and poppy, I got to taste the muffins at Starbucks a few years ago. I remembered that they were very tasty, fragrant, relatively large, soft and tender. I was looking for some inspiration for recipes on different websites, and after a few attempts I finally got the result I was aiming for!

These muffins are so soft and fragrant, with a rather “cloudy” texture and certainly moist and tender. The addition of the poppy also makes them particularly beautiful, but adds an irresistible taste. They are very easy to prepare and require only a few minutes of work. Everything else is done by the oven, and the smell will call you when they are ready.

Starbucks Copycat Lemon Poppy Seeds Muffins

12 muffins

For the muffins:
100 grams soft butter
200 grams (1 cup) sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
80 ml. (1/3 cup) lemon juice
Zest of 2 lemons
45 ml. (3 tbsp.) milk
280 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour
10 grams (2 tsp.) baking powder
100 grams (1 cup) freshly ground poppy seeds

Decoration:
3-4 tbsp. sugar powder
1/2-1 tsp. cold water
A little poppy seeds for decoration

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 170c degrees, and line a muffin pan with paper crowns.
2. In a mixer bowl, whip butter, sugar, salt and vanilla at medium to high speed until a uniform, very creamy mixture is obtained.
3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula to move the mixture to the center of the bowl and add in the eggs one at a time, mixing between additions. Continue whipping the batter until the eggs are incorporated.
4. Add juice, lemon zest and milk, and continue to mix until incorporated.
5. Add flour, baking powder and ground poppy seeds, and continue to mix only until combined.
6. With 2 tablespoons or an ice cream scoop, fill the jugs almost to the rim.
7. Bake the muffins for 18-25 minutes or until golden and set.
8. Cool completely at room temperature.
9. Decoration: in a small bowl, mix powdered sugar and water. The mixture should be quite thick, like a sort of paste – if it is too thin, add some powdered sugar, and if it is too hard add a little water.
10. With a teaspoon, sprinkle a little of the royal icing mixture on top of each muffin.
11. Garnish with poppy seeds and serve.

Notes:

• Keep the muffins in the refrigerator for up to a week, but it is recommended to serve them at room temperature.
• It is important to use freshly ground poppy seeds! It’s available at spice and natural ingredients shops. Using a non-fresh poppy will yield a rather bitter result.
• Instead of lemon you can use any other citrus fruit you like.