Poppy Seed Muffins
After experimenting with several recipes, these Poppy Seed Muffins emerged as the clear winner. Cream cheese adds richness and tenderness to the batter while lemon zest provides just the right touch of citrus flavor. A light sprinkling of coarse sparkling sugar adds a nice crunch and sweetness to the muffin top.
Perfect for breakfast, brunch, or an afternoon tea snack, these muffins also freeze beautifully.
The recipe comes from Sarabeth’s Good Morning Cookbook: Breakfast, Brunch, and Baking, a wonderful book by Sarabeth Levine, founder of the popular New York City restaurants known for their exceptional breakfasts, brunches, muffins, scones, and waffles.
Sarabeth’s original recipe yields 16 muffins, but I found that filling each cup of my deep OXO muffin pan nearly to the top produced 12 generously sized muffins. If you use a standard, shallower muffin pan, you will likely get closer to the original yield of 16.
Successful poppy seed baking depends on the freshness of the poppy seeds, which are surprisingly perishable. The natural oils in poppy seeds can become rancid relatively quickly.
Purchase poppy seeds from stores with high product turnover whenever possible. Fresh poppy seeds should have a mild, nutty aroma, not a sharp, bitter, or overly strong smell. Once opened, store them in the refrigerator or freezer to help preserve their freshness.
For smaller quantities, I have had good results purchasing poppy seeds from Whole Foods. For larger amounts, I recommend Penzeys Spices, which sells its blue seeds in both jars and bags.
Poppy Seed Muffins
| Yield: 12 – 16 muffins | # of Servings: 12 | Difficulty: Easy |
Ingredients:
2 ¼ cups (11.3 oz / 320 g) all-purpose flour
2 tsp (.3 oz / 8 g) baking powder
½ tsp (scant, .1 oz / 3 g) sea salt
¼ cup (1.4 oz / 39 g) poppy seeds
1 ⅓ cups (9.3 oz / 263 g) granulated sugar
1 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup (8 oz / 227 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
8 oz (227 g) cream cheese, soft room temperature
4 large eggs, room temperature
Sparkling sugar, as needed
Special tools and equipment needed
- One standard 12-cup muffin pan
- Standard-sized muffin pan liners
- 1.5 fl oz (#20) ice cream scoop
Pre-recipe preparations:
- Line the muffin tins with paper liners
- Grate lemon rind
- Preheat oven to 400 °F
Directions
- In large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds, Set aside.
- In small mixing bowl, rub the lemon zest and vanilla into the sugar. Set aside,
- Using a stand or hand-held mixer, beat the butter for two minutes until slightly soft and creamy. Add the cream cheese and beat until light.
- Add the sugar slowly and beat until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well. Scrape down the bowl and beat until smooth.
- Add the flour mixture in two stages, mixing just enough to combine. Remove from the mixer, scrape the bowl and finish mixing with a rubber spatula.
- Using the ice cream scoop, or a spatula, fill each muffin cup to the top. Sprinkle sparkling sugar over the top of each muffin.
- Bake for 10 minutes, reduce the oven to 375°F and bake for an additional 12 to 14 minutes, just until the muffins are golden on their edges, firm to the touch and a cake tester comes out clean.
- Serve warm or at room temperature. Muffins freeze beautifully, individually wrapped.
Baking Tips:
- Aluminum-free baking powder is strongly recommended.
- Check the freshness of your poppy seeds, as they turn stale and rancid quickly.
- Room temperature cream cheese and butter are very important to the success of the recipe.
