Gluten-Free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
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These Gluten-Free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are light, bright and zesty. Moist, bouncy and incredibly moreish.
Gluten-Free Lemon and Poppy Seed Muffins are the perfect muffin to begin your day, break up your afternoon with alongside a cup of tea or treat yourself to after dinner. There is plenty of zest in the sponge which is gorgeously fluffy from the right selection of gluten-free flours. The top is drenched with a tangy lemon icing and sprinkled with more poppy seeds for a little crunch.
Why You’ll Love These Gluten-Free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Tall, fluffy and moist muffins.
- Bright super lemony flavour.
- Tangy icing which compliments the lovely lemony sponge.
- Easy to bake - just a 2 bowl recipe.
- A great muffin for any time of day.
- No xanthan gum needed.
Ingredients Needed
Lemons. Choose unwaxed organic lemons as you'll be using the zest as well as the juice.
Sweet rice flour. (glutinous rice flour) This starchy flour has a delicate flavour and helps to bind the ingredients together. It's not the same as regular rice flour. You can find it in Asian supermarkets or online suppliers like Amazon. You can substitute for cassava flour which has similar sticky properties.
Oat flour. This is a wholegrain gluten-free flour with a gorgeous flavour and fluffy texture. If you can't tolerate oats then you can swap for sorghum flour which gives a similar flavour base.
Almond flour. The protein in this nut flour helps with the structure of the cake making it soft but holding it together. You are looking for blanched ground almonds. There is a bit of labelling confusion over almond flour which is sold as ‘ground almonds’ in most major UK supermarkets and found in the baking aisle. If you want to know what exactly you are looking for then check out this post >>>Is Almond Flour The Same As Ground Almonds.
Whole milk. You can switch for a non-dairy alternative if you need your muffins to be dairy-free.
Caster sugar. This fine light sugar with neutral flavour base gives great results for fluffy muffins.
Olive oil. You need a mild and light flavourless olive oil so it doesn't interfere with the flavour.
Eggs. Choose a medium size and always free-range with a good orange yolk for a rich flavour.
Black poppy seeds. If you omit then you can achieve gorgeous Gluten-Free Lemon Muffins.
Baking powder. We need 1 tablespoon for a great lift.
Salt. It amps up the other flavours.
Icing sugar. For a beautiful glaze.
How to Make Gluten-Free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
The following gives a short concise method with step-by-step images. For full recipe instructions go to the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Wet ingredients. Beat the milk, sugar, olive oil, eggs and lemon zest until smooth.
- Dry ingredients. Whisk the flours, poppy seeds, baking powder and salt until combined.
- Mix. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until the batter is lovely and smooth.
- Bake. Divide between the muffin cases and bake for 20 minutes.
- Icing. Beat the lemon juice, zest and icing sugar together until just pourable then drizzle over the cooled muffins.
Expert Tips
Use a trigger release ice cream scoop to scoop the cake mixture into the muffin cases. It makes the job clean and easy.
Transfer the muffins directly to a cooling rack as soon as they are baked. If left in the baking tin the heat moisture starts to encourage the muffins to pull away from the muffin cases.
Only glaze the muffins with the icing when they have totally cooled so the icing doesn't melt.
If you leave the icing to set on the muffins for a couple of hours it will achieve that lovely crunchy crackle which is such a lovely texture contrast to the sponge.
FAQs
These muffins last up to 3 days if kept in an airtight container in a cool dark place.
Flash freeze the muffins in a single layer on a baking tray in the freezer for 6-8 hours. Then move the muffins to a ziplock bag or airtight container and place back in the freezer. The muffins will keep well in the freezer for up to 2 months. I prefer to freeze without the icing as it tastes much fresher. Defrost the muffins (individually if you like) naturally on the kitchen counter which will take 4-8 hours depending on the warmth of your kitchen.
There is only one swap if you want to make this recipe into a dairy-free version. Just switch out the whole milk for an alternative milk. I like almond milk but cashew and coconut milk (carton not the tinned) also work well.
I recommend a 12 hole regular sized muffins tin.
Flavour variations
- Lemon Blueberry Muffins. Swap out the poppy seeds for 125g blueberries.
- Orange Poppy Seed Muffins. Swap out the lemon zest and juice for the same amount of orange for another lovely citrus flavour.
If you like this recipe then you may like
- Vanilla Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
- White Chocolate Blackcurrant and Thyme Muffins
- Chocolate Courgette Muffins
- Whole Lemon Thyme Cake
- Blueberry Basil Lemon Drizzle Cake
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Gluten-Free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Ingredients
- 250 g whole milk
- 200 g caster sugar
- 125 g light olive oil
- 2 eggs - medium
- zest 3 lemons - unwaxed
- 150 g sweet white rice flour - glutinous rice flour
- 125 g gluten-free oat flour
- 100 g almond flour
- 2 tablespoons black poppy seeds
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Icing
- 225 g icing sugar
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Place muffin cases in a 12-hole muffin tin and pre-heat the oven to 170°C.
- Place the milk, sugar, olive oil, eggs and lemon zest into a large bowl and beat together until smooth.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the sweet rice flour, oat flour, almond flour, poppy seeds, baking powder and salt until thoroughly combined.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and beat together until smooth.
- Divide the batter into muffin cases, filling to just below the top.
- Place the muffin tin into the oven and bake for about 20 minutes.
- As soon as the muffin tin has been taken out of the oven, then lift out the muffins and leave on a cooling rack to cool completely before drenching with icing.
- Make the icing by beating together the lemon juice and zest with the icing sugar until the icing is just pourable.
- Spoon the icing over each muffin then leave to set.
Notes
- Use a trigger release ice cream scoop to scoop the cake mixture into the muffin cases. It makes the job clean and easy.
- Transfer the muffins directly to a cooling rack as soon as they are baked. If left in the baking tin the heat moisture starts to encourage the muffins to pull away from the muffin cases.
- Only glaze the muffins with the icing when they have totally cooled so the icing doesn't melt.
- If you leave the icing to set on the muffins for a couple of hours it will achieve that lovely crunchy crackle which is such a lovely texture contrast to the sponge.
- Please note when you see ‘grams’ listed as opposed to ‘millilitres,’ or any other term of measurement, that is not incorrect. I weigh all of my ingredients, including liquids, for accuracy.
- US customary measurements for the ingredients provided are based on a conversion calculator. This recipe was tested with metric measurements and I recommend using a digital scale to weigh ingredients for the most accurate results. READ MORE >>> Why you should always weigh vs measuring with cups
I loved your tart recipe and wanted to try something different. I'm wondering if I can substitute the oil for melted butter instead?
Yes you can, the texture of the muffin will vary a little just because there is more water content in butter than oil (about 15-20%) but it shouldn't be too noticeable and will obviously have a more buttery flavour.
This muffin was so so so delicious! Also I've only just noticed how easy it is to change the 'servings' on the recipe section - this is really helpful!
That's great to hear!! Thank you for your lovely feedback.
Okay, YUM. Sometimes you just need something sweet and delicious and adorable to start the day, ya know?
I completely agree Karly!