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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.
Table of contents
Why you'll love this recipe
- 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.
What gluten-free flours do we need?
Sweet rice flour
This starchy flour has a delicate flavour and helps to bind the ingredients together. READ MORE >>> Sweet Rice Flour.
Substitution. The swap here is hard as sweet rice flour is very unique. Don't be tempted to swap for regular rice flour as they are totally different.
Oat flour
Gorgeous flavour and fluffy texture. READ MORE >>> Oat Flour.
Substitution. 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. READ MORE >>> Nut flours.
Substitution. You can swap for ground almonds or another nut or seed flour to maintain the protein content.
What other ingredients do we need?
- Lemons. Choose unwaxed organic lemons as you'll be using the zest as well as the juice.
- 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 the muffins
- 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.
How to store
These muffins last up to 3 days if kept in an airtight container in a cool dark place.
How to freeze
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.
How to make dairy-free
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.
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.
Shop the recipe:
- Gluten-Free Sweet Rice Flour
- Gluten-Free-Oat Flour
- Regular 12-Hole Muffin Tin
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
I urge you to give these Gluten-Free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins a try. If you do then please leave a comment below and give the recipe a rating which helps others find the recipe on Google. If you then go on to use this recipe as a launch pad for your own baking creation then I’d also love it if you’d share it and tag me on Instagram. It is so lovely for me to see your versions and variations of my recipes.
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
Flour Substitutions
Sweet Rice Flour. I don't recommend subbing the sweet rice flour. Please don't switch out for regular rice flour as they are too different. Oat Flour. You can swap for sorghum flour. Almond Flour. You can swap for ground almonds but it will have a slightly more mealy texture.Dairy-Free Version
Whole milk. You can swap for an alternative milk like almond milk, cashew milk or coconut milk (the carton not the tin) which will make the recipe dairy-free.Baking 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.
How to Store
These muffins last up to 3 days if kept in an airtight container in a cool dark place.How to Freeze
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.Ingredient measurements
- 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
Mimi says
I loved your tart recipe and wanted to try something different. I'm wondering if I can substitute the oil for melted butter instead?
Georgina Hartley says
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.
Dory says
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!
Georgina Hartley says
That's great to hear!! Thank you for your lovely feedback.
Karly says
Okay, YUM. Sometimes you just need something sweet and delicious and adorable to start the day, ya know?
Georgina says
I completely agree Karly!