A few weeks ago, I did a poll on my Instagram Stories with the question “What is your favorite muffin flavor?” And I was sort of surprised by the result! I had expected it would be chocolate chip because, well, chocolate. But it was not! The answer was actually a tie between (1) Blueberry and (2) Lemon Poppyseed (the latter being the real surprise).
I like to give the people what they want but I also didn’t want to make two batches of muffins, so I decided to make a mashup of these two fan favorites! Hence, these Blueberry Lemon Poppyseed Muffins!
And if you’re one of those people whose favorite muffin flavor is lemon poppy seed, then you should (a) make these muffins but also (b) check out my recipe for a Lemon Poppy Seed Layer Cake! It’s one of my most popular recipes yet and it’s incredibly delicious and decadent.
But back to the matter at hand – these muffins! They are healthy-ish, easy to make, and delicious – what’s not to love?
Ingredients and Substitutions
For the dry ingredients, I use a mixture of all-purpose flour and almond flour. The almond flour lends a nice fluffiness, but you can just use more all-purpose flour if you don’t have any. If you want to make your own almond flour, here’s a guide!
And if you are avoiding gluten, you can substitute with an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend (the texture will be a bit denser). Please do not try using any gluten-free flour you like (I tried making these with just oat flour and they came out incredibly gummy). I recommend something like Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1:1 Baking Flour.
For the liquid ingredients, I use plenty of lemon juice and lemon zest (these are lemon poppy seed muffins after). The lemon zest adds a fresh zingy pop that pairs beautifully with the sweetness of the blueberries.
Just be sure to zest your lemons before you juice them. I’ve forgotten that many a times, which has resulted me in dashing out to the grocery store midway through baking (or begging Mr. Rainbow Plant Life to do that for me).
After you zest the lemon, you’ll mix the lemon juice with some almond milk or other plant-based milk, stir, and set aside. You’ll notice that the milk will curdle fairly quickly like buttermilk.
As for the liquid ingredients, the recipe features maple syrup and bananas for sweetness, along with coconut yogurt, coconut oil, and vanilla. For the yogurt, I use So Delicious unsweetened plain coconut yogurt. Be sure to use a relatively thin variety, not a Greek-style or really creamy one, as it will make the batter too thick. If the yogurt feels thick, add a spoon of water to thin it out.
Tips for making light and fluffy muffins
Do NOT overmix the batter
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I repeat, do not overmix the batter! You have probably heard this warning before, but that’s because it’s so true! I made a very similar muffin recipe last year, and they came out a bit too dense. But when I tried them again—the only difference being I mixed the batter less—they came out light and fluffy and perfect!
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You really only need 12 big strokes with a wooden spoon for this recipe. And yes, it’s totally okay (and even encouraged) for there to be a few pockets of flour that remain unincorporated.
Don’t let those blueberries sink
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Once you’ve completed those 12 strokes, gently fold in the blueberries and poppy seeds using a silicone spatula.
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To prevent the blueberries from sinking to the bottom and creating soggy-bottomed muffins, I toss the blueberries in a few tablespoons of extra flour before adding them to the batter. How does this work? Well, when you bake fruit, it releases its natural juices, so the extra flour absorbs some of that liquid and keeps the fruit in place. #science
Change up the oven temperature
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Preheat your oven to a high temperature (in this case, 425°F/2180°C. Then, before adding the muffin pan to the oven, reduce the heat back to the standard temperature of 350°F/177°C.
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This dual temperature system creates lighter, fluffier muffins with taller domes. This is because the higher temperature causes the baking powder to act quickly, creating a burst of steam that lifts the muffin batter and preventing the muffins from spreading out. #scienceagain
Vegan Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 extra-large lemon, or 2 small lemons
- 1/3 cup almond milk or other non-dairy milk
- 1 1/2 cups (~180g) all-purpose flour* + 3 extra tablespoons**
- 2/3 cup (~75g) almond flour or meal
- 2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup coconut yogurt or other non-dairy yogurt***
- 2/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 large ripe banana, mashed
- 2 tablespoons refined coconut oil, melted (or a neutral oil of choice)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- For serving lemon zest and Lemon Icing (below)
Lemon Icing
- 1 cup organic powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons almond milk or other nondairy milk
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with liners. I recommend lightly oiling the muffin liners, as there’s very little oil in this recipe.
- Zest the lemon(s) to get 1 tablespoon of zest, and then juice to get ¼ cup juice. Mix the lemon juice with the almond milk and set aside - it will quickly curdle, like buttermilk.
- In a large bowl, combine the 1 ½ cups flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center and then add in the lemon zest, almond milk-lemon juice mixture, yogurt, maple syrup, mashed banana, oil, and vanilla.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry with a wooden spoon, stirring until they're just mixed - about 12 strokes. The batter should be lumpy and not smooth. Overmixing will cause the muffins to become dense.
- Toss together the blueberries with the extra 3 tablespoons of flour.
- Using a silicone spatula, fold the poppy seeds and blueberries into the muffin batter.
- Using a cookie dough or mini ice cream scoop, dollop the muffin batter evenly into the prepared muffin cups.
- Reduce the temperature to 350°F/175°C and bake the muffins for 23-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs.
- If desired, make the Lemon Icing. Whisk together all of the ingredients in a bowl until you achieve your desired consistency. Add more liquid for a thinner glaze. Drizzle a little icing onto each muffin and top with a zest of lemon.
Notes
Made this in a rectangular pan instead of as muffins to serve it as smaller pieces for Christmas. These are so refreshing and nice and moist, you can taste the almond meal. Everybody loved them, I highly recommend trying them out!
Great to hear the recipe worked well for you, Tina! :) Thanks for sharing!
Can I make this a loaf instead of muffins ?
Hi Beth, we haven’t tested this recipe in a loaf pan. It’s possible it would work at 350ºF for 35 to 50 minutes, but we can’t say for sure since we haven’t tested it ourselves. Typically, a 12-cup muffin pan is equivalent to an 8” loaf pan, so if a standard 9” loaf pan, the loaf might be a bit small/short.
I had really high hopes for this recipe as it includes 3 of my favourite ingredients – lemon, poppy seeds and blueberries – but I think the one fatal ingredient was the banana. The flavour combinations didn’t mesh well. They were edible, but not all that enjoyable.
That said, there are plenty of positive reviews which show that others like this combo. For my taste, I’d try this recipe again but omit the banana.
Sorry to hear you weren’t a fan of the muffins, Mari. We appreciate your feedback nonetheless. Also, if you do try this recipe again, omitting the banana will likely affect the moisture content and texture so we advise against it.
If you’re looking for a tasty blueberry muffin recipe, we suggest you try this one! You can mix poppy seeds into the dry ingredients in step 6 before combining with the wet ingredients. Hope that helped!
I love these! I’ve made several time and subbed out things depending on what I did or did not have–this time I didn’t have yogurt so I just blended up an extra banana with the maple syrup and came out perfect. Also subbed out flax meal for almond meal and still great!
Can I use frozen blueberries? I look forward to this recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Joanna, that should work! We suggest leaving the blueberries in the fridge overnight to defrost, though. Enjoy!
Loved these, thank you. They were dense but fluffy at the same time!! Added the icing sugar on a few as it is the only way to get my mom (she is 78) to eat the healthy muffin! It was a win… she had at least 5 blueberries and some banana!
That’s wonderful to hear, Jennifer! We are so glad you two enjoyed the muffins :)
Could you use chia seeds instead of poppy seeds?
Hi Rebecca, that could work! Let us know how it goes if you try it!
My favorite muffin recipe. The flavors go perfectly together, easy to make, and a fun activity for my son and I to do together. Thanks for another hit recipe Nisha!!
Awesome, Ashley. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
I made a catch of these today – I wanted to test out new silicone muffin cups. The recipe did not disappoint, these were really good! No sugar overload, just the right amount of sweetness after the icing was added in. My muffins were dense, not light but hit the spot and this recipe is a keeper, like all of Nisha’s recipes I have made to date.
Awesome, Katherine. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!