This recipe for vegan lemon poppy seed muffins is dairy free, eggless and easy to make! The muffins are soft, fluffy and loaded with deliciously fresh lemon flavor which pairs perfectly alongside the light crunch of poppy seeds.
Topped with a simple 2-ingredient lemon glaze, these muffins are truly a delicious snack or dessert!
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Are Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins Vegan?
Most lemon poppy seed muffin recipes are not vegan because they likely contain dairy and/ or eggs. This type of muffin is commonly made with yogurt, sour cream or buttermilk along with eggs.
Luckily, it’s easy to replace eggs and dairy in baking recipes. This dairy free and eggless recipe uses a couple easy tricks to replace these ingredients. Just create a flaxseed “egg” and a quick vegan buttermilk alternative; with these you’ll bake irresistible muffins that you certainly can’t tell are vegan!
Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin Ingredients
This recipe uses simple ingredients that should be available at most grocery stores. Apart from buying a few fresh lemons, everything else are pantry staples I keep on hand!
- Ground flaxseed: Mixing ground flaxseed with liquid forms a gel typically called a flax “egg”. This is a nutritious and easy vegan egg replacement in many baking recipes.
- Lemon juice and zest: Typical flax “eggs” are made with water, but for this recipe I mix the ground flaxseed with lemon juice. This creates the maximum amount of lemon flavor in our muffins. Lemon juice in the flax “egg” along with loads of lemon zest in the batter ensures these are truly flavorful muffins. I love lemon-flavored desserts so don’t hold back on the lemon flavor (without using lemon extract).
- Soy milk and apple cider vinegar: Lemon poppy seed muffins are typically made with sour cream or yogurt, but to create a dairy free alternative, this recipe uses a quick and easy vegan buttermilk alternative. To create vegan buttermilk, simply mix plant-based milk with some vinegar. Soy milk creates the creamiest and thickest buttermilk because the higher protein content allows for more curdling (which sounds gross makes for the best non-dairy buttermilk).
- Vegetable oil: Select a mild-tasting oil for this recipe (as opposed to a strong flavored oil like olive oil). This ingredient creates soft and moist muffins that melt in your mouth!
- Sugar: Counteract some of the sour lemon with sweetness using regular granulated sugar. These are not overly sweet muffins; I’d say they’re on the less-sweet side which I love in lemon-flavored desserts.
- Vanilla extract: Boost the flavor in the muffins with some vanilla.
- Whole wheat and all-purpose flour: For some added nutrition, specifically fiber, I mix whole wheat and all-purpose flours for this recipe. Whole-wheat flour provides extra structure and a slightly denser texture while all-purpose flour keeps the muffins soft and fluffy!
- Baking powder and baking soda: To provide lift and create lighter muffins, use a mix of baking powder and soda.
- Poppy seeds: These seeds have a mild flavor and light crunch that pairs beautifully with lemon.
- Icing sugar: Topping your muffins with a simple lemon glaze really boosts that delicious lemon flavor. To make the glaze (optional) you’ll need some icing sugar and extra lemon juice on hand.
How to Make Eggless Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
These muffins follow the classic baking formula of mixing wet ingredients before stirring in dry ingredients. There’s one extra step to create the vegan egg and buttermilk alternative, but its quick and easy to do!
Step 1: Prep Flaxseed “Egg” and “Buttermilk”
Before you begin, zest and juice 3-4 lemons. I zest lemons using the small grating side of a box grater, but other zesting tools can work as well.
When zesting lemons or any citrus, grate only the brightly colored outer layer of the fruit and not the white pith underneath.
Make your flaxseed “egg” by stirring ground flaxseed with lemon juice. Thoroughly combine and set aside so it forms a gel.
To make a simple dairy free buttermilk alternative, mix soy milk with apple cider vinegar. The mixture will curdle (clump) which is exactly what we want to happen!
Step 2: Whisk Wet Ingredients
Once the flaxseed “egg” has had time to set (about 5 minutes), add it to a large mixing bowl along with the prepared soy buttermilk alternative.
Add the remaining liquid ingredients, including vegetable oil, sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk until you have a smooth mixture, then whisk in the lemon zest.
Step 3: Mix in Dry Ingredients
Measure your whole wheat and all-purpose flours by lightly scooping the flour into a measuring cup then using a knife (or other flat edge) to scrape off any excess.
Add the flours to your mixing bowl of wet ingredients along with baking powder, baking soda and poppy seeds.
Stir the batter together using a large spoon until everything is evenly combined and there are no clumps of dry ingredients left. Stop mixing as soon as you reach this consistency as you don’t want to overmix the batter.
Step 4: Bake
Preheat your oven to 350 °F, then prepare a 12-slot muffin tray by lining it with either paper or silicone muffin liners.
Remove the muffins from your oven and let sit for a couple minutes before carefully transferring them to a wire cooling rack.
Scoop the muffin batter evenly into each liner. These are fairly small muffins, so your batter won’t reach the top of these liners. You’ll need to really scrape the bowl to get a full 12 muffins from this recipe, or simply make 11 muffins that are a bit larger.
When you’ve finished scooped the muffin batter, bake for 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Step 5: Glaze and Serve
While the muffins cool, prepare some glaze by mixing icing sugar with lemon juice in a small bowl. Set the glaze in your fridge to chill while the muffins cool.
Once your muffins are fully cooled, use a knife to spread or drizzle glaze onto each muffin. The glaze recipe makes enough to fully coat the top of each muffin. If you only want a light drizzle, cut the glaze recipe in half (½ cup of icing sugar with 1 tablespoon lemon juice).
If drizzling the glaze, set your wire cooling racks over a baking tray to catch the drips. This makes cleaning up easy.
How to Refrigerate and Freeze Leftovers
Cool leftover muffins completely before transferring to an airtight container. They should be okay on your countertop for 2-3 days or in the fridge for up to a week. These muffins can also be frozen in a freezer bag for up to 3 months (with or without glaze).
Try Other Vegan Muffins
Vegan muffins are super easy to make. If you need some extra inspiration to start baking your own, how about trying:
- Vegan chocolate chip muffins
- Vegan blueberry muffins
- Vegan cranberry orange muffins
- Vegan double chocolate zucchini muffins
- Vegan lemon blueberry muffins
If you make this recipe, please rate and comment below to help others benefit from your experience!
Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Equipment
- 2 Small mixing bowls
- Muffin liners (paper or silicone)
- Zester (or small side of box grater)
- Lemon juicer (or fork)
Ingredients
Muffin
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
- 6 tablespoons lemon juice
- ¾ cup soy milk
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons lemon zest
- 1 ¼ cups whole wheat flour
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 ½ tablespoons poppy seeds
Glaze
- 1 cup icing sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
Step 1: Prep Flaxseed “Egg” and “Buttermilk”
- To start, zest and juice some lemons. You'll need 3-4 lemons for a standard 12-muffin batch.6 tablespoons lemon juice, 3 tablespoons lemon zest
- In a small mixing bowl, stir ground flaxseed with fresh lemon juice. Set aside for about 5 minutes to let it set and form a gel.2 tablespoons ground flaxseed, 6 tablespoons lemon juice
- In a second small mixing bowl (or measuring cup) mix soy milk with apple cider vinegar. Set aside.¾ cup soy milk, 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Step 2: Whisk Wet Ingredients
- Add the set flaxseed and soy milk mixture to a large mixing bowl along with vegetable oil, sugar and vanilla extract.½ cup vegetable oil, ⅔ cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Whisk until well combined, then whisk in lemon zest.3 tablespoons lemon zest
Step 3: Mix in Dry Ingredients
- Add whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and poppy seeds to the large mixing bowl.1 ¼ cups whole wheat flour, ¾ cup all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, 2 ½ tablespoons poppy seeds
- Using a large spoon, stir together the muffin batter until everything is evenly mixed and there are no clumps of dry (or wet) ingredients. Stop stirring when you reach this consistency to not overmix the batter.
Step 4: Bake
- Preheat your oven to 350 °F.
- Prep a 12-slot muffin pan by lining it with either paper or silicone muffin liners.
- Evenly scoop the batter into your muffin liners. These muffins are on the smaller side so scrape up the batter to get a full 12 muffins (you can make 11 slightly larger ones if you prefer).
- Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean (and if lightly pressing the top, it bounces back).
- Allow muffins to sit for a couple minutes before carefully transferring to a wire cooling rack.
Step 5: Glaze and Serve
- While the muffins cool, prepare some lemon glaze by stirring together icing sugar with lemon juice. Stir until the mixture is smooth and there are no sugar clumps.1 cup icing sugar, 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Place the glaze in your fridge to set while the muffins finish cooling.
- Once fully cooled, drizzle glaze over each muffin. It’s best to set the wire cooling rack of muffins over a baking tray to catch drips.
- The glaze recipe makes enough to fully coat the tops of each muffins so you can also use a knife to spread in on the tops. If you only want a drizzle, you can cut the glaze recipe in half.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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About Nicole Stevens
Nicole is a vegan Registered Dietitian (RD) and founder of Lettuce Veg Out.
She helps people thrive on a vegan diet with balanced recipes and easy-to-understand nutrition science.
Kim Scott
Perfect timing for a summer bbq I was hosting!
Nicole Stevens
Thanks Kim, so glad you enjoyed! It's a great, light recipe for summer snacking!