Warm Lemon Zucchini Muffins
Perfectly tender, warm lemon zucchini muffins that would be great with a mug of hot tea or coffee. Smear on a little butter and enjoy!
Servings: 12 muffins
Ingredients
- 1¼ cup grated zucchini
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon EACH: kosher salt ground nutmeg, AND almond extract
- ½ cup 1 stick salted butter, softened
- 1 cup and 4 tablespoons granulated sugar divided
- 2 teaspoons EACH: vanilla AND lemon zest
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup milk + 1 tablespoon lemon juice see notes
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
Instructions
- PREP: grate the zucchini and place it over a sieve to allow any excess liquid to drip out. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 425ºF. Line muffin pan with paper baking liners and set aside.
- DRY INGREDIENTS: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; set aside.
- MAKE: In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter for 1 minute. Then, add 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of sugar and lemon zest and cream together for roughly 1-2 minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy. Stop and scrape down the sides. With the mixer on the stir setting, add the eggs one at a time and waiting until each is mixed in well before adding the next. Add the vanilla and almond extract. Add half of the prepared flour mixture, followed by all the milk and lemon mixture, and then finally the remaining flour until it is well blended, but make sure you don’t over mix. Stir in the grated zucchini and the poppy seeds until *JUST COMBINED.*
- BAKE: Divide the batter into the prepared muffin pan. Sprinkle the muffins with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place the muffin pan in the oven and bake for 4 minutes. Then, drop the temperature to 375ºF. Bake the muffins for 18-22 minutes or until the muffins are done when tested with a toothpick. Cool for a few minutes in the pan then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- combine the milk and lemon juice and let it sit for 5 minutes before you add it at the end of step 3.
- sometimes I like to swap the poppy seeds for chia seeds
- if you have unsalted butter, just up the salt to ½ teaspoon total.
- leftover muffins can be stored in an airtight container for 2 days and kept at room temperature. You can also pop these into a zip top bag and freeze them for later.
