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–+ servings

Lemon Muffin Recipe

Straight on photo of a four perfect lemon muffins with crumb topping and lemon glaze.
Calling all lemon lovers - this citrusy flavored Lemon Muffin Recipe will win your heart! Made with yogurt for a moist, fluffy crumb and fresh lemon juice and zest for a burst of bright, tart flavors; along with a tender, sweet streusel topping and rich glaze - these incredibly delicious lemon crumb muffins are perfect for breakfast, brunch, snack-time, and dessert!
Author: Cheyanne Holzworth
Total Time: 50 minutes
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 12 muffins

Equipment

  • 2 Mixing Bowls - for the muffin batter
  • 2 Handheld or Stand Mixer - for mixing
  • 2 Muffin Pan - for baking the lemon muffins

Ingredients

Lemon Muffins

Crumb Topping

Lemon Glaze

Instructions

  • Preheat Oven and Prep Pan: Arrange the oven rack to the center position and then preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. 
    Line a regular 12-count or Jumbo 6-count muffin pan with muffin liners or cupcake liners. Then set it aside.
  • Prepare the Crumb Topping: In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, both sugars, and 1/8 teaspoon of salt until fully combined. 
    Slowly pour in the melted butter and use a large fork to blend the ingredients together until small crumbs form. If larger crumbs are desired, continue to mix the ingredients.
    Once you have the crumbles the size you'd like, set the crumb topping aside.
  • Mix Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt until fully combined. Then, set the bowl aside.
  • Mix Wet Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl using a handheld, or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on HIGH speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. 
    Add both sugars and continue to beat on HIGH speed until the mixture is well-creamed and paste-like, about 2 minutes. Stop to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary. 
    Add the eggs, yogurt and extracts. Beat on MEDIUM-LOW speed for 1 minute, then increase speed to HIGH until mixture is combined and creamy, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
  • Add Dry to Wet Ingredients: Add the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl with the wet ingredients.
    Then, use a spatula to fold until the ingredients are ALMOST combined. 
    Add in the lemon juice and zest and continue to gently fold until the ingredients are JUST combined and no pockets of flour remain. (Note: The batter should be thick.)
  • Portion Batter in Muffin Tins: Evenly divide the muffin batter among the muffin tins, filling each cavity until it's almost all the way full to the top.
    Sprinkle the crumb topping over top the muffin batter, filling each tin past the top. Then, use your fingers to very gently press the crumbs into the batter so the crumbs are flush with the top of the tins.
  • Bake Muffins: Transfer the lemon muffins to the preheated oven and bake for 5 minutes at 425°F.
    Then - leaving the muffins in the oven and oven door closed - reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
    Continue to bake the muffins for an additional 13-15 minutes for regular muffins, or 21-24 minutes for jumbo muffins, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (a few crumbs are fine).
    Remove the muffins from the oven and place the pan onto a wire rack. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then transfer the muffins to the wire rack to cool completely.
  • Meanwhile, Make the Glaze: Whisk together the powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice until smooth and combined. Use a spoon and taste the glaze, then adjust with more lemon juice if a tarter and thinner glaze is desired.
  • Glaze and Serve Lemon Muffins: Drizzle the lemon yogurt muffins with the lemon glaze and enjoy!

Video

Notes

  1. Flour: It is really important you measure your flour correctly. Make sure you SPOON the flour into your measuring cup, and then LEVEL it off. Don’t just dip your measuring cup into your container of flour! If you do this your flour ends up more compact, AKA you end up with more flour than 1 cup, and that’s a no-no.
  2. Yogurt: Make sure you use Greek yogurt to make these muffins. Greek yogurt is simply regular yogurt that has been strained to remove the water. If you want to use regular yogurt, you can just strain it yourself-it's super easy to do!
    • Simply suspend a fine wire mesh strainer over a bowl and line the strainer with cheesecloth.
    • Dump the yogurt on top of the cheesecloth and cover with plastic wrap.
    • Transfer the bowl to the refrigerator and allow the yogurt to strain for at least 1 hour, or up to overnight for best results.
  3. Lemon: The amount of lemon juice in the glaze will depend on how thick or thin of a glaze is desired. I used 2 tablespoons of lemon juice in my glaze and I found it to be perfect, but if you want a thinner, tarter glaze, use all 3 tablespoons.
  4. Need to Scale the Recipe? Hover your mouse over the number of servings in the recipe card. You'll see a sliding scale pop up, you can use that to scale the recipe up or down as needed.
  5. Got questions? I've got answers! If you ever run into an issue, have a question, or need any clarification - please feel free to drop them in the comments section. I'm happy to help when I can! 
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and the nutrition facts are an estimate based upon 12 servings (not including optional glaze). Exact information will depend upon the brands of ingredients and precise measurements used.
 

Nutrition

Calories: 318kcal    Carbohydrates: 49g    Protein: 6g    Fat: 11g    Saturated Fat: 6g    Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g    Monounsaturated Fat: 3g    Trans Fat: 0.4g    Cholesterol: 57mg    Sodium: 165mg    Potassium: 89mg    Fiber: 1g    Sugar: 23g    Vitamin A: 338IU    Vitamin C: 2mg    Calcium: 39mg    Iron: 2mg
Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American