These healthyish lemon poppy seed muffins made with oat flour are a delicious and easy breakfast or snack recipe. Perfect for making ahead!
How to make healthy lemon poppy seed muffins
To make these muffins a little healthier, I swap out some of the flour for oat flour. The oat flour adds texture and extra fiber. Plain yogurt and canola oil replace the need for butter. These muffins aren’t overly sweet and I like using unrefined sugar instead of regular granulated sugar. You could use xylitol or any other sweetener of your choice. Honey and maple syrup could make the muffins a little sticky so be sure to spray the muffin cases with cooking spray if using.
The batter can be made in one bowl making the recipe even easier. Whisk oat flour, regular flour, baking powder, salt and sugar with canola oil, eggs, egg yolks, yogurt, poppy seeds and lemon zest. Mix until the batter is smooth and creamy. Line a muffin pan with paper liners then fill the cups 3/4 of the way full. Place in the oven and bake at 180ºC/350ºF for 20-25 minutes until the muffins are risen, golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Once baked, the muffins can be cooled and then drizzled with lemon glaze but this is optional.
Making ahead and freezing
- How to store muffins: These muffins can be kept in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge. Allow to come to room temperature before serving.
- Can you freeze muffins? Baked and cooled muffins can be transferred to a ziploc bag and frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
How to make muffins moist
The addition of canola oil, plain yogurt and the extra egg yolk means these muffins are tender and moist and will stay that way for up to 5 days.
Muffin recipes
- Healthyish double chocolate muffins
- Spiced apple muffins with honey butter
- Easy healthy blueberry muffins
- Healthy chocolate chip banana oat muffins
Healthyish lemon poppy seed muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1 cup flour regular/all purpose
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup unrefined sugar
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 3/4 cup canola oil
- zest of 2 lemons
- 3 extra-large eggs + 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp milk
Lemon glaze (optional)
- 5 tbsp icing sugar sifted
- 1-2 tbsp lemon juice °C (depending on how thick/thin you want the glaze)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F and line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper liners.
- Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Add the wet ingredients and whisk until the batter is smooth and creamy.
- Fill muffin liners 3/4 of the way full. Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Remove the baked muffins from the oven and allow to cool completely.
- Whisk together the glaze ingredients then drizzle over the cooled muffins.
Hello Alida! I made these muffins this afternoon and weighed all ingredients; overall I liked them (great texture!) altho thought the canola oil proportion was a little too much b/c the muffin texture/flavor and muffin paper cups were a bit oily, so next time I’ll cut back maybe 2Tbls…..your thoughts? Also, while still warm (b/c I couldn’t wait for them to cool), the first muffin released from the paper cup perfectly, but the cooled ones stuck to the paper cups quite a bit, losing about 1/4 of the muffin bottom (not to worry, I scraped it off and ate it:) Do you why that happened and especially with a fair amount of oil? Thank you for your input!
You could definitely add only 1/2 cup of oil. I found 1/2 cup left the muffins a little on the drier side but it could be that my oat flour absorbs more liquid. Very strange that they stuck once cool, it’s usually the opposite for me. What sweetener did you use?
Hi Alida,
I used raw granulated sugar. I noticed after baking that your photo shows what looks like either light or dark brown sugar….is that correct?
Also, next time I make these, I’ll try some variations with the canola oil, using a little less and maybe try half butter/half oil. Thanks again for the delicious recipe!!
I used demerara sugar. 🙂
Disregard the above muffin-sticking comment…..the following morning, the muffins released from paper muffin cups cleanly!
Hi, what happens if you donn’t use the extra egg yolk? Thanks
The muffins are just a little less rich and could turn out a little drier.