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The secret to moist, bakery-style Lemon Muffins is plain yogurt. Yogurt makes for a tender crumb in this fast and easy muffin recipe, and a simple lemon-infused powdered sugar glaze adds a sweet citrus touch on top.
Meggan’s notes
During the pastry program in culinary school, I learned that nearly all quick bread recipes can be made into muffins: just tweak the pan and the baking time, and you’re good to go.
So I took a cue from my popular Lemon Yogurt Cake, and perfected the recipe for these Lemon Muffins. Similar to that quick bread, a key ingredient, yogurt, lends moisture and a lofty quality to the crumb.
Layer in lots of lemon flavor in the batter with both lemon zest and lemon juice, and top off the cooled muffins with a lemon-infused powdered sugar glaze. These Lemon Muffins are perfect for breakfast, brunch, snacks, or anytime you want a sweet treat.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Baking powder: Instead of yeast, quick breads such as loaf breads, muffins, biscuits, and scones use chemical leavening agents, in this case baking powder (baking soda is another example).
- Yogurt: Use Greek yogurt, regular yogurt, whole milk yogurt, or even French yogurt. I prefer plain, but vanilla or lemon-flavored yogurt would be just fine, too.
- Lemons: Always zest your lemons before you cut them open to juice. It’s much harder to zest half of a lemon!
- Vegetable oil: Other neutral-flavored oils like avocado oil, rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, or canola oil will work here too.
Step-by-step instructions
- Move an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a muffin pan with muffin liners and spray with nonstick spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together granulated sugar, yogurt, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in batches, whisking to incorporate after each addition. Fold in oil and stir carefully until uniformly combined.
- Fill prepared muffin cups with batter.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean with a few crumbs attached, about 20 to 25 minutes. The muffins should be fragrant and spring back when pressed lightly. Cool muffins on a rack for several minutes before removing from pan. Cool completely.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest (if using) until smooth.
- Place muffins on a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Slowly brush or drizzle glaze over the top. The glaze will harden in 20 to 30 minutes.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes 12 standard-sized muffins.
- Storage: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
- Freezer: Wrap muffins tightly in a double layer of plastic wrap, label, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
- Multitask: The lemon glaze can be made while the cake is baking. Leave the glaze at room temperature.
- Orange Muffins: Substitute orange juice and orange zest for the lemon juice and the lemon zest if you’d like a refreshing OJ-inspired alternative. Or, try my Cranberry Orange Muffins, perfect for Fall.
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe calls for 4 large eggs, but you can substitute 3 extra-large eggs instead if that’s what you have on hand.
Adding yogurt to muffin batter increases the fluffiness and moisture, which makes an absolutely delicious crumb. In a pinch, you can use sour cream or buttermilk instead of the yogurt.
If you like, toss in a couple handfuls of fresh blueberries, raspberries, or halved, pitted cherries.
More lemon recipes
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Lemon Bundt Cake Recipe
Cookie Recipes
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Eats
Lemon Curd
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Lemon Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
For the muffins:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder (see note 1)
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup plain yogurt (regular or Greek, see note 2)
- 4 eggs
- 4 teaspoons lemon zest (see note 3)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil (see note 4)
For the glaze:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
Instructions
- Move an oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a muffin pan with cupcake liners and spray with nonstick spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together granulated sugar, yogurt, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients in batches, whisking to incorporate after each addition. Fold in oil and stir carefully until uniformly combined. Fill prepared muffin cups with batter.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean with a few crumbs attached, about 20-25 minutes. The muffins should be fragrant and spring back when pressed lightly. Cool muffins on a rack for several minutes before removing from pan. Cool completely.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together powdered sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest (if using) until smooth.
- Place muffins on a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Slowly brush or drizzle glaze over the top. The glaze will harden in 20 to 30 minutes.
Notes
- Baking powder: Instead of yeast, quick breads such as loaf breads, muffins, biscuits, and scones use chemical leavening agents, in this case baking powder (baking soda is another example).
- Yogurt: Use Greek yogurt, regular yogurt, whole milk yogurt, or even French yogurt.
- Lemons: Always zest your lemons before you cut them open to juice. It’s much harder to zest half of a lemon!
- Vegetable oil: Avocado oil, rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, or canola oil are all neutral-flavored oils that will work here.
- Yield: This recipe makes 12 standard-sized muffins.
- Storage: Store covered at room temperature for up to 4 days.
I would like to make lemon bread with chopped pecans . What changes would need to be made ?
Hi Joanne, I would make sure they are finely chopped and start with folding 1/2 cup into your batter. I hope you love it! – Meggan