These vegan lemon poppy seed muffins are made with simple ingredients in 1 bowl and bake up moist and delicious every time! The perfect balance of sweet and tart, they will be a hit for sure!
These are my favorite muffins to make for brunch or bring to an event. They're always a hit with both vegan and non-vegans, they work great with gluten-free flour, and they still taste great the next day if you bake them a day ahead.
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These lemon poppy seed muffins make the perfect grab-and-go vegan breakfast or snack, plus they are egg and dairy-free and easily made gluten-free too!
🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
- Flour - either white or whole-grain wheat or any gluten-free flour mix.
- Sugar - to sweeten the muffins. Make sure to use vegan sugar. You can use any other granulated sweetener that you wish.
- Baking Soda - to help the muffins rise.
- Baking Powder - to help the muffins rise.
- Salt - for flavor.
- Apple Sauce - to make the muffins moist and to replace the eggs in traditional muffins. You can swap this out with any vegan egg replacer that you like. I have a complete list of options in my post about substituting eggs in any recipe.
- Oil - to make the muffins moist. Any neutral-flavored oil like canola, refined coconut oil, or light olive oil. (You can replace the oil with equal amounts of more apple sauce if you want oil-free muffins).
- Plant-Based Milk - to make the muffins moist. Soy, almond, cashew, or rice milk will all work.
- Lemon Juice - for flavor. Fresh squeezed will give the best flavor. You can also add some lemon zest for more lemon flavor.
- Lemon Extract - for extra flavor.
- Lemon Zest - optional for extra flavor. This has a strong sour lemon flavor. I leave it out when I make it for my kids, but adults usually love it.
- Poppy Seeds - for a pretty added crunch and mild flavor.
🥄 Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F (204° C).
- Put all of the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir.
- Pour in the wet ingredients and stir with a whisk until wet and dry ingredients are mixed. (Don't over mix).
- Scoop into muffin tins that have been oiled or are lined with paper liners.
- Fill the muffins 3/4 of the way full to allow room for them to rise.
- Put the muffin tins in the oven and turn down the heat to 375° F (190° C).
- Bake at 375° F (190° C) for 22 minutes. (for standard-sized muffins).
To make the Lemon Drizzle: (optional)
- While the muffins are cooling, mix together powdered sugar and lemon juice to create a lemon drizzle.
- After the muffins have cooled, use a fork to splash the lemon drizzle on top of them.
- You can also use some vegan buttercream or vegan icing on top of your muffins.
Note:
Cook time will vary depending on the size of the muffin tin that you use and how full you fill them.
👩🏻🍳 Pro tips
- Starting off with a hotter oven helps the muffins to rise better when they first go in the oven.
- Don't over mix the batter; just stir enough to get the ingredients mixed together. (If you stir too much, it won't rise as much).
- Only fill the muffin tins about 3/4 of the way full or they will overflow when baked.
Serve these muffins with some savory vegan breakfast options like vegan scrambled eggs, vegan corned beef hash, or some vegan bacon or tempeh bacon.
🍞 Gluten free instructions
If you need these to be gluten-free, simply swap out the flour with a gluten-free flour mix and add a tsp of xanthan gum to the dry mix. (If your mix doesn't already have xanthan gum added). I've made these muffins numerous times with a variety of gluten-free flour mixes and they always come out well. (I have not tested it with almond flour and I am not sure how they will bake up with grain-free mixes).
🌟 Make this into a loaf
Follow the recipe the same as you would for the muffin batter. Then pour it into a greased loaf pan and bake it at 350° F (176° C) for 45 minutes.
✨ More muffins recipes
- Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
- Vegan Bannna Muffins
- Spinach Muffins
- Vegan Egg Muffins
- Healthy Vegan Muffins with Hidden Veggies
- Vegan Blueberry Muffins
- Vegan Zucchini Muffins
📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
A classic lemon poppy seed muffin made vegan and easily made gluten-free.
- 2 cups flour white, whole wheat or gluten-free mixes all work well.
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup apple sauce
- 1/3 cup canola oil any neutral-flavored oil will work or swap with extra apple sauce for oil-free.
- 3/4 cup plant-based milk
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon extract
- 1 tablespoons lemon zest (optional but recommended for more lemon flavor)
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoons lemon juice
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Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
-
Put all of the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir.
-
Pour in the wet ingredients and stir with a whisk until wet and dry ingredients are mixed. (Don't over mix).
-
Scoop into muffin tins that have been oiled or are lined with paper liners.
-
Fill the muffins 3/4 of the way full to allow room for them to rise.
-
Put the muffin tins in the oven and turn down the heat to 375°F (190°C).
-
Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 22 minutes for standard muffins. (18 minutes for mini muffins or 30 minutes for extra-large muffins).
-
While the muffins are cooling, mix together 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1 tbsp lemon juice to create a lemon drizzle.
-
After the muffins have cooled, use a fork to splash the lemon drizzle on top of them.
Pro Tips for perfect muffins
- Starting off with a hotter oven helps the muffins to rise better when they first go in the oven.
- Don't over mix the batter; just stir enough to get the ingredients mixed together. (If you stir too much, it won't rise as much).
- Only fill the muffin tins about 3/4 of the way full or they will overflow when baked.
To make gluten-free muffins
- Swap the flour for a gluten-free flour mix and add 1 tsp of xanthan gum if your mix doesn't already contain it.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Leave a comment and starred review! I would love to hear from you!
Is this recipe for 24 regular size muffins or 24 Mini muffins?
It makes 24 mini muffins or 12 regular sized muffins.
delicious! I love how moist and light these muffins are. I used the zest of two lemons as I didn't have lemon extract and found the lemon taste still came out quite nicely. Thanks for another fantastic recipe!
I used 2 cups of almond flour in place of the whole wheat flour and it was a disaster. The batter was too wet to start and while baking the muffins raised too much and then imploded. Any idea why?
You can't substitute almond flour for regular flour in baking. I have made this recipe with grain-based gluten-free flour and it comes out great, but almond flour doesn't work 1:1. I don't bake with almond flour since my husband doesn't' eat nuts, so I'm not one to ask about how to make it work with almond flour, but I know that there is a very specific way to bake with it.
Can you omit or sub the lemon extract?
You can, it's just for flavor, but that gives it a lot of the lemon flavor. You will probably want to use a lot of lemon zest to make up for the missing flavor. Enjoy. 🙂
Thank you so much for your speedy reply. I have been on so many different receipe pages & find out they are super old posts. Then I am left without answers. I am newly vegan & appreciate all the help i can get👍
Sure! I check Instagram more freqently since it's on my phone, so if you ever have questions, you can usually get me there too. Enjoy! 🙂
My muffins were delicious but they did not rise much at all. Could I increase the baking soda?
You can try increasing the baking soda by 1/2 tsp if you want. Also, make sure that you get it in the oven as soon as you can after mixing and make sure your oven is set to 400 F and then turn it down to 375 F once you close the door. Making sure that it's hot enough in the first few minutes helps them to rise.
YUM! I tried these with mashed banana and vegan yoghurt instead of apple sauce (as i had none) and it worked amazingly, also added blueberries! Good recipe thank you!
I'm so happy that you liked them, Katy! 🙂
Can i replace apple sauce with ground flax seed eggs? If yes can i know how many flax eggs for this recipe?
Hi Rasha, yes, you can replace the apple sauce with any egg replacement that you want equaling the equivalent of 2 eggs. So to use flax meal to equal 2 eggs, I would mix 2 tbsp of flax with 5 tbsp of water. Enjoy! 🙂
is it suppose to be 400 or 375 degrees?
Preheat it to 400, then turn it down to 375 when you put them in the oven. This allows them to cook faster in the beginning so that they rise better. Enjoy! 🙂
Made these for the first time today while looking for something new but not too sweet (my sweet tooth is more sensitive since I’ve had to cut out processed sugar).
I used home made apple sauce instead of the oil and Wow! These are awesome! Thank you so much for this recipe, it’s going down as a staple in my house now, lol
I'm so happy that you liked them! 🙂
Hey Monica! I loved the recipe! My muffins baked super quick and burned on the edges... any recommendations for using a dark muffin pan vs light? Or silicone muffin pan?
I just bake mine in a regular metal muffin tin. It sounds like your oven was too hot. Your oven may be a little off. If you are sure you baked it at 375 F, then set it to 350 next time. Enjoy! 🙂