½cup(122g)lemon juicefresh is best (room temperature)
1cup(200g)granulated sugar
3tablespoonslemon zest
½cup(114g)salted butterroom temperature
2eggsroom temperature
2cups(250g)flour
2Tablespoonspoppy seeds
2teaspoonbaking powder
½teaspoonsalt
For the glaze:
½cup(60g)powdered sugar
1tablespoonlemon juice
1tablespoonmilk
Instructions
In a small bowl, mix together the room temperature greek yogurt and lemon juice.
Preheat the oven to 425 °F (218 °C). Make sure your oven rack is in the middle position.
Prepare your muffin pans by spraying them well with non-stick spray.
Place the sugar in a small bowl and add the lemon zest to it. Rub this mixture together, between your fingers, to allow the lemon oils to permeate the sugar.
Cream together the room temperature butter and the lemon sugar. Mix in the room temperature eggs, one at a time.
Add the yogurt and lemon juice mixture to this bowl and combine this well.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt. Make a well (hole) in the center of this dry mixture.
Pour the wet mixture (butter, yogurt, etc) into the well in the dry ingredients. Stir only to moisten (it is okay if there are still some small lumps). Do not over-mix, or the muffins will be tough.
Divide the batter equally among the 12 muffin cups. Smooth out the tops of the batter if desired.
At this point, I like to let the muffins sit on the counter for about 20 minutes before placing them in the oven. I find that they rise slightly higher if I include this step, but they will still be great without it.
Bake at 425 °F (218 °C) for 5 minutes. Then, turn the oven down to 350 °F (177 °C) and continue baking for another 12-15 minutes.
While the muffins are cooling, make the glaze. Just whisk together the powdered sugar, milk and lemon juice. You may adjust the amount of lemon juice depending on how thin you’d like the glaze to be.
Allow the muffins to cool for at least 10 minutes before removing them from the pan and glazing them.
Use a fork to drizzle the glaze back and forth across the tops of the muffins.
Notes
If you want larger, bakery style muffins you can fill only 8 of the muffin tins. (They will be very full.) Place a couple of tablespoons of water into each of the empty muffin cups. With either amount make sure not to overmix your batter and to allow the batter to rise in the muffin tins for 20 minutes before baking.This batter will be thicker and fluffier, it won’t pour out like a boxed muffin mix.