High-Altitude Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

These simple lemon poppyseed muffins with a crumble topping are soft, fluffy, and so easy to pull together. If you’re looking for a simple Easter breakfast or just the perfect version of this classic for high-altitude baking, this is for you!

I love a simple Lemon Poppyseed Muffin, but putting a crumble topping on gives them just a little more of a fun texture and flavor. These come together quick- let’s get to it!

How to Make High-Altitude Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

To make these muffins, we’re using mostly simple ingredients and stirring everything together by hand. To start off, stir together the dry ingredients in a large bowl until everything is combined- for this recipe that includes sugar, lemon zest, all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and of course poppyseeds.

In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients until everything is well combined. That includes lemon juice, buttermilk, vegetable oil, eggs, and some lemon extract.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir everything until it’s just combined and there are no dry pockets of flour remaining.

This batter needs to rest for about 30 minutes before baking, which is the perfect time to work on the crumble topping. You can mix everything together with a fork here until you have a soft dry mixture that holds into large crumbs when you press it together.

Once the batter has rested scoop your batter into your muffin tin evenly- you should end up with 12 muffins here and the cups may look pretty full.

Add the crumble topping generously to the top of each muffin before baking. Letting the batter rest before baking helps activate the baking powder and it gives you taller muffins!

They should be lightly golden and the crumble should be crackly all over the tops. Cool the muffins and enjoy warm or store them for later!

Tips & Tricks for High-Altitude Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

Here are my tips and tricks for making the best High-Altitude Lemon Poppyseed Muffins:

• Do I need to rub the zest into the sugar? This step helps release the oils in the lemon zest and brings out more flavor- don’t skip this step!
• Be sure to mix everything by hand here. That will help prevent over-mixing your muffin batter- there’s no need to use an electric mixer here.
• Do I need the lemon extract? I think it makes for a brighter, more lemon-forward muffin so I definitely recommend it here.
• Do I need to use buttermilk? Yes, buttermilk is important to the overall texture of the muffins. You can replace it with whole milk mixed with 1/2 tsp. of white vinegar if needed though.
• Don’t skip the resting time here. Letting the batter rest will help give you taller, puffed muffins. It’s important, and it gives you time to make the crumble so don’t skip this step.
• How do I know when the muffins are finished baking? They should be puffed up and lightly golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin should come out with just a few crumbs clinging to it.
• I’m at about 5,000 ft. above sea level and I find that most people who live between about 3,000-7,000 ft. above sea level do not need to make any adjustments to my recipes.

Enjoy!

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High-Altitude Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

Servings 12 muffins

Ingredients

For the muffins:

• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tbs. fresh lemon zest
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tbs. poppyseeds
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice from 1-2 lemons
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. lemon extract

For the crumble:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tbs. brown sugar
• 3 tbs. cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup butter

Instructions

For the muffins:

1. In a large bowl, add the granulated sugar and the lemon zest. Use your hands to gently rub the lemon zest into the sugar for 2-3 minutes to help release some of the flavor of the zest into the sugar.
2. In the same bowl, add in the flour, baking powder, salt, and poppyseeds and stir to combine.
3. In a small bowl, stir together the lemon juice, buttermilk, vegetable oil, eggs, and lemon extract until the eggs are broken up and well combined.
4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and use a spatula to stir everything together until just mixed and there are no dry pockets of flour remaining. Cover the bowl with plastic and let the batter rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners, or generously grease the muffin tin if you are not using liners.
6. Divide the batter evenly between each cup- the batter should almost fill the cups and you shouldn’t have any extra.

For the crumble:

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar, brown sugar, cornstarch, salt, and flour until well combined. In a small microwave safe bowl, melt the butter. While the butter is still warm, use a fork to mix the melted butter into the dry mixture until well combined and a soft crumb forms. This mixture will be fairly dry, but should hold together when pressed in your hands.
2. Sprinkle the crumble all over the tops of the muffins before baking, pressing gently into the batter.
3. Bake the muffins for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out mostly clean with just a few crumbs on it. Cool the muffins before enjoying!

Nicole Hampton

Hello and welcome! My name is Nicole, and Dough-eyed is a food blog for people who want to bake for their family and friends in high-altitude areas. Think of me as a friendly voice there with you in the kitchen, here to give you confidence when you’re baking, and to help you with the struggles of baking at high-altitude. Come back every week for new recipes, tips, and advice on high-altitude baking!