These are the best lemon muffins you’ll ever bake, and the secret is my special lemon sugar ~ it infuses every light, fluffy bite with serious lemon flavor.
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A lemon muffin should taste like lemon. Mine gets there with my lemon sugar, which works all those fragrant oils from the peel right into the batter.
➡ The lemon sugar is the little trick that changes everything. It’s more intense, more fragrant, and much more effective than simply stirring in zest.
➡ I keep the crumb light and fluffy, then add a buttery streusel because a soft lemon muffin needs that bit of crunch on top.
➡ And yes, I make 10 or 11 instead of 12. Bigger muffins are better muffins.
my lemon sugar trick
Instead of simply zesting a lemon into the batter, I make my lemon sugar by processing the yellow peel with sugar until it becomes moist, intensely fragrant, and almost the texture of brown sugar. It captures all those flavorful oils in the peel and spreads them through every bite of the muffin.
I use this same lemon sugar technique in some of my favorite lemon recipes, like my Lemon Pistachio Cake and my Buttermilk Lemon Loaf. Once you try it, plain old lemon zest feels a little underachieving.
The streusel matters
This isn’t a heavy bakery-style streusel. It’s light and feathery, with just enough butter and sugar to give the tops a little texture and interest.
I use this kind of topping on muffins a lot because, to me, a plain muffin top can look a little naked. Here it adds just the right finish without weighing down the soft lemony crumb underneath. Definitely worth the little extra step.
I often get asked…
Sue, why do so many of your muffins recipes make 10 or 11 muffins instead of 12?
Simple: I like a bigger muffin. I’d rather divide the batter between 10 or 11 cups and get nicely domed tops than stretch it to fill a dozen.
Reader-tested tips
Over the years readers have taken these muffins in all kinds of directions:
Blueberries and poppy seeds: readers have added both successfully, and either one works naturally with the lemon.
Gluten-free: several readers have had good results with a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend.
Oil: avocado oil works well in place of vegetable oil.
Jumbo muffins: readers have made these in jumbo tins; they just need a little more baking time.
Freezing: these freeze well, which is handy if you don’t need the whole batch at once.
I think I’ve made my case. Go bake these muffins.
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Lemon Muffins
Video
Equipment
- 12 cup muffin pan
- muffins liners (optional)
Ingredients
streusel topping
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
muffins
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 lemon, for the peel
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp lemon extract (optional)
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups all purpose flour, using the fluff, scoop, and level method
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F and fit a muffin pan with paper liners.
- Make the streusel first: combine the ingredients and rub together with your fingers until the butter is incorporated and the mixture has a dry crunmbly texture. This will take a minute or two. Set aside.
- Now make the lemon sugar: use a vegetable peeler to remove the yellow peel from 1 lemon, avoiding the white pith. Put the peel and the sugar into a food processor and pulse/process until the sugar is moist and pale yellow. It will have the consistency of a moist brown sugar.
- Transfer the lemon sugar to a large mixing bowl and whisk in the eggs and oil until well combined. Whisk in the buttermilk and lemon juice.
- Whisk in the baking powder, baking soda, and salt, then fold in the flour. Mix just until combined and no dry flour remains, the batter will be somewhat lumpy.
- Fill 11-12 muffins cups nice and full with the batter, and then top with the streusel.
- Bake for 18–22 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched and a toothpick comes out without wet batter. Start checking at 18 minutes.
- Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then remove to a cooling rack. I like to enjoy one warm with butter…yum!
- Be sure to store the cooled muffins in an airtight container to keep them fresh. They're best eaten the same day.
Notes
Nutrition
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