Friends, prepare to level up your muffin game with these undetectably vegan and gluten-free lemon poppy seed muffins! They’re perfectly sweet, tender, FLUFFY, and bursting with bright, lemony goodness.
Made in just 1 bowl, they’re just as fun to make as they are to eat! Let’s get baking!
How to Make Vegan Gluten-Free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
These super FLUFFY muffins begin with using an electric mixer to cream together the vegan butter, cane sugar, and lemon zest. This adds air (to create fluffiness) and infuses the butter with BIG lemon flavor.
Next comes applesauce for moisture and a generous amount of lemon juice because we aren’t messing around when we say BIG lemon flavor! It just wouldn’t be a lemon poppyseed muffin without it. Vanilla extract is key, too, for quintessential muffin flavor!
Then it’s time for the dry ingredients: Almond flour keeps these muffins light and cakey, our GO-TO gluten-free blend adds structure, baking powder and baking soda give them major rise, sea salt adds flavor, and poppyseeds add a pleasant crunch.
The last step: Divide your batter between muffin liners and bake until fluffy with lightly golden edges. And for best texture, try to wait for your muffins to cool before digging in! We know — it’s hard. But these are worth the wait!
We hope you LOVE these lemon poppy seed muffins! They’re:
Fluffy
Bright
Tender
Super lemony
& Undetectably vegan + gluten-free!
Enjoy them for brunch, snack, or dessert, or take them to gatherings to see if you can impress even your gluten-loving friends (we think you will)!
More Lemony Recipes
If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo @minimalistbaker on Instagram. Cheers, friends!
Servings 12 (Muffins)
Prevent your screen from going dark
- 2/3 cup cane sugar* (ensure organic for vegan-friendly)
- 1/3 cup softened vegan butter (we used Miyoko’s)
- 3 Tbsp lemon zest (4-5 lemons yield ~3 Tbsp zest)
- 1/4 cup applesauce (unsweetened)
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup almond flour (we like Wellbee’s)
- 1/2 cup dairy-free milk (plain, unsweetened // we used almond milk)
- 1 ¼ cup MB 1:1 GF Blend (or all-purpose flour if not GF // see notes for other options)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 ½ Tbsp poppy seeds
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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (176 C) and line a standard muffin tin with 12 muffin liners (we like these), or lightly grease.
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To a medium mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), add the cane sugar, softened vegan butter, and lemon zest. Mix with an electric stand mixer or handheld mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
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Next add applesauce, lemon juice, and vanilla extract and beat on medium until well combined and slightly fluffy. The mixture may look curdled, which is fine. This will sort itself out in the next step!
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Now add almond flour and beat until smooth and well incorporated. Next add in the milk and mix on low until fully combined. Finally, add the gluten-free flour blend, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, and poppy seeds. Mix on medium until light and fluffy with the poppy seeds evenly distributed.
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Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin liners and bake for 30-34 minutes, until lightly golden on the edges. When a toothpick is inserted into a muffin it should come out almost clean with just a crumb or two left behind. For the best possible texture, let the muffins cool completely before enjoying.
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Best when fresh, but they can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
*If using our original DIY Gluten-Free Flour Blend or a similar store-bought brand such as Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour, we suggest using slightly more of it. Results will vary.
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate.
Serving: 1 muffin Calories: 207 Carbohydrates: 27.9 g Protein: 3.5 g Fat: 10 g Saturated Fat: 4 g Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.5 g Monounsaturated Fat: 3.1 g Trans Fat: 0 g Cholesterol: 0 mg Sodium: 177 mg Potassium: 114 mg Fiber: 1.9 g Sugar: 12.6 g Vitamin A: 14 IU Vitamin C: 4 mg Calcium: 95 mg Iron: 0.8 mg