Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

Clearly I have a lemon problem. I love lemons. I love yellow. And I love muffins. And if all of those things are baked together into one format, plus poppyseeds, sign me up for lots of 'em. I made orange poppyseed muffins as the inaugural muffin of muffin Monday in the UK but my fav is lemon poppyseed. I also have a large bag of poppyseeds that need to be used up.

 

The thing about muffin recipes, and most easy bake items, is they follow the same order of operations. Dry ingredients in large bowl, wet ingredients in small bowl, mix together, fold in bonus items, spoon out batter, bake and eat. Easy peasy.

 

So in this case, our bonus items are lemon zest and poppyseeds. Lemon zest (zest in general) is very strong and a little goes a long way. The one down side to zest is the actual zesting. Many a knuckle skin has been lost to an overzealous zesting and there's a whole graveyard for sponges that died trying to clean the graters. But I've found that a bottle brush (like for baby bottles) is perfect for cleaning a zester! Pro tip, you're welcome.

At any rate, the zest is added to the sugar and poppyseeds are folded in last. An all around team effort.

 

Recipe

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 2/3 cup refined sugar (or light brown sugar)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons poppyseeds
• 1 Tablespoon grated lemon zest

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Prepare the muffin pan and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In another bowl, whisk together the melted butter, milk, eggs and vanilla with the sugar and lemon zest.
4. Carefully add the butter mixture to the dry ingredients and fold together until incorporated. 
5. Add the poppyseeds and fold together until evenly mixed. 
6. Fill the muffin cups half-way and bake until golden brown.

Lemon Chia Pudding

It's been awhile since we had a good lemon recipe up here! Chia pudding is one of those really simple things to make that I don't make often enough. I could easily just eat this plain, maybe adding a little cocoa powder if I have a chocolate craving. But lemon pudding was right up my alley!

Just like with plain chia pudding, we are primarily mixing chia seeds with milk to create a nice jelly consistency. But we are also adding some lemon juice and zest to the mix. If you've ever made lemon bars or lemon curd, you know that the bright yellow color is not actually from the lemons. The egg yolks required for lemon bars and curd is really what makes these things bright and zesty yellow!

 

The same is true of this chia pudding. Lemon juice and zest don't add much color to the mix but once we add some turmeric powder, it turns a nice golden color. Turmeric has been making its way into my pantry as a buzz word super food of late. It doesn't have too much flavor, in my opinion, but is commonly used in Indian food.

 

This is super simple: whisk together chia seeds and milk. Add the lemon zest and juice. Give it another stir. Lastly, add the turmeric. If you prefer something sweeter, you can add some maple syrup or honey for sweetness. Really whisk this together to prevent clumps of chia seeds. I like to store this in a jar so I can also give it a good shake.

 

Allow to set until the chia seeds have absorbed the milk, usually overnight. This turned out very tangy so if you like more of a subtle lemon flavor, only use half a lemon. Serve chilled with raspberries on top!

 

Recipe

• 1 cup non-dairy milk
• 3 Tablespoons chia seeds
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1. In a measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together the chia seeds and milk.
2. Sprinkle in the lemon zest and pour in the juice. Stir to combine.
3. Mix in the turmeric powder. Give it another whisk to prevent chia seeds clumps from formin.
4. Store in the fridge in a jar or lidded container. Give it a good shake before setting aside overnight to gel-ify. 
5. Serve chilled, topped with raspberries or whipped topping!