Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins with Lemon Glaze

I haven't experimented much with citrus flavours, so when I came across a lemon muffin recipe, I thought I'd give it a go. The original recipe was for plain lemon muffins and called for much more sugar. I added my own touch by reducing the sugar, including poppy seeds and drizzling over an amazing lemon icing.

Although the icing is really basic - just icing sugar and lemon juice - there is something about it that just makes me want to eat it straight out of the bowl. This recipe makes 12 muffins which are perfect for breakfast, a traditional British tea or just a refreshing, yummy snack.

Ingredients

Muffins

125g sugar

Zest of 2 lemons

Juice of 1 lemon

260g flour

Pinch of salt

180ml sour cream

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

115g melted butter

6tbsp poppy seeds

Icing

150g icing sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 200C and line 12 muffin moulds with paper cases.

2. In a bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest with your fingertips until the mixture becomes very fragrant. To this, ass the flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Separately, whisk together the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and melted butter.

4. Gently fold the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Remember – it’s better to under-mix than over-mix, so don’t worry if there are a few lumps in the batter.

5. Stir in the poppy seeds then divide the batter equally between the muffin cases. Bake for around 20 minutes, or until the tops of the muffins are golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Transfer the muffin pan to a wire rack and leave for five minutes, before removing each muffin from its mould and returning them to the wire rack until they have cooled completely.

6. Meanwhile, make the lemon glaze. To the icing sugar, add a few drops of lemon juice at a time and mix well. Carry on adding lemon juice and mixing until you have your perfect tangy lemon taste and the ideal medium-thick consistency. If you don’t want the icing to be too tart, you can add a bit of water instead of extra lemon juice.

7. When the muffins have completely cooled, drizzle the tops with lemon glaze and leave to set.