Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

After a break for December, it's time for another Secret Recipe Club post. I've spent the last 2 weeks sick and this is a nice way for me to get back on the horse.

This month I had the blog No Reason Needed. It wasn't hard for me to choose which recipe I wanted either.  She had a recipe for Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. I've had this on my 'learn to' list for, quite literally, years.

Why, you may ask? Why the hesitation. Well....and now it's time for my confession--I've never actually eaten them from scratch. I've always only made them from a box or--even worse--bought them package-wrapped from a store. And that I haven't done for years. It started seeming, well, kind of unwholesome and all, and at least half of my family does not like poppyseeds (you'll remember that they have issues with texture of any kind, right. Telling them that poppyseeds felt like sprinkles in your teeth didn't help either). So I didn't want to wind up with a whole batch of sugar-laden muffins that I'd wind up eating myself.

Looking at No Reason Needed's post, I hesitated again, although for the exact opposite reasons. Half whole wheat, limited sugar, limited fat. Would I even like them? Was I in for a big disappointment?

Heck no. These were great. Moist, flavorful, and they had the texture of those delightful popping poppyseeds. Ah, texture how I miss you when trying to cook for my picky family. They were (as No Reason Needed noted in her post) not intensely lemony. I think that if you had some lemon extract, 1/2-1 tsp of that wouldn't hurt if you wanted a more lemony muffin.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
adapted from No Reason Needed
Makes 12 muffins
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Cost: $.1.50 or about $.12/muffin
whole wheat flour: .20, flour: .10, sugar: .07, poppy seeds: .05, lemon: .50, yogurt: .45, egg: .10, other stuff: .03

Note: The original recipe called for 8 oz lemon yogurt. I only had plain yogurt, so I subbed in more lemon juice and a bit more sugar to compensate. If you happen to have lemon yogurt on hand you can use it and reduce your sugar to 1/3 C and reduce your lemon juice to 2 Tbsp. If lemon yogurt is hard to find, just follow the recipe below.

1 C all-purpose flour
1 C whole wheat pastry flour (I used white whole wheat flour)
1/2 C sugar
2 Tbsp poppy seeds
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp grated lemon rind
3 Tbsp lemon juice
8 oz plain yogurt
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine flours, sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

In a smaller bowl, combine oil, lemon rind, lemon juice, yogurt and egg. Mix that all together.

Add wet to dry and mix until just incorporated.

Pour into muffins liners and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

PRINTABLE RECIPE