Fluffy & Moist Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (Gluten Free)

These bakery-style vegan lemon poppy seed muffins are perfectly fluffy, light, tender, and full of fresh zesty lemon! With a super moist crumb and high muffin tops, you’d never know that these simple and easy lemon poppy seed muffins are eggless, dairy free, and can even be made gluten free!

This post is sponsored by Yogi Tea, and all opinions and thoughts are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make The Banana Diaries possible!

Bakery-Style Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins- seriously!

If you’re looking for the perfect lemon poppy seed muffin that’s undetectably vegan, eggless, dairy free, AND can be made gluten free, then look no further.

I’m not exaggerating, this muffin can do it all.

We have a super moist and tender crumb texture (thanks to our simply vegan egg replacement: dairy free yogurt). And it’s bursting with fresh lemon flavor and sweet notes of almond and vanilla. All packed into those crunchy little poppy seeds. It’s nostalgia in a bite.

We’re also adding even more lemon flavor by using Yogi Tea Echinacea Immune Support tea! This is optional. But I think it does adds the most delicate flavor to boost the lemon and lemon zest, all while giving you some great immune boosting support!

And just like my vegan chocolate chip muffins, vegan double chocolate chip muffins, and vegan pumpkin muffins, these vegan lemon poppy seed muffins are straightforward in method and super easy.

Seriously, it’s just a few simple steps:

1. Combine the dry ingredients
2. Make the batter
3. Rest the batter
4. And bake!

Honestly, this is my new favorite muffin recipe, and I know it’s going to be yours too!

Ingredients & Substitutions:

Let’s start with the ingredients, shall we? I’ve already given away one secret ingredient, but let’s go over the rest!

For these gluten free lemon poppy seed muffins you’ll need:

• Flour: I’ve made these vegan lemon poppy seed muffins to be made both gluten free and regular. So they really work with both! If you would like gluten-free vegan lemon poppy seed muffins, swap in King Arthur Measure-for-Measure flour. It’s 1:1 in both gram measurements and US cup measurements. If you’re not gluten free, you can just use all purpose flour!
• Organic granulated sugar: I use Florida Crystals here- not all sugar is vegan in the U.S., but Florida Crystals always is!
• Baking powder & Baking soda: To help our muffins rise and create super fluffy and sturdy muffin tops!
• Vegan butter: Most muffin recipes call for oil, but I think that vegan butter adds a richer, more robust flavor. I highly recommend it!
• Dairy free yogurt: This is our vegan egg replacement. You can also swap in vegan sour cream (like by Forager Project). Most classic lemon poppy seed muffins call for some sour cream, which is slightly different than yogurt. Yogurt is cultured whereas sour cream is fermented (even in the vegan world!).
• Dairy free milk steeped with Yogi Tea Echinacea Immune Support tea: You can omit this if you’d like, but the tea does add a really nice flavor to them! As I mentioned above, adding a bit of Echinacea is a wonderful immune support during cold season! For dairy free milk, you can use soy milk, almond milk, or oat milk- any that you prefer!
• Lemon and lemon zest: I used just 1 lemon for all of this- that’s all you need!
• Lemon extract and almond extract: Because we’re not using a ton of lemon here (the baking soda will react with the lemon juice, which creates our rise in the muffin- but at the same time neutralizes a bit of the lemon flavor), we’re adding back in some lemon extract. Almond extract is also recommended- it’s really wonderful for rounding out the flavor!
• Poppy seeds

Overview: How to make vegan lemon poppy seed muffins with high muffin tops:

Two important techniques to high muffin tops with a fluffy texture:

If you’ve noticed in all of my vegan muffin recipes, we do two important steps to ensure that we get those seriously high muffin tops.

The first step: Rest the batter.

This is super crucial, even for gluten free lemon poppy seed muffins. After we’ve made the batter, allow it to rest covered at room temperature. This allows for the liquid to be absorbed into the dry ingredients, and starts the first activation of the baking powder.

Not only that, but the gluten starts to form (and in gluten free muffins, the ingredients like xanthan gum help to mimic this same process). This helps our muffins to rise and create those sturdy muffin tops!

The second step: bake at a high temperature.

Only for a little! We want the initial heat to be super high – at 425F – for the muffins to really get a head start in rising. Then after 8 minutes, we can reduce the heat to 350F, and continue baking our lemon poppy seed muffins until ready!

Can you substitute chia seeds for poppy seeds?

Short answer: absolutely! Chia seeds are a great substitute for poppyseeds when you don’t have them on hand or are avoiding them for safety reasons (they’re toxic to cats and dogs!).

Chia seeds can be swapped in at a one-to-one ratio for poppyseeds, so not to worry if you’re itching to make this recipe, but only have chia seeds! They’ll still be the most delicious healthy lemon poppy seed muffins ever 🙂

Can I make these into cupcakes?

I actually have a lemon poppy seed cupcake recipe for you to try!! You’re going to love it!

You’re just going to love these easy vegan lemon poppy seed muffins! They’re like a burst of sunshine during this wintery season, and a great way to get some immune support all while having a delicious treat, thanks to the immune tea!

If you make this recipe, let me know down below in the comments section! As always, I love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag both Yogi Tea and myself there!

Happy baking!

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If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!

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