Poppy seeds, slivered almonds, and almond extract give these fluffy muffins so much flavor and crunch. These muffins bake up light and with a tasty crumb, far from the greasy, heavy versions you’ll find in the grocery store!
This Is the Muffin Recipe My Daughter Always Requests
You know how there are some ingredients that you just can’t say no to when it comes to a particular food? Like, for me, the only cake that’s worth its weight in birthday candles is German chocolate cake. Or if I’m choosing an artisanal cheese, it’s going to be a stinky, gooey, triple cream.
So when my Smudge wanders through the bakery section of the grocery store, I don’t even have to wonder what request she’s about to pose. Because it’s always the same. And it’s always for a poppy seed muffin.
This almond muffin recipe originally comes from Cooks Illustrated and is one of the best, delivering a solid base for add-ins to make all of your muffin dreams come true.
Enjoy!
The Main Ingredients
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Flour — Spoon the flour into your measuring cup to prevent over-measuring.
- Leavening agents — Make sure your baking powder and baking soda are still fresh or else your muffins won’t rise.
- Butter — I prefer using melted butter in my muffins rather than oil so they taste a little richer.
- Granulated sugar — I don’t like my muffins super sweet, especially if I plan on eating them for breakfast, so there’s just 1 cup of sugar in the whole batch.
- Eggs — Ideally you’d bring the eggs to room temp before mixing them into the batter. (Sometimes I forget to do this …)
- Slivered almonds — You could use finely chopped almonds as well, but I prefer the delicate crunch of slivered almonds.
- Almond extract — Topping the muffins with sliced almonds wasn’t quite enough for me so I add almond extract too. I really wanted to taste the almond flavor!
- Poppy seeds — Add a subtle crunch that my daughter just adores.
- Lemon zest — Per usual, I couldn’t leave well enough alone so I also added a few zests of lemon to add even more tart to the yogurt in the mix.
- Yogurt — Instead of sour cream, I use yogurt to create a moist muffin crumb. I used regular whole milk yogurt, but you could use low-fat or whole Greek yogurt instead.
How to Make Almond Poppy Seed Muffins (+ Tips!)
- Beat the wet ingredients. To create light and fluffy muffins, the butter and sugar needs to be creamed for about 2 minutes before the rest of the wet ingredients are added to the bowl.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients. Do this in a separate bowl to ensure the baking powder and baking soda are evenly dispersed.
- Alternate adding the yogurt and flour mixture to the wet ingredients. This takes just a few extra moments, but it prevents the flour from being overworked.
- Bake. I prefer using liners to make storing and serving the muffins easier, but if you don’t have any just be sure to grease the muffin cups with non-stick spray before baking. Standard size muffins will take 20 – 25 minutes to bake, but keep an eye on your muffins the first time you make this recipe because every oven is different!
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below, leave a comment to tell us what you think, and tag me on Instagram @foodiecrush.
Almond Poppy Seed Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup minus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons almond extract
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 ½ cups plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- ⅓ cup slivered almonds
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 375°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or spray with baking spray.
- Combine the dry ingredients. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl and set aside.
- Combine the wet ingredients. Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. One at a time, add eggs and beat well after each addition. Add the almond extract and lemon zest to the mixture and combine.
- Finish the batter. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and yogurt in thirds until batter is smooth, adding the poppy seeds in the last set of mixing.
- Assemble. Fill the muffin cups so they mound over the top and generously sprinkle with the sliced almonds.
- Bake. Bake until the muffins are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Set on wire rack to cool slightly, about 5 minutes, and serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition
More Muffin Recipes to Cure Your Morning Mania
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Lucy Sim Conway
3 cups of flour for muffins seems like a lot of flour. Can I use less?
You should use three cups in order to get the right consistency and end result. You could half the recipe if you don’t want to use as much flour :)
Adri
I baked these in a jumbo tin for 26 minutes and they turned out perfect. So tender and fluffy!
Angelina
Sounds very tasty. Just wondering what you’d suggest in order to make this recipe into a ‘Quick Bread’, if possible.
Angelina, I think it would probably translate fine into a quick bread as written, although I haven’t before. Bake for 45-55 minutes and test to see if its done, then add more time if needed.
Adhip
thanks for the recipe let me try once
Ashley @ Foodie Crush
Enjoy!
Anusha J Krishnaswamy
This recipe looks very delicious. I might try it someday.
Ana
These muffins were really tasty. The combination of lemon and almond is great!
Ryan
Man oh man, does this look scrumptious!
Judy Murdoch
I wounder if you could use 1/2 whole wheat flour and chia seeds instead of poppy seeds?
Nick Smith
Thanks for the great recipe!
Mou boots
Never let the demands of tomorrow interfere with the pleasures and excitement of today.
J, G.
I have these muffins in the oven right now. Just wanted you to know in the directions it never tells you when to put in the poppy seeds.
They smell great looking forward in eating them.
Ashley Sorenson
Thanks for that note! I hope they turn out great for you!
joseph
Wow, these look amazing!
Lesa Cote
Thank you for the great food blog. As business ethics assignment help expert, I am truly happy.
Eda J. Lewis
My husband’s birthday is this coming Thursday and he loves Muffins I MUST make this for his birthday.
Thank you so much for this recipe. I think it will become a family favorite.
Air fryer Review
Thank you for your details . These kind of muffins are so good.