Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Instructions

1. 1

   In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and poppy seeds. In another bowl, mix together the melted butter, oil, eggs, sour cream, vanilla extract, and lemon zest, lemon juice, and milk.

2. 2

   Pour the wet mixture into the dry and use a rubber spatula to combine. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and rest at room temperature for 1 hour.

3. 3

   In the meantime, make the lemon simple syrup – Add the lemon juice and sugar to a saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes to let the sugar completely dissolve.

4. 4

   While that simmers, peel the zest from 1 lemon. I recommend using a paring knife to carefully peel away the zest and try not to cut into the pith too much. Place the zest in a heat safe bowl.

5. 5

   Remove the lemon syrup from the heat and pour into the bowl of zest. Let it cool at room temperature while the muffin batter continues to rest.

6. 6

   Close to the 1 hour mark, preheat the oven to 425F and line a muffin tin with 11 paper liners.

7. 7

   Using a large 2 oz scoop (or about 1/4 cup), fill each liner all the way to the top and then some. Be careful not to disrupt the batter too much when scooping. That hour of rest helped fluff up the batter for a taller rise in the oven, so we don’t want it to deflate!

8. 8

   Bake for 8 minutes. Then change the oven heat setting to 350F and bake for another 8 to 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean with a few moist crumbs.

9. 9

   When the muffins are fresh from the oven, brush with a generous amount of the lemon simple syrup.

10. 10

    Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool for another 15 minutes. Sprinkle with more poppy seeds if desired and dig in while they’re still warm!