These lemony Lemon Muffins are light and super moist, with lots of delicious lemon flavor! This recipe is as easy as it gets and all done in just 30 minutes, for a breakfast, dessert or snack the whole family will love.
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I've always loved making muffins and it's definitely my favorite thing to recipe test (so tasty!) and photograph (so much fun!). My co-workers love it as well - because they get all the leftovers.
This lemon muffins recipe got all thumbs up, and I am super excited for you to try it out for yourself!
Why you will love this recipe
- It's quick and all done in under 30 minutes
- It's easy - even kids can make them!
- Lots of lemon flavor from lemon zest
- The texture! These are super moist lemon muffins that keep well for multiple days.
- Delicious as they are for breakfast, brunch, dessert or a snack
- A great cupcake base topped with whipped cream frosting or to make Lemon Meringue Cupcakes
What you need to make Lemon Muffins
Ingredient notes & substitutions
- Salted butter can be swapped for unsalted butter and a ½ teaspoon of salt
- Vanilla extract can be swapped for vanilla powder or vanilla sugar. Mix them in with the flour and baking powder.
- Milk can be full fat, low fat, or anything in between
- Lemon zest - wash the lemon before zesting and use organic if possible
- Flour: I use all purpose flour
- Add poppy seeds to make Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
How to make Lemon Muffins
- Place flour and baking powder in a medium bowl
- Mix well
- In another large mixing bowl, add the butter and sugar
- Mix well until fluffy and creamy
- Add eggs
- Mix well
- Add the flour & baking powder mixture ot the wet ingredients
- Stir until just well combined, not more
- Add milk, vanilla extract and lemon zest
- Mix until smooth, not more
- Use a spoon to scoop into a lined muffin pan
- Bake for 16-20 minutes at 400°F (200°C), until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out without batter on it. Place lemn muffins on a wire rack to cool.
Tips & tricks
- Zest your lemon carefully - try to get only the bright yellow zest, and avoid the more bitter, white, underneath it
- Add a bit of fresh lemon juice if you want even more lemon flavor and don't mind a touch of acidity
- Use room temperature ingredients to avoid the batter breaking
- Cream the butter with the sugar, it should be soft, creamy and fluffy before adding in the dry ingredients
- If your butter comes straight from the refrigerator, cream it on its own before adding the sugar
- If the batter does break - don't worry, just continue on and it will resolve itself in the oven
- Don't overmix your batter - after adding the dry ingredients you want to mix as little as possible, or you might end up with dense and chewy muffins
- Don't bake them too long - if you're unsure if your oven is fast or slow, start checking them at 16 minutes and then every 2 minutes until done
- Make mini muffins by using a mini muffin tin and liners and baking for 10-12 minutes. 1 batch of this recipe makes 40 mini muffins.
- Store leftover lemon muffins in room temperature in a muffin tin or plastic bags. They're good for 3-4 days but OK for longer.
- Freeze leftover lemon muffins in plastic bags for up to 3 months. For best results, place them in plastic bags just before they are entirely cooled down and freeze immediately.
- Thaw muffins in room temperature, in the microwave at 50% in 30 second intervals or in the oven at 350°F (175°C) for 5-7 minutes.
Recipe FAQ
What is the secret to good muffins?
There are 5 secrets to good muffins:
1. The right ratio of ingredients - so everything comes together well
2. Room temperature butter - do not use melted butter
3. Creaming the butter - you want the butter and sugar to combine well and be creamy, soft and fluffy before adding the rest of the ingredients
4. Not overmixing - once the butter is creamed, you want to mix as little as possible. That's why you should combine the dry ingredients separately first.
5. Not overbaking - if you bake your muffins too long, any recipe can end up dry
Why are my muffins not moist?
If your muffins are not moist it's probably due to overmixing or overbaking.
More quick & easy muffin recipes
Looking for more quick & easy muffin recipes, like these Lemon Muffins?
- Pumpkin Banana Muffins with Chocolate Chips
- Vanilla Muffins
- Pistachio Muffins
- Cinnamon Muffins
- Double Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Raspberry White Chocolate Muffins
- German Muffins
- Cinnamon Apple Muffins
Did you love this recipe? Rate it five stars!
...and let me know what you loved about it in the comments.
Recipe
Lemon Muffins
Print RateServings: 12 muffins
Calories: 303kcal
Prep time: 12 minutes
Cook time: 18 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter at room temperature, cut in small pieces
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup milk at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla extract
- 1 lemon zest only
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C) and line a muffin tin with muffin liners.
- Place sugar and butter in a large bowl and mix until fluffy.1 cup salted butter, 1 cup sugar
- Add the eggs and mix well.2 eggs
- In a separate bowl, mix together flour and baking powder. Then add it to the egg, butter & sugar mixture and mix just enough for it to be well blended.2 cups flour, 2 teaspoon baking powder
- Add milk, vanilla extract and lemon zest, and mix until smooth.1 cup milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 lemon
- Scoop batter into muffin liners. Don't fill them more than ¾ of the way as they will rise.
- Place the muffins in the middle of the oven and bake for 16-20 minutes. Test with a cake tester or tooth pick – it should come out with no or very little cake batter when they are done. Enjoy!
Equipment (may contain affiliate links)
- Measuring cups (metric or US)*
Notes
The exact baking time will depend on your oven. If you're not sure, start with 16 minutes and then test them, and add a few more minutes if they're not quite done yet.
Ingredient notes & substitutions
- Salted butter can be swapped for unsalted butter and a ½ teaspoon of salt
- Vanilla extract can be swapped for vanilla powder or vanilla sugar. Mix them in with the flour and baking powder.
- Milk can be full fat, low fat, or anything in between
- Lemon zest - wash the lemon before zesting and use organic if possible
- Flour: I use all purpose flour
Tips & tricks
- Zest your lemon carefully - try to get only the bright yellow zest, and avoid the more bitter, white, underneath it
- Add a bit of fresh lemon juice if you want even more lemon flavor and don't mind a touch of acidity
- Use room temperature ingredients to avoid the batter breaking
- Cream the butter with the sugar, it should be soft, creamy and fluffy before adding in the dry ingredients
- If your butter comes straight from the refrigerator, cream it on its own before adding the sugar
- If the batter does break - don't worry, just continue on and it will resolve itself in the oven
- Don't overmix your batter - after adding the dry ingredients you want to mix as little as possible, or you might end up with dense and chewy muffins
- Don't bake them too long - if you're unsure if your oven is fast or slow, start checking them at 16 minutes and then every 2 minutes until done
- Make mini muffins by using a mini muffin tin and liners and baking for 10-12 minutes. 1 batch of this recipe makes 40 mini muffins.
- Store leftovers in room temperature in a muffin tin or plastic bags. They're good for 3-4 days but OK for longer.
- Freeze leftovers in plastic bags for up to 3 months. For best results, place them in plastic bags just before they are entirely cooled down and freeze immediately.
- Thaw muffins in room temperature, in the microwave at 50% in 30 second intervals or in the oven at 350°F (175°C) for 5-7 minutes.
Nutrition
Calories: 303kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 141mg | Potassium: 148mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 547IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutritional information is approximate and automatically calculated, and should only be viewed as an indication.
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Karlie
My son is obsessed with the lemon pound cake from Starbucks and he says he prefers these muffins now. I do add a lemon glaze on top once the muffins are fully cooled, but wow, the muffin recipe itself is perfect as is! These will be added to our regular rotation.
Emmeline Kemperyd
Hi Karlie! Wow, that's a great review! Thank you for coming backa and letting me know you enjoyed them. A lemon glaze on top sounds absolutely delicious! /Emmeline
Charles Ryan
I will definitely try these and with the extra lemon juice. You can’t get too much lemon for me.
Emmeline Kemperyd
Hi Charles! Totally agree! You might want to try my Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins as well, they have even more lemons PLUS a lemon glaze 🫣
Shawn
They baked up so pretty and they are delicious! I added a couple tablespoons of fresh lemon juice along with the zest. I would definitely make these again.!
Emmeline Kemperyd
Sounds like a delicious addition!
Asitha Jayawardena
Wow! Even without butter, it looks lovely. Thank you 😊🙏