Friday Faves – Cook Like a Champion makes Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
It’s time for another one of my Friday Favs! Today, you’ll hear from Courtney of Cook Like a Champion. Courtney and I “met” on the cooking board of The Nest. She and her husband enjoy spending time together in the kitchen. I’ll say this again, but I’m big on eating with my eyes first and as you’ll see, Courtney takes great photographs! Be sure to check out her blog.
Hi! I’m Courtney, part of the blogging duo over at Cook Like a Champion. My husband Eric and I love to cook and bake, and we try to focus on using mostly fresh, seasonal ingredients. Although Eric doesn’t write posts, he’s always in the kitchen and loves working on the behind the scenes aspects of the blog. He even made his first batch of sourdough recently, and we spent last Friday night making English muffins for the first time. We love spending time together in the kitchen and have been known to sneak pieces of cheese to our dog Abby when the other person isn’t looking. 🙂
I adore spring and all the fresh flavors it brings, so today I’m sharing a recipe for lemon poppy seed muffins. Lemon just screams spring to me, and I can’t get enough of it this time of year. Before trying these, the only lemon poppyseed muffins I had ever eaten were of the “just add water” variety. I was never really a fan of them because they tasted artificial, nothing like real lemon. These delightful little treats, on the other hand, get their flavor from nothing but lemon, giving them a bright, fruity flavor. If I had to describe these muffins with one word, it would be perky. Everything about them is perfect for spring, and I think they’d be lovely as part of a weekend brunch. The muffins are flavorful on their own, and the glaze just adds another burst of lemony goodness to them. Even if it’s not quite spring where you are, these are sure to add a little sunshine to your day.
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Ingredients:
2/3 cup sugar
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 Tbsp poppy seeds
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2-3 Tbsp lemon juice
Directions:
Place rack in center of oven and preheat to 400º. Spray or line a 12-cup muffin pan, and place the pan on a baking sheet.
In a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingers until fragrant. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another large bowl, whisk together the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and melted butter. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ones and quickly whisk or stir together, being careful not to over mix. Stir in the poppy seeds and divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
Bake for 18-20 minutes until the tops are golden and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the muffin pan to a cooling rack and allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes before removing each and cooling completely. Meanwhile, whisk together the confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Add additional lemon juice as needed to thin the icing. Drizzle the cooled muffins with the icing or dip them in it as desired. For a heavier glaze, simply dip the muffins again after the first coating of glaze has set.
Recipe from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan
I’m so glad I got to share a recipe with all of Jen’s wonderful readers, and I hope you’ll pop over to my blog and say hello!
Be sure to check out all of my favorite bloggers as they are featured on Friday Favs!
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I’m not a huge mushroom fan, but the cranberry risotto sounds absolutely fantastic! Thanks for the idea, Katie :).
What a great recipe Katie!
I am in awe of your description of mushrooms. that recipe is awesome and so is the idea to cook them in butter and red wine! if non mushroom lovers are not converted after this post, there is no help for them!!
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I am a huge mushroom lover. This recipe sounds wonderful!
I am a HUGE fan of mushrooms, I put them in everything! This will probably be dinner tonight!
I’m definitely with you in the first camp, though I will tell you – I’ve converted the boyfriend into a semi-mushroom lover, so maybe there is a person who lies a bit in between after all! This looks heavenly.
I am definitely not a mushroom lover but this recipe looks amazing!
Katie can make these for me anytime! Great recipe and great guest post!
OMG this combines so many of my favorite things into one dish! I’ve already added it to next week’s menu. Thanks so much for introducing me to a fun new blog!
I’m on the verge of being a mushroom lover – when raw the texture creeps me out but I’ve discovered I love the flavor and like them when cooked. I would love to eat this dish!
It is bad that I thought the sneak peak picture looked like mashed potatoes? That can only mean the risotto must be extra creamy!
It is bad that I thought the sneak peak picture looked like mashed potatoes? I think that just means this risotto must be extra creamy!
Thanks Jen for including me in your Friday Faves and for saying such nice things about my writing! This dish was fun to make and was really good on a cold winter night. Thanks all for the comments! Even those from the mushroom haters 🙂
Aren’t portobello mushrooms the best? So many different things you can do with them!
What more Can I say, a combination of my favorite ingredients… Mushroom and risotto! It’s nice to see a lot of mushroom recipe’s this past few days.
What a creative recipe, I love it! Definitely the perfect way to kick off your cool Friday Favs feature 🙂