Curly Girl Heather Smoke shares her High Altitude Lemon Poppy Seed Crumb Muffins. Perfect for brunch, the addition of cream cheese makes a light and fluffy muffin, while the crumbly topping adds a crunchy, buttery, texture to every bite. Serve plain, with softened butter, a dollop of lemon curd or berry jam.
Crumb Topping
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, divided
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon coarse kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
Muffin Batter
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- zest of 1 large lemon
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup whole milk
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon coarse kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
Lemon Drizzle
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- zest of 1 large lemon
- 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Crumb Topping
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In a bowl, combine 3/4 cup flour with sugar and salt. Drizzle with the melted butter, and stir together into a moist, crumbly dough. Add remaining 1/4 cup flour and stir until moistened and crumbly.
Muffin Batter
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Preheat oven to 350. Line a standard muffin pan with paper liners. It's helpful to lightly spray the liners with non-stick baking spray to prevent sticking.
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In a bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and lemon zest with electric mixer for two minutes until smooth. Scrape the bowl and beat in the eggs until smooth.
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Switch to a whisk, and whisk in milk and lemon juice.
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In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and poppy seeds. Add dry ingredients to the wet and use whisk to quickly incorporate batter just until there are no visible streaks of flour. Batter should be thick and pillowy.
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Divide evenly between the muffin cups. They will be fairly full.
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Pile the crumb topping on top of the batter. It will seem like you have too many crumbs, but after baking, it will be just right, lightly press them into the batter.
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Bake the muffins on the center oven rack for 18-21 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool muffins in the pan for about 5 minutes, then carefully remove and set on a wire rack to cool. Save any crumbs that fall off in a bowl.
Lemon Drizzle
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Whisk together powdered sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice until smooth.
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Drizzle half the icing over the hot muffins, then sprinkle with the crumb topping that fell off. Drizzle with the rest of the icing. The icing will help to secure the crumbs and keep them in place.
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Let the muffins cool for 10-15 minutes, and serve warm.
Notes:
Store leftover muffins in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
