These Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are moist and fluffy, zesty and tangy and healthy enough for breakfast! They're also refined sugar free, and come together in one bowl.
Tips for baking with lemons
- For optimum lemon flavour, I would recommend using fresh lemons (not ones that you've had sitting in your fruit bowl for weeks!) and organic ones if possible.
- You have to be careful when baking with lemon juice as the acidity and lemon flavour can really vary depending on the lemons you use.
- I would recommend tasting the lemon juice you're using and adjusting the amount of lemon juice you use accordingly.
- For the lemon zest, make sure you use unwaxed lemons.
How to make this recipe
Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Mix together all the ingredients in a glass mixing bowl.
Tip: Make sure to use a measuring jug to measure out the exact amount of plant-based milk!
- Divide the batter between muffin cases in a muffin/cupcake tin.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
Tips for the lemon syrup
I decided to make a sweet, tangy lemon syrup to pour over the muffins. The syrup is refined sugar free and easy to make, and adds a little extra zippy sweetness. Plus, you can quickly mix it together whilst you're waiting for the muffins to bake in the oven.
- I recommend pouring the syrup over the muffins straight out the oven while they're still hot, so that it gets properly absorbed.
- It's optional so you can definitely leave it out if you want.
Substitutions you can make
- You can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil.
- You can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc.
- You can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc.
- You can replace the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground walnuts.
- For a nut-free version: replace the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground sunflower seeds or use 30g (¼ cup) coconut flour instead of 150g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds.
- You can use plain flour, wholemeal (whole wheat) flour or spelt flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you're not gluten-free.
How long do these keep for?
These do taste best when fresh, but they do keep covered in the fridge for up to a few days. You can reheat them in the oven or an oven toaster if you like.
For more vegan muffin recipes
- Carrot Muffins
- Blueberry Banana Bread Muffins
- Chocolate Muffins
- Apple Muffins
- Blueberry Muffins
- Muffin Tin Sushi Cups
- Chocolate Banana Muffins
- Orange Muffins
- Orange Poppy Seed Muffins
- Strawberry Muffins
- Raspberry Muffins
- Lemon Blueberry Muffins
- Cranberry Muffins
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I'd really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Watch how to make it
Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Ingredients
For the muffins:
- 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
- 180 ml (¾ cup) unsweetened almond milk (or sub any other plant-based milk)
- 8 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest (use unwaxed lemons)
- 12 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- 3 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) *
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
- 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
For the syrup (optional):
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup
Instructions
For the muffins:
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil).
- Once melted, add the milk to the same bowl along with the lemon juice, lemon zest, maple syrup, vanilla, salt, poppy seeds and ground almonds.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
- Mix well, adding a tiny splash more milk if it's looking too dry.
- Transfer the mixture between muffin cases in a muffin tin.
- Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
For the syrup:
- Whilst the muffins are baking, mix together the lemon juice and maple syrup.
- Drizzle it over the muffins as soon as they're out of the oven - it will soak into the muffins better when they're hot.
- These muffins taste best eaten on the day they're made, but keep for a few days. They can be reheated in the oven or an oven toaster if you like!
Video
Notes
- For optimum lemon flavour, I would recommend using fresh lemons (not ones that you've had sitting in your fruit bowl for weeks!) and organic ones if possible.
- You have to be careful when baking with lemon juice as the acidity and lemon flavour can really vary depending on the lemons you use.
- I would recommend tasting the lemon juice you're using and adjusting the amount of lemon juice you use accordingly.
- For the lemon zest, make sure you use unwaxed lemons.
Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog - thank you.
Eva
These sound amaaazing! Do you think they’ll hold well in the freezer? So I can make some extra and save them for a rainy day 🙂
Rhian Williams
Thank you! Yes should be ok!
John
If I substitute maple syrup for maple sugar, may I add more coconut oil in the recipe to balance the liquid/solid ratio?
Rhian Williams
Yes the should be ok to add some extra coconut oil to balance out the liquid, but it should be ok even if you don't add extra coconut oil. Hope that helps!
kelsey
Loved these muffins. Im allergic to gluten, diary, soy and eggs so its hard to find recipes that actually taste good. I followed your recipe exactly and it made 12 delicious muffins. I'll defiantly be making this again. Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so glad you liked them!
Abby
Would I be able to make these without the ground almonds? Thanks! 🙂
Rhian Williams
Yes - but they will need to be substituted with ground walnuts or ground sunflower seeds!
Audra
I just made these muffins and they are really good. I am curious what the consistency of the batter should be like. MY muffins did not rise as much as the ones in your pictures and they were also more dense. Thanks!
Rhian Williams
Thank you for your feedback! The batter should be a little bit more liquidy than a traditional cake batter. If your muffins didn't rise as much I would suggest adding a little extra baking powder next time!