Made with 100% real lemons and no artificial flavors, these lemon muffins are bright and cheery bundles of sunshine. They're so soft and fluffy, and they're topped with an easy two-ingredient glaze. Recipe includes a how-to video!
½teaspoonlemon extractoptional, but will give your muffins a stronger lemon flavor
Lemon Glaze
1 ¼cup(160g)powdered sugar
1 ½ - 3Tablespoonslemon juice
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 425F (220C) and line a 12-count muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt.
1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour, ¾ cup granulated sugar, 2 Tablespoons cornstarch, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon table salt
In a separate bowl, whisk together sour cream, melted butter, egg, lemon juice, lemon zest, and lemon extract (if using) until well-combined.
¾ cup sour cream, ½ cup unsalted butter, 1 large egg, 3 Tablespoons lemon zest, 2 Tablespoons lemon juice, ½ teaspoon lemon extract
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and use a spatula to gently combine until you have a uniform batter (don’t over-mix or your muffins will be dense!). This is a very thick muffin batter.
Evenly divide batter into prepared muffin tin – for larger, taller muffins only divide the batter into 10 cavities rather than all 12.
Bake in center rack of 425F (220C) for 8 minutes, then, without opening the oven door, reduce temperature to 350F and continue to bake for another 5-6 minutes (may need a minute longer if only baking 10-12 muffins), unti a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
Allow muffins to cool in their pan for about 5-10 minutes before carefully removing from pan and allowing to cool on cooling rack before adding glaze.
Lemon Glaze
Whisk together powdered sugar and 1 ½ Tbsp lemon juice. If glaze is too thick to whisk easily, add more lemon juice, a splash at a time, until a smooth consistency is reached that drizzles off the whisk in a ribbon.
1 ¼ cup powdered sugar, 1 ½ - 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
Drizzle over muffins or dip completely cooled muffin tops in the glaze.
If you’re the patient type, allow glaze to sit and become firm before serving.
Video
Notes
Muffin count
You can divide the batter into all 12 muffin cavities, but for large muffins with tall, fluffy muffin tops, I like to divide the batter into just 10 or 11 liners instead. See the photo in the post for a visual on the difference between baking as 10 or 12 muffins.
Storing
These muffins are best enjoyed fresh, but they may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. You may also tightly wrap them and freeze for several months.
Original Recipe
I have updated this recipe from the original (which was published in 2017) and prefer this version. However, if you are looking for the original recipe, you can find my original lemon muffin recipe here.