Vegan + Gluten-Free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

This post featuring these vegan + gluten-free Meyer lemon poppy seed muffins is sponsored by Danone North America. Please see my disclosures.

I love lemon anything, so when Danone asked me to come up with a new recipe featuring Meyer lemons from Sprouts and So Delicious® Coconutmilk Yogurt Alternative, I knew this would be such a fun project.

Truly, yogurt and Meyer lemons are a match made in recipe heaven… and I had a hard time settling in on one recipe!

It didn’t take long, however, for my cravings to kick in as I started thinking about lemon poppy seed muffins. I haven’t had one in so long … but I knew I could change that!

In this post you’ll find step-by-step instructions on how to make this moist and sweet gluten-free lemon poppy seed muffin recipe, as well as some baking tips to aid you in the kitchen.

Don’t forget to scroll to the bottom of this article 👇 to see how you can save money when you shop for So Delicious products at Sprouts.

Ingredients With Zest

To make these beautiful gluten-free lemon poppy seed muffins, you’ll need to shop for a few key ingredients, all of which you can get at Sprouts.

So Delicious® Coconutmilk Yogurt Alternative: Yogurt offers the best and easiest way to make your lemon poppy seed muffins moist and creamy. I use So Delicious yogurt alternatives anytime a recipe calls for yogurt.

Meyer Lemons: Load up on Meyer lemons at Sprouts because you’ll need a lot of ’em for this lemon-riffic recipe. Plus, Meyer lemons are in season now.

Meyer lemons are a bit smaller and rounder in appearance when compared to typical lemons. They’re also a bit sweeter than regular lemons – more like a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange.

Poppy Seeds: These beautiful seeds will elevate the visual appeal of your muffins and add a little fun texture too.

Gluten-Free Flour: You’ll need a gluten-free flour blend to make this muffin recipe. Remember, if you want your muffins to mimic the texture of wheat flour muffins, you’ll need to purchase a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend. Luckily Sprouts has plenty of brands to choose from.

How to Make Vegan + Gluten-Free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

You’ll flip once you see how easy it is to make this vegan and gluten-free lemon poppy seed muffin recipe.

You’ll need two bowls, a whisk, a batter scoop, and a 12-cavity muffin tin (or two six-cavity muffin tins).

In one bowl, combine all dry ingredients, including the gluten-free flour, xanthan gum (omit if your gluten-free flour blend already contains it), granulated sugar, lemon zest, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and poppy seeds.

In a second bowl, combine all wet ingredients, including the So Delicious Vanilla Coconutmilk Yogurt Alternative, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, oil, and vanilla, and stir well to combine.

Remember to zest those lemons so BEFORE you cut into them. It’s so much easier to zest an intact lemon.

You’ll also notice there’s no egg in this recipe. Combining apple cider vinegar and baking soda will act as a leavening agent, ensuring these muffins rise without any egg. Yep, I’m totally geeking out on baking science.

Now combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir well by hand to form your muffin batter. Easy, right?

Prepare your muffin tin either with cooking spray or muffin tin liners and then add an ice cream scooper full of batter to each cup. Fill each cavity about two-thirds of the way full to leave room for the batter to rise.

Bake the muffins at 375º F for 18-23 minutes until muffins are light golden brown and when no batter comes off on a toothpick inserted into the center. 

Do not overbake these muffins. Check them at 18 minutes and see how they’re doing. The tops should spring back lightly when you touch them, giving a visual cue that they’re ready to come out of the oven.

Making a Lemony Glaze

To make the beautiful and sweet glaze that you’ll drizzle atop the gluten-free lemon poppy seed muffins, combine one cup of powdered sugar, the zest of one full lemon, and one tablespoon of lemon juice. Stir until smooth.

If the glaze is too thick, add more lemon juice. If it’s too thin to drizzle, add more powdered sugar. You want the glaze thick enough, so it doesn’t leak everywhere but thin enough that it pours neatly over the muffins.

Once the muffins are completely cooled, you’ll then use your spoon to drizzle the glaze atop each muffin gently. You can do this over the wire rack to prevent the glaze from pooling at the bottom of each muffin.

Allow the glaze to set for 10 minutes before eating … as if you could wait that long! These muffins are a sight to see, indeed!

The Muffin Taste Test

These muffins are ultra-moist thanks to an infusion of creamy So Delicious Coconutmilk Yogurt alternative. Not only does the coconutmilk yogurt alternative offer moisture to the muffins, but also it serves as a binding agent to hold them together without the gluten protein.

These gluten-free lemon poppy seed muffins are also slightly sweet, but they’re not overwhelmingly sweet. If you want them to taste a tad sweeter, add more glaze.

And, of course, they are ultra-lemony too. If you love citrus flavors, pucker up because this recipe is bursting with those zesty lemony flavors you crave most.