High Altitude Lemon Poppy Seed Crumb Muffins
Tangy, perfectly sweet lemon poppy seed muffins, with cream cheese baked right into the batter, topped with crumbly streusel topping and a drizzle of lemon icing.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Muffin Pan
- Electric Mixer (Stand or Hand-Held)
Ingredients
Crumb Topping
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled divided
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
Muffin Batter
- 8 oz 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 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 tsp poppy seeds
Lemon Drizzle
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- zest of 1 large lemon
- 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
Crumb Topping
- In a bowl, combine 3/4 cup of the flour with the sugar and salt. Drizzle with the melted butter, and stir together into a moist, crumbly dough. Add the remaining 1/4 cup flour and stir until moistened and crumbly.
- Set aside until needed.
Muffin Batter
- Preheat the oven to 350. Line a standard muffin pan with paper liners. I find it helpful to lightly spray the paper liners with non-stick baking spray so that the muffins don’t stick.
- In a bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese, sugar and lemon zest for two minutes until smooth. Scrape down the bowl and beat in the eggs until smooth.
- Switch to a whisk, and whisk in the milk and lemon juice.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and poppy seeds. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and use a whisk to quickly whisk the batter together just until there are no visible streaks of flour. Batter should be thick and pillowy.
- Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups - they will be fairly full.
- Now 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, so use up all the crumbs and lightly press them into the batter.
- Bake the muffins on the center oven rack for 18-21 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the muffins in the pan for about 5 minutes, then carefully remove and set on a wire rack to cool.Scoop up any crumbs that fall off and save them in a little bowl.
Lemon Drizzle
- Whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice until smooth.
- 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.
- Let the muffins cool for 10-15 minutes, and serve warm.
Notes
Store leftover muffins in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
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