Lemon Yogurt Muffins

A delicious recipe perfect for the weekend or as an afternoon snack that will instantly brighten your day.

Lemon Muffins with Greek Yogurt 

A couple of years ago, my daughter and I would go to a coffee shop every Thursday afternoon to wait until it was time to go to art. For a while, we were in a lemon-poppy seed kick, until she decided she no longer liked the “little black things” in her muffins. She suggested I make them without poppy seeds, and thus these lemon yogurt muffins were created!

What makes this recipe so epic, besides its simplicity and deliciousness, is the use of Greek yogurt. It helps yield extra fluffy and airy muffins while adding protein and reducing the amount of fat. 

It’s a very simple recipe you can make with classic bakery staples. While I include an easy glaze in the recipe, full of lemon zest, I don’t usually glaze them, just on special occasions.

Ingredients

You don’t need anything fancy to make these delicious lemon yogurt muffins. The measurements are at the end of the post, but first, check the ingredient list:

• All-purpose flour: regular or gluten-free flour.
• Baking soda: combined with yogurt, gives the muffins a super light texture.
• Salt: to enhance all the flavors.
• Butter: since we add yogurt, we only need a little butter!
• Sugar: just enough to add sweetness.
• Eggs: bind the ingredients.
• Vanilla: adds that cake-like flavor we all love!
• Lemon zest: these are called lemon muffins for a reason, right?
• Lemon juice: more lemon flavor!
• Greek yogurt: add plain or vanilla yogurt for a fluffy, moist texture. Regular yogurt provides less nutrition, but it also works for this recipe.
• Lemon icing drizzle: optional. You need powdered sugar and lemon juice to make it.

How to Make Lemon Yogurt Muffins 

Can you mix ingredients on a bowl? Then you can make these lemon yogurt muffins! It’s that simple. Here’s the step-by-step:

1. Prep
   You preheat the oven to 375F and line a muffin pan with 10-12 liners. 
2. Sift dry ingredients
   Sift to combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. Cream butter and sugar
   Now, you cream butter and sugar for about 2 minutes. 
4. Add wet ingredients
   You add the eggs and vanilla and mix to combine. Then, add the lemon zest, juice, and Greek yogurt and mix until just incorporated.
5. Combine
   Add the dry ingredients mix to the bowl and mix to combine.
6. Fill the muffin pan
   It’s time to fill each muffin ¾ of the way (for 12 medium muffins) or to the rim (10 full muffins).
7. Bake 
   Bake the muffins for 18-22 minutes. You’ll know they’re done when the tops are golden, and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle. 
8. Cool down
   You remove the muffins from the oven and allow them to cool down completely before glazing.
9. Glaze
   Stir the lemon juice into the powdered sugar until smooth, and drizzle it over the lemon yogurt muffins. This step is optional.

Check out how easy they are to make in this quick video:

This recipe is similar to my Very Blueberry Muffin recipe and my Strawberry Yogurt Oat Muffins. It’s super moist from the yogurt and incredibly fully at the same time.

What Else to Add to Lemon Muffins

You can take these lemon yogurt muffins to a whole new level of goodness by adding one of these:

• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 cup cranberry
• 1 cup raspberries
• 1 cup diced strawberries

Success tips 

These tips will help you to get the most epic lemon yogurt muffins: 

Sift the flour
Sifting the flour helps to yield an even batter, without lumps.

Don’t overmix
To reach the perfect muffin batter, you want to mix ingredients just to combine them and get a thick batter you can scoop with a spoon or ice cream scoop.

Use room temperature ingredients
Using ingredients at room temperature helps yield a cohesive, smooth batter with an even texture.

Add Greek yogurt
Greek yogurt, whether plain or vanilla flavored, is what gives these muffins their amazing texture.

How to Freeze Muffins for Later

You can freeze the uncooked muffin batter or the cooked muffins for later. While both methods work, the second one is faster and my favorite! To do this, allow the muffins to cool down and transfer the muffin pan to the freezer for an hour. Once frozen, store them in a labeled freezer-safe zip bag for up to 2 months. Here are more tips for freezing muffins.

When you want to enjoy one of these, take it out of the freezer and reheat it in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute.