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Greek yogurt gives these delicious lemon muffins a protein boost while reducing the amount of fat. Perfect for the weekend or as an afternoon snack!
Lemon Muffins with Greek Yogurt
My daughter used to love lemon muffins with poppy seeds, until she decided she no longer liked the “little black things” in her muffins. Thus, these lemon yogurt muffins were created! The acid and creaminess of Greek yogurt give these muffins an almost cake-like texture but finer and airy with light crumbs and a tangy-sweet flavor.
Ingredients
You’ll need all-purpose flour (regular or gluten-free flour), baking soda, which, combined with the Greek yogurt, gives the muffins a super light texture, salt, vanilla, and just a little butter and sugar. To bind the ingredients, you’ll use eggs. The citric flavor comes from lemon zest and lemon juice.
How to Make Lemon Yogurt Muffins
- Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt.
Sifting the flour helps to yield an even batter, without lumps. - Make the batter.
Cream butter and sugar for a soft muffin texture. Then add the eggs, vanilla, lemon zest and juice, and Greek yogurt. Finally, add the dry ingredients. - 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. - Make the glaze.
If you want to add a glaze, stir lemon juice into powdered sugar until smooth, and drizzle it over the lemon yogurt muffins once they have cooled down to room temperature.
Success tips
Along with the video below, where I show you how I make this recipe, these tips will help you get the most epic lemon yogurt muffins.
To reach the perfect muffin batter, mix the ingredients just enough to combine them and get a thick batter you can scoop with a spoon or ice cream scoop.
Using ingredients at room temperature helps yield a cohesive, smooth batter with an even texture.
Greek yogurt, whether plain or vanilla flavored, is what gives these muffins their amazing texture.
You can take these lemon yogurt muffins to a whole new level of goodness by adding 1 cup of blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, or diced strawberries.
How to Freeze Muffins for Later
You can freeze the uncooked muffin batter or the cooked muffins. 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. Reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Easy Lemon Yogurt Muffins
Watch how it’s made:
Ingredients
Muffins:
- 1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup butter, softened
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest, about 2 lemons
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 6 oz Greek yogurt*, plain or vanilla
Lemon icing drizzle:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
Prep:
- Preheat oven to 375F and line a muffin pan with 10-12 liners. It makes 12 medium muffins like in the photo (filled ¾ of the way) or 10 full.
Make the batter:
- In a bowl, sift to combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer or large bowl, cream the butter and sugar for about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix to combine. Add the lemon zest, juice, and Greek yogurt and mix until just incorporated.
- Add the dry ingredients mix to the bowl and mix to combine.
- Fill each muffin ¾ of the way or to the rim –depending what size you want them.
Bake:
- Bake the muffins in the preheated oven for 18-22 minutes, until the tops are golden and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle. Remove from oven and allow muffins to cool down completely before glazing.
For the glaze:
- In a small bowl, stir the lemon juice into the powdered sugar until smooth. Add a little more juice if it's too thick for drizzling with a spoon.
Notes
- Regular yogurt provides less nutrition, but it also works for this recipe.
Nonna Di says
Made as directed,added a handful of blueberries and they were delicious even without icing. One of the better muffin recipes I’ve tried from the internet.
Laura Fuentes says
Thank you for sharing how much you enjoyed these lemon yogurt muffins, Nonna! Adding blueberries is a terrific idea.