Lime Poppy Seed Muffins

Lemon poppy seed muffins are one of the few types of muffins that utilize poppy seeds.  The tiny little seeds don’t add much flavor to a pastry (not in small amounts, anyway), but add color and texture to an otherwise plain pastry. They fit well with lemon because they don’t detract from the delicate citrus flavor of the fruit while making the muffins ever so slightly more interesting. There is no reason that poppy seeds can’t serve the same purpose in muffins made with other flavors, so I subbed out lemons for fresh limes and baked up a batch of Lime Poppy Seed Muffins.

These muffins are moist and slightly chewy, with a top that has a nice crispness to it when the muffins are fresh out of the oven. Because limes  are more acidic than lemons, these muffins are very zesty and bright in their flavor. There is just enough sugar to take the edge off the limes and to really highlight their flavor. I stirred in a good amount of lime zest to make sure you can really taste it in the finished recipe. As always, I recommend using fresh limes for this recipe. If you have fairly large limes, you’ll probably only need 3 to get the required amount of juice.

The batter will fill the muffin cups up to the top when you’re dividing it into the pan. The batter is thick enough that your muffins should have a nice domed top that rises up above the muffin tin. You can get more (smaller) muffins out of the recipe by only filling the cups up 2/3 of the way, but you’ll need to reduce baking time by a few minutes if you choose to go that route. Personally, I love muffin tops and would take the bigger muffins any day.

Lime Poppy Seed Muffins
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 tbsp lime zest
2/3 cup lime juice (pref. fresh)
2 tsp poppy seeds

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar and eggs. Beat in melted butter, lime zest and lime juice. Add all wet ingredients, along with the poppy seeds, to the flour mixture and whisk until just combined and no streaks of flour remain.
Divide evenly into prepared muffin cups.
Bake at 375F for 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Turn muffins out of the pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.

Makes 12 muffins