What you need:

2/3 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sour cream or yogurt
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and chilled
2 lemons, 1 for juicing, both for zesting
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Makes 12 muffins

How to:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line muffin pans with muffin liners.

2. In a large bowl, mix sugar and lemon zest together until the sugar is moistened. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another medium sized bowl, whisk together the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice, and melted butter until blended well.

3. Pour liquid ingredients over dry ingredients and stir to blend. Make sure you don’t over mix the batter (lumps are okay). Stir in the poppy seeds. Mix evenly with a spatula.

4. Divide batter evenly into muffin cups. Bake on center rack for 18-20 minutes until the tops are golden. They are done when you can stick a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean. Let the muffins sit for about 5 minutes and then take them out of the mold. Allow the muffins to cool completely before icing them.

5. Make the icing and share the love. (optional)

**When I make these, I choose to leave out the icing, because let’s face it, extra sugar isn’t always a good thing. Icing is really easy to make to if you wish to include it in your treats and you can find an easy recipe for lemon icing below.

Icing:

1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar2-3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

1. In a small bowl, add confectioners’ sugar and about half the amount of lemon juice to moisten the sugar.  Adding more lemon juice (not too much otherwise it will become watery) until you have a consistency and flavor that you like.

There you have it! A great breakfast surprise for any time of year that everyone will love. Coming soon…Chocolate Chip Banana Walnut Muffins

If you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work.

-Khalil Gibran