These lemon muffins have a bright lemon flavor naturally. Don't have lemons? You can substitute lemon extract into the recipe instead.

Lemon muffins on plates with a bowl of muffins, and jelly.

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Are you looking for a simple and delicious recipe for lemon muffins that will delight the lemon lovers in your family? Look no further than this easy lemon muffin recipe that uses basic ingredients you can find at any grocery store.

With just the right amount of lemon zest and fresh lemon juice, these fluffy muffins will have a bright citrus flavor that will make them the perfect addition to your afternoon snack or breakfast routine.

The fresh lemon flavor is imbued throughout these moist muffins thanks to the lemon zest AND the lemon juice. These classic muffins can be easily modified to accommodate fruit, berries, or even poppy seeds!

A pan of lemon muffins, 2 plates, a bowl, and a white towel.

Have fun with these muffins!

For easy lemon muffins that are perfect for snacking or sharing, try making mini muffins using a mini muffin tin. These moist muffins will bake faster because they’re smaller. You’ll get roughly 20-24 mini-muffins from this recipe.

This recipe makes 10 or 12 regular-size muffins depending on the size of muffins you make. Whatever you make, mini muffins, 10 muffins, or 12 muffins, be sure to divide the batter evenly into muffin cups so they bake equally.

Lemon muffins slathered with raspberry jam, a bowl of muffins, and a knife.

How to make the best muffins

To make these the best lemon muffins be sure you don’t overmix them. You just want to whisk the dry ingredients together and then add the wet ingredients. Whisk again, very lightly.

Then switch to a silicone spatula or a wooden spoon to finish mixing them up. if you beat or overbeat quick bread recipes, you’ll overwork the batter, and it won’t make tender muffins. And you don’t want the gluten in the flour to develop either, or your muffins will be tough.

What you Need to make these Lemon Muffins

all-purpose flour
baking powder
salt
sugar
lemon zest (you will need about 2 lemons to get the amount needed for this recipe)
lemon juice
milk
eggs
oil, vegetable or light olive oil
muffin tin
whisk
wooden spoon or silicone spatula
Large bowl
medium bowl
paper liners, if desired
12-cup muffin tin

How to make lemon zest

To zest a lemon, you need the small side of a box grater or a small hand-held zester. A handheld zester is literally the same thing as the small side on your box grater.

Wash the lemons well. Wax-free lemons are nice if you can find them. If you can’t find them, simply boil a kettle of water and pour it slowly over your lemons. Rub to remove as much wax as possible.

Half a lemon muffin slathered with raspberry jam on top of it.

Then use the grater or zester on the lemon peel to remove just the outer layer of the lemon peel, just like you do for these Lemon Bars. When making Margaritas, you typically won’t be using zest, so don’t worry about that.

For best results don’t get down into the white pith. Just get the very outer layer. The white pith is very bitter and will really make anything you put it in will be bitter as well.

Roughly speaking, one lemon will produce about a Tablespoon of zest. It does depend on how much you grate into the pith. Don’t pack the zest into the measuring spoon. Just put it in the measuring spoon lightly.

A lemon muffin with jam with a bite taken out of it.

Change up these muffins!

You can add 1 or 2 Tablespoons of poppy seeds and make lemon poppyseed muffins with this recipe. Or add berries like fresh blueberries to make blueberry muffins, or raspberries work well too! If you’re adding berries, you will need about 3/4 cup of berries. You could ALSO make a lemon glaze to drizzle over the top, sort of like this lemon drizzle cake or this lime bread icing.

To store leftover muffins

Leftover muffins can be cooled completely before being stored in an airtight container. You can use a plastic bag or a dish with a resealable lid, like a Pyrex dish or a ziploc box. Mini Muffins can be stored in a single layer in an airtight container or on a plate covered with plastic wrap.