Spring Lemon & Poppy Seed Muffins

It's one of those days today where its pouring down one minute and blindingly bright sunshine the next. The moments of sunshine are bliss and I can't help but think of the long summer days to come! To counteract the rain and will summer to arrive I wanted to bake something sunshiney. I did contemplate a classic lemon drizzle cake but then I came across some beautiful photographs of some lemon poppy seed muffins on Pinterest and I knew it had to be these.

The zesty lemon and slightly nutty poppy seeds really work well together and a sharp lemon icing finishes them off perfectly. I think we will be breakfasting on these all week.

For this recipe I based the ingredients on an American version, that uses sour cream, and then adapted the measurements and method to suit my kitchen. I always have to convert cup measurements into grams, especially for butter as trying to measure a cup of butter requires a bit too much faffing for my liking. So I have written below the quantities in grams. It must just be an American thing as all the recipes I find on US blogs seem to measure in cups...

Ingredients
(makes 12)
260g self raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
140g sugar
120g butter, softened
2 eggs
pinch of salt
180ml sour cream
zest of 2 lemons
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp poppy seeds

For the icing:
250g icing ugar
5-6 tbsp lemon juice

First of all preheat your oven to 200°C and place your muffin cases into a 12 hole muffin tin then set to one side.

In a large mixing bowl (I used an electric mixer as my mum gave me a really cool retro looking one and I love using it) cream together the sugar and softened butter along with the lemon zest.

Add the eggs one at a time and continue to mix. Then add the sieved flour, salt and baking powder gradually, about a third at a time. Once combined add the lemon juice and vanilla extract and then the sour cream and mix.

Add the poppy seeds last and mix until evenly distributed then divide into the 12 muffin cases - they should be fairly full.

Bake for about 20 minutes but keep an eye on them as all ovens are different (you know they're done when a skewer comes out clean). Transfer to a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.

Finally, for the icing; sift the icing sugar into a bowl then add the lemon juice and stir until you get a slightly runny icing. Drizzle onto the cooled muffins and leave to set. Then enjoy with a nice cup of coffee (or tea depending on your persuasion - I won't judge). They will keep for about 3-4 days if kept in an airtight tin but if it's anything like our house they probably won't last that long!