Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

My boss gave me a couple of lemons recently from a large bag she had picked up at the store. I have never really done anything with whole lemons before, but these smelled so good I knew I had to find something to bake. Annie from Annie's Eats suggested the Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins on her blog, originally found on the Joy of Baking website. The first time I made these I followed the recipe exactly (except I used non-fat yogurt because that's all I could find and they still turned out great). The second time my lemon wouldn't zest well, so instead of making the glaze I used the juice of the lemon in the muffin itself. Both versions turned out equally well.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup (1 stick butter)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• zest of one lemon
• 1 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For Glaze

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners or spray with a nonstick vegetable spray. Set aside. In a small bowl, stir together flour, poppy seeds, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the lemon zest, yogurt and vanilla and beat until well blended. Stir in the flour mixture until just moistened. Do not over mix. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan and glazing.

Glaze: If glazing, while muffins are baking stir together the powdered sugar and lemon juice. The mixture should be runny. Once the muffins are removed from the oven, wait five minutes and then drizzle the glaze over the muffins with a spoon.