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Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

These Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are light, fragrant, and have just the right balance of sweetness and tang. A hint of fennel seeds gives a delicate aromatic twist that makes them stand out from your classic lemon muffins.

I developed this for recipe for Luxembourg’s Foire Agricole in 2025, where I showcased how beautiful local ingredients – from Ourdaller honey and poppy seeds to Fru apple juice – can come together in a simple yet special bake. On stage I made the recipes with An Dottësch sheep’s yoghurt for extra moistness, Ourdaller honey for natural sweetness, and finished with a zesty drizzle and glaze, they’re little bites of sunshine.

Find more lovely baking recipes in my recipe archive or in my book ‘Baking with Anne’.

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Ingredients

Makes 26 mini muffins

40g butter
40g rapeseed (or olive) oil
60g honey
40g sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
½ tsp fennel seeds, crushed
1 egg
120g yoghurt
½ tsp vanilla extract
Juice of ½ lemon
120g flour
30g ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 ½ tbsp poppy seeds
¼ tsp salt

For the lemon drizzle:
50g honey
juice of 1 lemon

For the glaze:
100g icing sugar
2 tbsp apple juice

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C fan. Butter the holes of a mini muffin form.

Melt the butter and the honey.

Rub the sugar with the lemon zest and fennel seeds with your hands. Add the egg and mix, then add the yogurt, vanilla extract, melted butter/honey and lemon juice and mix again.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, baking soda, poppy seeds and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix to combine.

Divide the batter between the muffin holes and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the honey with the juice of 1 lemon and set aside.

As soon as the muffins come out of the oven, brush the tops with the honeyed lemon juice, repeating the brushing until all the liquid is used up.
Leave the muffins to cool in their tin for 10 minutes, then unmold, put on a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Once cool, mix the icing ingredients and decorate the muffins with a thick dollop of icing and a sprinkling of poppy seeds.