Moving from one house to another is not only tiring, but also challenging, especially if you move from a house to an apartment and have a food stock for a family of at least eight, not four people. It leaves you with the reality of what has to be given away and what should be used as soon as possible. Funny enough, the story with us and lemons is very strange – either we don't have them or have way too many so that they get hard and almost die. While moving, I finally found that one bag of lemons that had been lost. They were hard as a rock and sweetly zesty inside. And I had to use them. The same as the poppy seeds that were in the deepest corner of the cupboard. After filming four TV shows, I had leftover buttermilk, some almond milk, way too many jars of coconut oil (we eat it very rarely), and it was finally a day at my home office, which meant – I could be somewhere between the computer editing pictures, writing emails, and watching the oven. And I was. That is where I came up with this very easy and very, very tasty lemon poppy seed muffin recipe, or recipes, as I made a dairy and dairy-free version (so that everyone is happy since this is the season when people like to torture themselves by not eating anything that tastes great). So here is the recipe - one with butter and buttermilk, the other with almond milk and coconut oil. It’s interesting that the latter of the two versions wins. But not for me. I love both.

Ingredients

Dairy version:
2 eggs
240 ml buttermilk
120 g butter, melted
2 tbsp vanilla extract
60 ml of lemon juice
170 g wheat flour
70 g corn flour (not starch)
150 g golden caster sugar
pinch of sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp soda
1 organic lemon zest, finely grated
40 g poppy seeds

Dairy free version:
2 eggs
240 ml almond milk
120 g coconut oil, melted
2 tbsp vanilla extract
60 ml of lemon juice
170 g wheat flour
70 g corn flour (not starch)
150 g golden caster sugar
pinch of sea salt
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 organic lemon zest, finely grated
40 g poppy seeds

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 200°. Line the muffin tin with muffin papers or brush generously with butter.

In a bowl, add flours, salt, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, zest, and poppy seeds and mix. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, and butter and mix. Add lemon juice and mix. Gradually add wet mix to the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated – don’t over mix.

Fill the muffins 2/3 full. Place in the center of the oven and bake for 20 -23 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. When done, remove and cool 5 minutes in the pan. Transfer to a cooling rack. Cool completely.

Recipe and pictures: Signe Meirane
Camera: Sony Alpha 7s

Lemony poppy seed muffins (dairy and dairy free)