Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

I just can’t stay away from these Meyer lemons. They were destined to become another pitcher of lemonade when I had a breakthrough moment. I’d been waiting and waiting to buy poppy seeds so I could use them in bread. When we received another batch of Meyer lemons from the farm I mentioned to The Boyfriend that I could make Meyer lemon poppyseed muffins if only we could find poppy seeds at the store. My very astute boyfriend said, “You’ve got a jar of poppy seeds on your spice rack”. Well, surely he must be confusing poppy seeds with something else, right?

I rushed to the kitchen, spun the spice rack around, and there it was. The jar of poppy seeds. So, Meyer lemon poppy seed muffins it was. Right away.

I’ve been experimenting with a new sweetener. Brown sugar has been my favorite sweetener to use in muffins and other baked goods, since it seems to be more wholesome than white sugar. But I found a sweetener that goes one step further: sucanat.

Sucanat gets its name from the three words that describe it: sugar cane natural. It’s simply granulated sugar cane. Sucanat has a flavor similar to brown sugar, but it’s a more wholesome sweetener. It claims to contain more of the trace elements that aren’t found in processed sugars, although I still wouldn’t call it healthy.

As I transition to more whole, unprocessed foods I have begun to research and question my customary pantry items. In researching brown sugar I found that oftentimes it is just white sugar sprayed with molasses. So it’s been processed just like white sugar, and then the molasses that was removed during processing has been sprayed back on. It’s more convenient and cost-efficient for manufacturers to produce brown sugar in this manner. In light of this discovery, I decided to give sucanat a try.

I do like the subtle molasses flavor that it adds to baked goods. I’ve used it in a few batches of muffins so far and I can definitely recommend it as an alternative to processed sugar. Sucanat is used as a 1:1 replacement for white or brown sugar, so if you’re not ready to give it a try you can use your preferred variety of sugar in this recipe.

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
Created by Simple Math Bakery
Yield: 12 muffins

1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup sucanat (or granulated sugar)
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk (I used rice milk)
Juice and zest of 1 lemon (about 2 tablespoons lemon juice)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Preheat oven to 375°. Grease muffin tins, or line with paper cups.

With an electric mixer, cream the butter, applesauce, and sucanat. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the milk, lemon juice, zest, and vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and poppy seeds. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mixing just until combined.

Divide the batter between 12 muffin cups. Bake for 14-18 minutes, or until the muffins test done. Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove them from the pan to cool directly on the cooling rack.