During my childhood, we occasionally took family vacations to Disneyland to spend a few days with Mickey, Minnie, and the rest of the characters and rides at the Happiest Place on Earth. As part of the tradition, we woke up before the sun rose and eased our minivan down the driveway just as the sky began turning from dark gray to pink and orange.
After six hours of driving down to Anaheim from Northern California, we finally arrived at the parking lot of the Howard Johnson hotel, located just off the freeway and only a few blocks from the theme park’s entrance. Once we lugged our suitcases up to our room, one of my parents dashed out to the grocery store for snacks, fresh fruit, and breakfast goodies.
While walking around Disneyland, we almost always ate the same things as back home: juicy apples, Ritz crackers with peanut butter (scooped straight from the jar!), and possibly gummy fruit snacks or mini M&Ms as a bribe if my younger brother and I started to get a little cranky in the afternoon. Yet in the mornings, instead of our traditional cereal and milk, our parents allowed us a special treat…
Lemon poppy seed muffins from the grocery’s bakery! They bought a plastic container with four jumbo-sized muffins, which they split in half with a plastic knife before handing each of us our smaller serving, along with a few tissues as “napkins” to avoid getting crumbs all over the hotel bed. Every trip, I looked forward to that just as much as the spinning Teacups ride—pulling back the paper wrapper, sinking my teeth into the soft pastry, and saving the extra sweet muffin top for last (my favorite part!).
When I recently realized nearly five years had passed since my last Disneyland trip, I started thinking of all the rides I missed. The Matterhorn, Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, Peter Pan, Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Soarin’ Over California, California Screamin’… And I also started to crave lemon poppy seed muffins!
But instead of stopping by the grocery store bakery, I whipped up these Healthy Lemon Poppy Seed Mini Muffins at home! They’re just as soft and irresistible as the ones from my childhood, but with no butter, refined flour or sugar and just 38 calories, they come with none of the guilt!
To make these healthy muffins, you’ll start with white whole wheat flour. That sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? However, white whole wheat flour earned its name because it’s made by finely grinding a special type of soft white wheat, whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. This gives white whole wheat flour a lighter taste and texture, similar to all-purpose flour, which really lets these muffins’ tender texture and fruity flavor shine through. (Bonus: It still has the same health benefits as regular whole wheat flour!)
With just 1 tablespoon of coconut oil (or butter, if you prefer!) and no egg yolks, these wholesome muffins get the rest of their tender texture from one of my favorite ingredients in healthier baking: Greek yogurt! Greek yogurt provides the same moisture as extra oil or butter for a fraction of the calories, and it gives your muffins a protein boost, too.
Instead of refined sugar, you’ll sweeten your muffins with another one of my favorite ingredients: vanilla crème stevia. Stevia is a plant-based, no calorie sweetener that’s clean eating friendly, and it’s highly concentrated. You just need 1 ½ teaspoons for this entire batch! This is the kind I buy because I love its warm vanilla flavor and don’t notice any strange aftertastes like with some other stevia products. You can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, but I always buy mine online here because that’s the cheapest price I’ve found. (And you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
For the bright citrus flavor, you’ll mix in a combination of fresh lemon juice and lemon zest. The zest actually provides the majority of the sunshiny taste, so don’t skip it! I prefer to use Meyer lemons because they’re a little sweeter than plain lemons, but either will work.
Finally, here’s one quick tip before you start baking… If using muffin liners like I did in these photos, make sure you generously coat the liners with cooking spray! Low-fat muffin batter (and cake batter!) sticks to liners like superglue, so spritzing them with cooking spray prevents the batter from sticking as much. If your muffins still stick to the liners after pulling them from the oven, seal them inside of an airtight container for at least 24 hours. That helps loosen the liners a bit more!
Muffin perfection! ?? And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your mini muffins and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Healthy Lemon Poppy Seed Mini Muffins | | Print |
- 2 cups (240g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 ½ tbsp (14g) lemon zest (about 3 medium)
- 1 tbsp (9g) poppy seeds
- 1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla crème stevia
- ½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup (60mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 medium)
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp (150mL) nonfat milk
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and lightly coat 30 mini muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, lemon zest, and poppy seeds. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter or coconut oil, egg whites, vanilla extract, and vanilla crème stevia. Stir in the Greek yogurt, mixing until no large lumps remain. Stir in the lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of milk. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 3 equal parts.)
- Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350°F for 13-15 minutes or until the tops are firm to the touch. Cool in the muffin cups for 5 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack.
For the gluten-free flour, I recommend the following: 1 cup (120g) millet flour, ½ cup (60g) brown rice flour, ½ cup (60g) tapioca flour, and 1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum. Most store-bought blends will work as well, if measured like this.
Whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour.
I highly recommend using the vanilla crème stevia! It’s one of my favorite ingredients, and you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too. (I always buy mine online here because it’s the cheapest price I’ve found!) If you prefer, 8-10 tablespoons of pure maple syrup, honey, or agave may be substituted for the vanilla crème stevia, and the milk should be reduced to 1-3 tablespoons to compensate for the added liquid.
Any milk may be substituted in place of the nonfat milk.
Be VERY careful if using liners! Generously coat the liners with nonstick cooking spray before adding the muffin batter. This batter will stick to liners like superglue if they aren’t coated with cooking spray.
If you prefer, this recipe will yield 12 standard sized muffins. The baking temperature remains the same. Begin checking on them after about 18 minutes. The muffins will be done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the tops feel firm to the touch. You can also use my Ultimate Healthy Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins recipe, if you prefer!
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie, low sugar}
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You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♥ The Ultimate Healthy Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
♥ Healthy Lemon Poppy Seed Scones
♥ Lemon Poppy Seed Protein Cookies
♥ Lemon Poppy Seed Energy Bites
♥ Cranberry Orange Mini Muffins
♥ Raspberry Almond Mini Muffins
♥ The Ultimate Healthy Chocolate Mini Muffins
♥ Chocolate Chip Zucchini Mini Muffins
♥ Chocolate Chip Banana Mini Muffins
I made the lemon poppy seed muffins.They are in the oven now. I was a little worried about the batter as it was more like dough. Is it suppose to be runny or thick and sticky?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Sunde! It’s supposed to be thick and sticky, not runny/liquidy. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear how your muffins turned out!
Amy, which non stick spray do you use for your baking?
It varies! However, I tend to use canola and coconut oil based sprays the most. (But olive oil spray for cooking!) 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try these mini muffins Meg!
Hello 🙂 Just wondering what the difference is between vanilla and vanilla creme for the stevia flavor? Thank you!
I’m honored that you’d like to try this recipe of mine too, Pri! I realized that I was confusing people with “vanilla creme stevia” as the name of the ingredient because they expected a cream-like flavor and texture, whereas that was just the brand’s specific name for their vanilla-flavored stevia… So I eventually stopped using “creme” in the ingredients list and just wrote “vanilla stevia.” As long as you have either the liquid stevia that I used in my one-bowl pumpkin mini muffins or this particular stevia I used in these lemon poppy seed mini muffins (those two products are interchangeable in my recipes!), then you should be fine! Does that make sense?
I’m excited to hear what you think of these mini muffins if you try making them!