Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins were inspired by the novel Wretched by Emily McIntire. Emily McIntire has two book series. Wretched is the third book in the 6 book series titled The Never After Series. All six of these novels are standalone novels, you do not need to read the books in any particular order, although, she does include easter eggs in each book hinting at what the next book will be. Each book is also a fractured re-telling of fairytales inspired by fairytales. You will find yourself rooting for the "villain" in these books. I enjoy reading the books in this series but I will warn you that these are dark romance books. There can be elements in these books that can be triggering and you should take the warnings at the beginning of the book and on the author's webpage seriously. You should not expect a happy Disney like story from these novels although each novel does have it's own happily ever after.

Wretched is the third book of the Never After Series. The book gives off Wizard of Oz vibes with the characters names and some of the story elements. In Wretched, poppy's are mentioned on multiple occasions. The flowers are used in the book and are apart of the plot for this book. I do not want to give away any spoilers for anyone who has not read the book but it is very fitting that I chose to create a recipe using poppy seeds. Other than bagels, poppy seeds seem to be paired with lemon. My book boyfriend likes bagels but he loves lemon flavor even more. That is how lemon poppy seed muffins was inspired.

My book boyfriend happened to read the entire never after series as well. He completed reading this entire series before I finished the series. I know he really enjoyed reading this series as much as I did. So it was only fitting that I created a recipe inspired by his favorite flavor and a book that he really enjoyed.

I thought adding a glaze on the muffins would add a nice touch. I used whole milk in the glaze and I wanted my glaze to be thick. If you want a thinner glaze then add a little more milk. You can add about 1-2 tablespoons more milk if you want a thinner glaze consistency. I also added lemon zest to the glaze to have consistent lemon flavor.

After making these muffins for my book boyfriend I can confidently say that he likes these muffins. I have caught him taking muffins all day. It is definitely a win when he keeps going back for more of anything that I make. Since he also read this book he agreed that the lemon poppy seed muffins were a fitting choice.

If you have not read this book, like I said earlier I do recommend it. I do not know how the author does it but she actually gets you feeling bad for the characters that were villains in the original stories. She writes the villains as not only a morally grey character, but one that you understand. They may be doing a lot of questionable things throughout the story but they have good intentions. I guess when you find out the characters good intentions you gain an understanding of the characters. Therefore, you end up like and empathizing with the characters.

Enjoy making these muffins. They go really well with the novel Wretched by Emily McIntire.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Estimated prep time: 30 minutes

Estimated cook time: 17 minutes

Estimated total time: 37 minutes

Ingredients:

2 Cups all purpose flour
1tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons poppyseeds
2 Large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 stick melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon zest
Juice of one lemon

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2tablespoon lemon zest

Instructions:

Step1: Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease muffin pan, or, put muffin liners in the muffin pan. Set aside.

Step 2: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds. Set bowl aside.

Step 3: In another bowl, whisk eggs, milk, packed brown sugar, 1 stick melted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, lemon zest and lemon juice.

Step 4: Combine the wet ingredients with the flour mixture. Mix until the dry ingredients are moistened and the batter still has some clumps.

Step 5: Divide the mixture into muffin pan. Place the muffins into the pre-heated oven for 17 minutes.

Step 6 Make the glaze: Combine 1 cup powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons milk. Whisk until a smooth thick consitency. Add vanilla extract and lemon zest.

Step 7: Once the muffins have cooled slightly, take them out of the muffin pan. Drizzle the glaze on the top of the muffins and enjoy.