Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Lemon poppy seed muffins are one of Mark's favorite foods.  When he was little, his dad used to take him out for muffins on Wednesday mornings and Mark's favorite was lemon poppy seed.  The bakery has long since closed, but these muffins still hold a special place in Mark's heart.  When Mark first told me this story a few years ago, he said that no lemon poppy seed muffins have lived up to his childhood memory.  Up for the cooking challenge, I did some research into "the best" lemon poppy seed muffins and made them.  The verdict was they were good, but not quite right.  Ever since then I've been reluctant to make them because I didn't want to make a muffin that was just "good".  But... over the past month or so Mark has reminded me more than once how much he likes lemon poppy seed muffins.  So, I finally took the hint, found another recipe, and made them.

The verdict?  They are good!  They are light and have a nice lemon flavor.  Mark says he likes them in particular because they are not too sweet.  In fact, the only difference he could think of between these muffins and the muffins from his youth are that they are not as big.  Not too bad!  These muffins really are very good (and unfortunately not healthy!), but more importantly they bring back great memories.

Today is Groundhog Day and apparently the groundhog predicts an early spring this year.  If you are already wishing for warmer days, these muffins just might do the trick.  Even though citrus season is in the winter, the light flavors remind me of the warmer climates that citrus comes from!  The first house Mark and I rented together had a lemon tree out back-- that is one of the food things I for sure miss about California!   (that and the Milk Pail Market... sigh...)

I found this recipe over at Annie's Eats and didn't modify it at all.  I used plain greek yogurt for the yogurt.  Head over there for the recipe for lemon poppy seed muffins.  And if you've never looked at her site before you should look around- she has a lot of great recipes and I've been reading her blog for years.  Hope you enjoy these muffins!

Also, here is a picture of the view of the river across the street from our living room window- not quite a lemon tree, but pretty awesome. :)