lemon (non-poppy) muffins

although i'm no longer part of tuesdays with dorie because of the weekly time commitment it requires, i still like to see what they are up to and use her book now and then. her lemon poppy seed muffins were always top on my list to try. i haven't baked anything since we returned from vacation and even though i was dying to get back into it, i wanted something easy parcheesi (gosh, i used to love that game!)

of course, i drive mr. mimi crazy because i am the opposite of mis en place. which is weird since i'm a typical virgoan organizational maniac. but somehow, when it comes to the kitchen, i like to go with the flow ...

which means that i forgot the poppy seeds in lemon poppy seed muffins!!!

but fear not - these muffins were still rockingly awesome! i halved the recipe and it came out fine. i didn't have enough sour cream, so i had to throw in a couple tablespoons of yogurt to make up the difference. these babies will not fool you into thinking that muffins are "healthy" - these are definitely more like a loaf cake with lots of lemony goodness. and yes, i have more of that sweet icing on my muffins than dorie has in her photo, but can ya blame me?!



lemon (non-poppy) muffins: makes 12
adapted from dorie's baking book (2006, p. 10)

2/3 cup sugar
1 lemon - juice and grated zest
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
8 tb butter - melted and cooled

1. preheat oven to 400F with center rack. prepare muffin pan of your choice. in large bowl, rub sugar and lemon zest together until sugar is moist and fragrant. whisk in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

2. in other bowl, whisk together sour cream, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice, and melted butter until well blended. pour liquid ingredients over dry and gently but quickly stir to blend. do not overmix the batter (a few lumps are okay).

3. divide evenly in muffin cups and bake 18-20 minutes until tops are golden and thin knife inserted in center of muffins comes out clean. transfer pan to rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin. let cool completely before icing.

4. to make optional icing (but is icing ever really optional?) - put 1 cup confectioners sugar, sifted, into bowl and add about 1 1/2 tb of fresh lemon juice. stir to moisten and then add enough additional lemon juice (it will be about 2-3 tb total) to get a thinned, drizzable icing.