makes one dozen
Two things you should know about these muffins. First, they follow my basic biscuit-style technique which means they're simultaneously a dense, flaky and tender crumb. They're also egg-free which is a bonus if you have an egg-allergy.
1 cup/4.25 ounces/120 grams all purpose white flour
1 cup/4.25 ounces/120 grams whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup/2 ounces/56 grams natural cane sugar
2 teaspoons/10 grams baking powder
1/2 teaspoon/2 grams baking soda
1 tablespoon/tk grams poppy seeds
Freshly grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon/1 gram coarse salt
6 tablespoons/3 ounces cold butter, cut into 12 pieces
3/4 cups/168 ml) whole milk
makes 12
400ºF 18 minutes
Preheat oven to 400ºF. Grease one 12-cup standard size muffin tin or line with papers; set aside.
Add flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, poppy seeds and lemon zest to a deep bowl. Whisk to combine. Add butter and using a pastry blender, or your fingers (my preferred method), blend until it forms a sandy-looking mixture.
Combine the milk and lemon juice in a measuring cup. Pour over the dry ingredients and stir, using a wooden spoon, until just mixed and there are no visible traces of flour (the dough will be somewhat stiff, like a drop biscuit dough). Evenly spoon into the prepared muffin tins and bake 18 minutes, until tops are golden. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes in the tin, then transfer to a wire rack to cool a bit more before serving.
Instead of lemon zest, lemon juice and/or poppy seeds try these ideas for a variation on this citrus-inspired muffin: