When life gives you lemons, make Vegan Lemon drizzle Muffins! Light and fluffy lemon muffins, topped with lemon streusel, filled with homemade lemon curd and topped with a drizzle of lemon icing. They’re zesty and taste full of citrus deliciousness! They have the perfect high muffin top, are super easy to make and perfect for breakfast or any occasion where you want a something sweet and citrus!
Looking for more of the BEST Vegan lemon recipes, be sure to check out my Gluten-free Vegan Lemon Cupcakes, Vegan Lemon Tiramisu and Easy Vegan Lemon Tart.
Vegan Lemon Drizzle Muffins
The most delicious moist and zesty lemon drizzle muffins with lemon curd filling and a lemon icing are the perfect treat for spring or all year round. If you love the classic lemon drizzle cake, you will absolutely ADORE these muffins. They’re vegan, easy to make and packed full of lemon flavour!
We’ll be heading into Spring soon, hence the beginning of all the delicious lemon recipes. When I think of Spring time, I think of sunshine, daffodils and of course lemons. These muffins are as lemony as they get. Lemon drizzle everyone’s favourite and these muffins are sure to impress with their height, texture and of course, FLAVOUR! You’ll be shocked that they’re made entirely dairy-free and eggless! Made with simple plant based / vegan ingredients that you can find in your pantry, you or who ever you make these muffins for will absolutely love them!
How to make Vegan Lemon Drizzle Muffins
You’ll be impressed with how easy this recipe is! Muffins are amongst one of my favourite bakes to make as they always taste amazing and impress anyone you make them for. You won’t be going to a bakery to get your muffins again, I assure you!
- Muffins
Whip up a batch of lemon muffin mixture. Add this into muffin or cupcake cases. Before baking add a sprinkle of streusel over the top of each muffin. Place into the oven and bake until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
- Lemon curd
Core and fill each muffin with homemade lemon curd. This adds extra flavour and a delicious burst of flavour once you bite into the muffin.
- Icing
No lemon drizzle is complete without a drizzle of some icing. Use lemon juice for more flavour, although you can make the icing with water or dairy-free milk.
The secret to high topped muffins
Have you ever wondered how bakery’s get the exceptionally high muffin top? Well, the secret is rest your batter! This recipe requires you to allow the batter to sit and rest before adding into the cases and baking / filling.
But why rest the batter? As muffin batter rests, the starches in the flour have more time to absorb the moisture from the liquid in the batter. As a result, the starches swell, giving the batter a thicker, more robust consistency. It’s definitely a step you shouldn’t miss!!
Once you have made your batter, cover the bowl with a tea towel or greaseproof paper, and set it aside. Resting time can be between 45 minutes to 2 hours. I rested mine for only 45 minutes and it created the perfect muffin.
Why you’ll love these muffins
You will love these muffins for many reasons; the flavour, height, bakery look, but mainly for the taste and texture. They’re light and fluffy with the most delicious crumb. Streusel is a simple mix of butter with sugar and flour. It resembles a crumble and adds a delicious crunch to the top of the muffins. It’s honestly divine, I highly recommend adding this on top! I also topped my Vegan Caramel Apple Muffins with the same streusel, so check out that recipe also.
Ingredients for Vegan Lemon Drizzle Muffins
Muffin and streusel:
- Plain flour – You’ll want to use plain / all purpose flour.
- Lemons: You’ll want to use the juice and zest. Make sure to use un-waxed lemons and wash the lemon before zesting.
- Caster sugar – The sugar helps to bind the muffin as well as adding sweetness. You can use golden caster sugar or granulated sugar as an alternative.
- Baking powder – Baking powder is a raising agent and helps with the muffins stability and height.
- Ground arrowroot – Arrowroot helps with a lighter and fluffier bake.
- Xanthan gum – Xanthan gum helps to improve the texture of the bake and also bind. I’ve found it also helps with the high top.
- Plain / vanilla yogurt – Yogurt helps with the tender texture and adds a subtle flavour, especially if you use vanilla yogurt. You can also use a vegan custard such as Alpro Vanilla as an alternative.
- Dairy-free butter – My favourites are Naturli Vegan Block and Flora Plant Block. Make sure the butter is at room temperature before using. This makes it much easier to use.
- Ground flaxseed and water – As this recipe is eggless, you’ll want to make a vegan friendly flax egg. This is made simply with flaxseed and water. It will thicken and turn jellified, it helps bind the muffin.
- Dairy-free milk – You can use almond milk, soya milk or oat milk.
Ingredients for the lemon curd and icing:
- Corn flour / corn starch : This helps the lemon curd to thicken.
- Dairy-free butter / margarine : You can use a vegan block or margarine for the curd.
- Caster sugar : Gives the curd sweetness and helps with the binding.
- Lemons : You’ll want to use the juice in the curd and icing. Alternatively, you can add some lemon zest into the curd.
- Vegan condensed milk : This is what will give the lemon curd the classic curd texture. My favourite vegan condensed milks are Natures Charm Coconut Condensed Milk and Carnation Oat Condensed Milk.
- Turmeric : To add a yellow colour, this is completely optional. You can also use a dot of yellow food gel again optional.
- Icing sugar : Mix with lemon juice for the perfect drizzle consistency.
How to make vegan lemon curd
Homemade lemon curd is super easy! You only need a few ingredients, saucepan. heat proof spatula and a little bit of time to make the BEST EVER homemade vegan lemon curd.
Store-bought lemon curd has NOTHING on homemade! This ‘made from scratch’ lemon curd is creamy, tangy and zesty. It is the most perfect curd for this cake! You’ll mix all of the lemon curd ingredients in a saucepan, allow it to simmer until thick, that’s it! It couldn’t be more simple! It’s the best filling for these muffins, and makes a great filling for larger cakes, such as my Vegan Lemon Cake. You could use any leftover curd on toast.
Tips for making perfect lemon drizzle muffins
- Don’t overmix your batter! Overmixing the batter can make the lemon muffins more dense, only mix until no flour is visible to keep them light and fluffy.
- You can substitute the yogurt for a vanilla custard. My favourite is Alpro Vanilla, it also adds a delcious flavour to the muffin.
- Cover each muffin with a good amount of streusel. This will help with height and add more crunch.
- Pay attention to your oven temperature. Make sure to set your oven to 180°C fan for the first bake, then reduce to 160°C fan for the final bake. This helps the batter get a nice rise quickly, achieving those big, high muffin tops.
- Make the streusel and lemon curd before making the muffin batter. It just makes things super organised, and means you can focus more on assembling the muffins.
- Fill and decorate the muffins once they’re cold. Them muffin will be soft and fragile once freshly baked, so allow it time to cool before enjoying.
- To prevent the muffins from sticking to the cases, you can lightly grease the cases before adding to the batter. I like to use a light oil spray for this.
If you make, and love these lemon muffins, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below. Thank you & happy baking! Make sure to tag me in your photos on Instagram and Facebook! And if you want to pin this recipe for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, above or below this post, or on any of the photos. Happy baking all!
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Vegan Lemon Drizzle Muffins
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8–10 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These are seriously the BEST Vegan Lemon Drizzle Muffins. Not only do they bake with the most perfect muffin tops, but they’re also incredibly moist, with a zesty lemon curd filling. They’re also made with fresh lemon, so there’s a burst of fresh lemon in every single bite.
Ingredients
Ingredients for the lemon muffin
- 6 teaspoons of ground flaxseed + 6 teaspoons of water
- 370g of pain flour / all purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of ground arrowroot
- 1/4 teaspoon of Xanthan gum
- 200g of caster sugar
- 60g of dairy-free plain / vanilla yogurt
- 115g of dairy-free butter (room temperature)
- 300ml of dairy-free milk (room temperature)
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
- 2 lemons (zest only)
Ingredients for the streusel
- 60g of plain flour
- 40g of caster sugar
- 1 lemon (zest only)
- 90g of dairy-free butter (room temperature)
Ingredients for the lemon curd
- 1 + 1/2 tablespoons of corn flour + 1 tablespoons of water
- 50g of dairy-free butter/margarine
- 50g of caster sugar
- 85ml of lemon juice
- 2 small unwaxed lemons (zest)
- 50g of vegan condensed milk*
- Pinch of turmeric
Ingredients for the icing
- 80g of icing sugar
- 1 fresh lemon (see method for details)
Instructions
Method (streusel)
- In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and lemon zest.
- Add in the room temperature butter and use a fork to mix and claw the ingredients together until combined but still clumpy. Don’t over-mix or the streusel will become like a soft paste, simply toss together until mixture is clumpy, no longer dry, and the flour is completely combined. Set aside while you make the muffin mixture. Make the streusel the day before and store in the fridge in a sealed container.
Method (lemon muffins)
- Preheat the oven to 180°C fan and line two 6 cup cupcake tins with cupcake / muffin liners.
- In a small bowl combine the flaxseed with the water, stir until a paste and set aside. This will turn thick and jelly like.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, sieve in the flour, baking powder, arrowroot, xanthan gum and sugar. Mix to break up any lumps.
- In a separate bowl, add in the yogurt, room temperature butter, milk, lemon juice and lemon zest. Mix to combine. Pour the wet into the dry and mix until just incorporated. Don’t over-mix!
- Using an ice-cream scoop or spoon, divide the mixture between the cases. Make sure the batter reaches the top of the liners.
- Sprinkle a good amount of the streusel on top of each muffin, making sure the tops are covered.
- Place into the middle of the oven and bake for 12 minutes at 180°C fan. After 12 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 160°C fan and bake for a further 16-18 minutes, or until the skewer / toothpick inserted into the middle of the muffins come out clean.
- Remove from the oven and allow the muffins to cool in the tin.
Method (lemon curd)
- In a small bowl, add in the corn flour and water. Stir together into thick paste.
- Add the cornflour paste, dairy-free butter, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, condensed milk and a pinch of turmeric into a medium sized saucepan.
- Place the saucepan on the hob and heat over low to medium, stirring constantly, preferably with a whisk. After around 5-8 minutes the lemon curd will thicken. If the curd isn’t thickening, turn up the heat and constantly whisk.
- Pour curd into a heat proof jar or bowl, cover and place aside to cool down.
- You can either put it in the fridge or keep it at room temperature to cool. Before you use it, give it a good stir as it will thicken.
Method (icing)
- In a small bowl, add in the icing sugar. Add a teaspoon of lemon juice in at a time, stirring in-between until you have a smooth and runny paste. Drizzle over as much as you want over the tops of the muffins.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
To store: Store the muffins in a sealed container in the fridge. Allow to come to room temperature before serving. Best enjoyed within 3 days of making.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 28 minutes
- Category: muffins
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ansolutely delish and perfect for mothers day
Author
Hello, aw thanks so much! x
Can this be made as a cake?
Thank for all your great recipes
The muffins taste amazing (and the recipe worked really well with gluten free flour) 🙂