These blackberry lemon poppy seed muffins are bursting with juicy fresh blackberries, bright lemon zest, and crunchy poppy seeds in every bite. They’re soft, fluffy, and wonderfully moist thanks to Greek yogurt (or sour cream), while a drizzle of tangy lemon blackberry icing adds the perfect finishing touch. If you love bakery-style muffins with tall domed tops, this easy recipe delivers every time.
I originally published this recipe in 2016 and have since updated it with new photos and additional success tips.
Built from my trusted ultimate muffin recipe—the same one behind my favorite blueberry muffins—these blackberry muffins have a tender crumb, plenty of fresh lemon flavor, and just the right balance of sweet and tart.
If you’re already a fan of lemon poppy seed baked goods, these muffins take that classic flavor combination one delicious step further! Plus, who doesn’t love a lovely light purple-hued icing?
Here’s Why You’ll Love These Blackberry Lemon Muffins
- Soft and fluffy with tall muffin tops
- Filled with fresh, bright lemon flavor
- Made with simple pantry staples
- Finished with an easy lemon blackberry icing
- Easy to freeze
- Like my favorite lemon poppy seed muffins, with a burst of berry flavor!
Key Ingredients You Need & Why
These blackberry lemon poppy seed muffins are a variation of my ultimate muffin recipe, which we also use as the base for my favorite blueberry muffins and apple cinnamon muffins. We’ll use pretty much the same ingredients for today’s batter!
- Flour: Stick with all-purpose flour. The flour gives the muffins structure and keeps the batter nice and thick so the blackberries don’t sink to the bottom.
- Poppy Seeds: Can’t have poppy seed muffins without them! Same goes for lemon poppy seed bread and almond poppy seed tea cakes.
- Butter: We’re creaming the butter to make today’s muffins, so make sure to use proper room-temperature butter here. If you’re a beginner baker or if you need a refresher, I also have a helpful video tutorial on how to cream butter and sugar.
- Sugar & Brown Sugar: Granulated sugar sweetens the muffins, balancing out the tart lemon. Brown sugar adds depth of flavor, plus extra moisture.
- Sour Cream or Greek Yogurt: Either creates an exceptionally moist muffin with a soft crumb.
- Lemon: Use both fresh lemon zest and lemon juice for the brightest flavor.
- Blackberries: Fresh blackberries are best, but frozen blackberries work, too. If using frozen, do not thaw before using. If your fresh blackberries are particularly large, cut them in half before adding them to the batter.
You’ll also need a few baking staples including baking powder, baking soda, eggs, salt, vanilla, and milk.
Making muffins is pretty straightforward. Whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl, then cream the butter and sugars together with an electric mixer. Beat in the remaining wet ingredients, then add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Be careful not to overmix the batter.
Finally, fold in the blackberries very gently.
Success Tip: If your berries are particularly juicy, they may start to tint the batter a purplish-gray hue.
- To prevent that, you can wait to add the berries until you’re filling the muffin cups. Spoon some batter into each muffin cup, filling it about halfway. Add a few blackberries, top with more batter, then gently swirl with a knife.
- Press a few more blackberries into the tops before baking.
How to Bake Blackberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins with Tall Muffin Tops
For tall bakery-style domed muffin tops, there are 3 directions to follow closely:
- Make sure your muffin batter is THICK. (This one is!)
- Fill your muffin tins/liners all the way to the top.
- Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at a high temperature, and then lower the temperature while keeping the oven door closed. This initial high oven temperature quickly lifts up the muffin top. Once the temperature is reduced, the centers of the muffins bake. I recommend this in nearly all of my muffin recipes.
Lemon Blackberry Icing
For a little something extra, I like to top each muffin with a drizzle of icing. The icing adds another layer of bright citrus flavor and lightly coats each muffin without making them overly sweet.
You only need 4 ingredients: confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice, blackberry jam, and milk. Whisk everything together until smooth. Instead of blackberry jam, you can use a few fresh blackberries. Mash them with a fork before whisking into the icing.
These blackberry lemon poppy seed muffins are so delightfully summery. The sweet-tart blackberries pair beautifully with lemon and add so much texture to every bite. I know you’ll love them!
Blackberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 14 muffins
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These blackberry lemon poppy seed muffins are bursting with juicy fresh blackberries and bright lemon flavor. Greek yogurt or sour cream keeps them extra moist, while creamed butter creates a wonderfully soft texture. Drizzle each with sweet-tart lemon blackberry icing for the perfect finishing touch. See recipe Note below if your blackberries are extra juicy.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (120g) sour cream or plain yogurt, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons fresh lemon zest
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (60ml) milk (any kind), at room temperature
- 2 and 1/2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 and 1/2 cups (250g) fresh or frozen blackberries (see Note)
Lemon Blackberry Icing
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) milk (any kind)
- 2 teaspoons blackberry jam, or 3–4 fresh blackberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. You may need a 2nd pan as this recipe makes up to 14 muffins, though you can always bake in batches using 1 pan. Set aside.
- Make the muffins: In a large bowl, whisk the flour, poppy seeds, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the sour cream, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla extract, and beat on medium speed until combined. The mixture will look curdled; that’s OK.
- Add in the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until almost combined. Add the milk and lemon juice and beat on low speed until combined. The batter is thick. Fold in the blackberries. (See Note if your blackberries are extra juicy.)
- Spoon the batter into liners, filling them all the way to the top.
- Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425°F (218°C), then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 16–18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 21–23 minutes. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.
- Make the icing: Whisk the confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice, and milk together. Whisk in the blackberry jam until smooth. If using fresh blackberries, mash them with a fork and then whisk into the icing. If desired, add 2–3 more Tablespoons of sifted confectioners’ sugar to thicken the icing. Drizzle over the warm or cooled muffins.
- Muffins stay fresh covered at room temperature for a few days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Freeze baked and cooled muffins for up to 3 months. It’s best to freeze the muffins without the icing and add the icing after thawing and before serving. (Freezing them with the icing on is completely fine, but the muffins taste better with fresh icing.) Thaw muffins in the refrigerator or at room temperature before icing/serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-count Muffin Pan | Muffin Liners | Citrus Zester | Citrus Juicer | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Cooling Rack
- Sour Cream: Sour cream adds so much moisture. Plain yogurt is a great substitute. I recommend plain Greek yogurt, any fat content.
- Milk: You can use any milk, dairy or nondairy. I recommend avoiding nonfat milk, however.
- Blackberries: If using frozen blackberries, do not thaw them. If your blackberries are extra large, cut them in half. If your berries are particularly juicy, they may tint the batter a purplish-gray hue. To prevent that, wait to add the berries until you’re filling the muffin cups. Spoon some batter into each muffin cup, filling it about halfway. Add a few blackberries, top with more batter, then gently swirl with a knife. Press a few more blackberries into the tops before baking.
- Why is everything at room temperature? All refrigerated items should be at room temperature so the batter mixes together easily and evenly.
- Note on Flour: This recipe is based off of my ultimate muffins recipe. Today’s blackberry version uses slightly more flour to balance out the extra liquid from lemon juice and large blackberries.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hi Sally! Made this recipe today and family loved it. However, I was wondering, if there are any possible substitutes for butter in this recipe, or any of your muffin recipes? Thanks a bunch! 🙂 Love your blog – always my go-to for baking recipes!
Hi Tammy, You could likely replace the butter in muffins with the same amount of softened coconut oil (since it must be creamed).
These are awesome!! What a beautiful light muffin! Only thing I changed was the yogurt and no blackberries. All I had was some lemon Greek yogurt and they turned out amazing!! Will pin this recipe to make time and time again!! I bet this base would work well for so many other flavor combos! Thank you for posting!!
Hi Sally! It’s my first time making muffins today and they turned out so gorgeous, fluffy and flavorful. I followed the recipe exactly, room temperature butter and all. Will be trying your scones recipe next ~
I made these using frozen blackberries and had to bake them almost 5 minutes longer than the suggested baking time. Still some came out a bit mushy inside. Would it have been better to use fresh blackberries? The dome on the muffins also came out a bit lopsided. Any thoughts or suggestions would be helpful.
Hi Debbie, Fresh berries are usually better when they are available. If using frozen berries do not thaw first and expect the bake time to be longer.
Hi Sally.
I made these muffins using Namaste GF 1-1 flour and made them in a giant muffin pan. They came out perfectly and were so delicious!! I will be making more sooner rather than later. I’ve also made a number of your other recipes using this same flour and everything comes out deliciously! Thank you!
I made these tonight with oranges instead of lemons (orange juice and orange zest) and no poppy seeds. They turned out amazing!!! Thank you for this and your master muffin mix. (:
Hi Sally!! I was just wondering if you could swap out the granulated sugar for a natural sweetener like maple syrup. Would the muffins be the same or would it turn out different?
Hi Jenna! The best unrefined sugar to use in this recipe would be coconut sugar. I don’t recommend a liquid sweetener.
Hi Sally can I use a jumbo muffin pan?
You can! Bake at 425°F for 5 minutes, then reduce to 350°F for 22-25 minutes for a total of 27-30.
I made these today and followed the recipe exactly… with one change. I used Coconut oil in place of butter because that is what I had on hand. I don’t think mine took this long to cook as what was indicated but I am used to checking quick breads sooner than a recipe says. Guessing my oven might run a little hot. They were very good and we will make them again
I am looking for a recipe for just lemon poppy seed muffins, I have noticed this recipe and also the orange lemon poppy recipe. Can I leave the blackberries out of this one? Or replace lemon for orange in the other recipe? Which do you think would be best? Thank you! This is my go to site for any recipe 🙂
Hi Keri! I love this muffin recipe because it produces extra soft muffins. (The others are a bit denser.) Simply leave out the blackberries.
Made these last night and my husband is obsessed! Used half sour cream/half yogurt because that’s what I had on hand. They didn’t puff quite as much as I would have liked (I used more blackberries as to not waste them) but cannot recommend this Recipe enough! Definitely a new staple for us.
Could you make this into a loaf?
Yes! Any muffin recipe yielding around 12 standard size muffins doubles as a quick bread recipe. You can use this batter and follow the baking instructions for my Blueberry Muffin Bread.
I’ve made these and everyone absolutely loves them.
Can they be made with blueberries instead?
I’m glad they were such a hit! Yes, blueberries work well also!
Making these for the 2nd time in 3 days. They are absolutely delicious!
Hi Sally- I was wondering, would it be at all possible to make this recipe but without any of the lemon parts so it’s just a blackberry poppyseed muffin? Thanks
Definitely. Leave out the lemon zest and replace the lemon juice with milk.
I just made these and they are wonderful!
I came into some wild blackberries this year and needed a way to use them up. I have always loved lemon poppyseed muffins, and these were just wonderful! I brought them to an even to share and received rave reviews. I’ll definitely make these again!
I just made these yesterday and ended up eating two The some day they were so delicious. I also wanted to mention I “veganised” the recipe. I used an egg replacer instead of the milk, Becel vegan margarine, Daiya black cherry yogurt and soy milk. I can’t believe how perfect and fluffy they came out. I look forward to trying many more of your recipes since this one was so successful.
Hi Sally,
I made these muffins to day and they were AMAZING!
I had just come in from picking raspberries from my garden, so I used those.
I am a big fan of your recipes and I have your cook book so I will definitely be making these again.
Thank You so much for Sharing!
I made these this morning – amazing! Except for one thing…it had zero lemon taste. I used all the correct amounts (I’m not an amazing baker so I follow things to a T). Anyone else had this problem? I think I need to triple the lemon juice or something. But otherwise these were amazing and I will definitely be making them again! Had no zero problems with the blackberries!
Hi Sally
I cooked these muffins for a family gathering and no doubt these quickly turned into the main attraction of the party, the kids loved it too.. thanks for sharing 😀
Just a couple of questions though, what is the shelf life of these muffins?
Also any tips for storing the leftover batter so I can use it again?
Hi there! Muffins stay fresh stored in the refrigerator for 1 week. I don’t recommend holding onto the batter as once the baking powder is wet, it’s activated. And the batter should be baked shortly thereafter. You can prep the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately though.
I just made these today. Subbed blueberries and all purpose gluten free flour. They turned out amazing. I could eat the entire batch right now!!
Hi Sally! I made these for dinner with friends the other night and they came out GREAT!! I had blueberries on hand so I used those, but next time I am using blackberries for sure.
I got great reviews from my friends- the icing was so easy and the tops came out HUGE. I could have sworn they were from a bakery.
They looked very professional with the icing (which was very easy to make). Got lots of compliments.
My muffins didn’t dome 🙁 They are super flat. Any guess why? I baked them on the lower rack. Could that be why?
That could be the culprit. Did you fill the muffin cups all the way to the top?
Sally, your recipes are bullet proof! I have made so many and all amazing! This was first time I made muffins and Mine were flat as well and i did fill my liners all the way to the top.. delicious but flat. The appearance is so important to me , any other reason why mine didn’t get the dome? I am in UK and did 220C for 5 minutes and then 180C for 18 minutes. Any advice would be so appreciated. Thank you. X
Hi Nargess! Thank you so much for giving these muffins a try. Make sure your baking powder and soda are fresh – we find they lose strength after just 3-4 months.
Made these a couple days ago and they turned out lovely! I think next time I make them I’ll try putting on decorating sugar like you do with your blueberry muffins because I love the sugary crunch sooooo much.
Hi Sally, just discovered your website and my absolute favourite recipe is your blueberry struesel muffins. I decided to give these lemon poppy seed muffins a go this weekend but made a couple of tweaks – I used fresh raspberries rather than blackberries, and rather than the glaze I made a syrup using white sugar and lemon juice. As am from the UK we love lemon drizzle cake and so I just poured the syrup over the warm muffins and it absorbed into the muffins making it even more moist and lemony. Everyone absolutely loved it so one to try for a slight twist on the glaze. Think blueberries in it would also be wonderful.
Oh my gosh, you went above and beyond. They sound phenomenal.
So…I followed the directions to a T. I’m thinking that liners are a must…I have a “salvage the muffin tops” situation. Also, all the blackberries went to the bottom…I’m thinking maybe they should’ve been floured??? Also if mine flattened out more than they should’ve before puffing up should I go a little higher temp? (Not the best oven and don’t have a thermometer inside so I’m thinking maybe it runs a smidge cooler) they are super tasty though…and I love every recipe I’ve made of yours so when I’m trying to make something, if you have it…I use your recipe. Thanks!!
Tossing the blackberries in flour could definitely help! I’d increase the temperature even more; they should rise straight up. Are you changing anything about the recipe? I’m glad you love how they taste and I appreciate you coming back to tell me!
I had the same problem. Wouldn’t come out of the pan, fell apart with lovely muffin tops and berry mush bottoms. Could frozen berries have anything to do with the temperature issue? Anyhow, one change at a time. Should I increase the temp (by how much) for the first five minutes and drop down to 350 for the remaining time or increase the time (by how much) at 425 and drop down to 350 for 15-20 minutes…?
I have been following you for a bit and have made several things, mostly cookies, with spectacular success. Thank you so much. Keep up the great work.
Hey Sally, I made these and they were absolutely delicious! Question though, can I freeze the muffin batter so that in a week or so I can just pop them in the oven to bake for fresh muffins?
Hi Sascha! I don’t recommend that because the baking powder is activated once it is wet. But you can freeze the baked muffins for up the 3 months 🙂
These were great! I dipped the tops of the muffins right into the lemon glaze (which I may have added a bit more powdered sugar too). As good as a cupcake!