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–+ servings
Bite missing from lemon cream cheese muffins.
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5 from 1 review

Lemon Cream Cheese Muffins

These lemon cream cheese muffins are easy to make lemon poppy seed muffins. They are filled with a cream cheese filling and topped with lemon sugar.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time16 minutes
Resting Time15 minutes
Total Time51 minutes
Servings: 12 muffins
Calories: 317kcal
Author: Stephanie Rutherford

Ingredients

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

  • 2 1/4 cups All-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp Baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp Baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1 1/2 TBSP Poppy seeds
  • 1/2 cup Unsalted butter melted
  • 1 cup White granulated sugar
  • 2 Large eggs room temperature
  • 1 tsp Pure vanilla extract
  • 2 TBSP Lemon zest 2 large lemons or 4 small lemons
  • 1 TBSP Lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup Sour cream room temperature or greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup Milk room temperature

Cream Cheese Filling

  • 4 oz Cream cheese room temperature
  • 2 TBSP White granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp Milk
  • 1 tsp All-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp Pure vanilla extract
  • 1 TBSP Lemon zest for topping
  • 1/4 cup White granulated sugar for topping
US - Metric

Instructions

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

  • In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and poppy seeds. Set aside.
    2 1/4 cups All-purpose flour, 2 tsp Baking powder, 1/2 tsp Baking soda, 1/2 tsp Salt, 1 1/2 TBSP Poppy seeds
  • In a separate large bowl, whisk together melted butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, lemon juice, sour cream, and milk. It will be a little lumpy because of the sour cream.
    1/2 cup Unsalted butter, 1 cup White granulated sugar, 2 Large eggs, 1 tsp Pure vanilla extract, 2 TBSP Lemon zest, 1 TBSP Lemon juice, 1/4 cup Sour cream, 1/2 cup Milk
  • Add in the dry ingredients, mix together using a baking rubber spatula. Mix until just combined.
  • Preheat the oven to 425℉. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with 6 muffin liners. Leave a space between each liner. This helps give the muffins a taller rise. Let the muffin batter sit for 15 minutes before scooping.

Cream Cheese Filling

  • In a medium bowl using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar on high speed until smooth.
    4 oz Cream cheese, 2 TBSP White granulated sugar
  • Add in the milk, flour, and vanilla. Mix on medium speed until combined. Scoop the cream cheese filling into an icing bag. Cut 1/2 inch off the bottom of the bag.
    1 tsp Milk, 1 tsp All-purpose flour, 1 tsp Pure vanilla extract
  • In a small bowl, mix the lemon zest and sugar. Use your fingers to press the zest and sugar together. Set aside.
    1 TBSP Lemon zest, 1/4 cup White granulated sugar
  • Use a large cookie scoop (2-3 TBSP) to scoop the batter into the muffin liner. Fill it about 3/4th full. Place tip of the bag of filling into the batter (about 1/2 inch down) squeeze until there is a small dollop on top. See pictures in post for example. Sprinkle lemon sugar on top of the muffin batter.
  • Bake for 8 minutes at 425℉. Lower the heat to 350℉ and bake for 6-8 minutes. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  • Let muffins sit for 10 minutes in the pan before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Notes

Flour- Make sure flour is spooned and leveled or use a kitchen scale. Compacted flour can dry out the muffins.
High altitude baking- Add an extra 2 TBSP of flour.
Pull out dairy ingredients 2 hours before baking.

Nutrition

Calories: 317kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 254mg | Potassium: 90mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 428IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 102mg | Iron: 1mg