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):Â 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
I used. Blueberries and topped them with cinnamon sugar. They rose beautifully and smell amazing. Love your recipes!
I’ve noticed you have a bakery style muffin and an ultimate muffin recipe. One uses all butter the other butter & oil. What’s the reason for this. Just wondering if the blueberry muffin would be ok using the bakery style muffin recipe?
Hi Linda, great question! The ultimate muffin recipe is written for standard-sized muffins that uses creamed butter to make fluffy, springy muffins. The bakery-style muffin recipe is written for jumbo bakery-style muffins that are a bit more dense. The addition of oil helps to keep the muffins moist. We have a separate jumbo blueberry muffins recipe that you can follow if you wish!
Hi Sally
I absolutely love your recipes.the pic that shows the blackberries with all the red dots….
Blackberries must have not even 1 red dot. They are VERY sour .
I would not even taste the ones your pic shows..
So so good
These were absolutely incredible. 10/10 as always with your recipes!
Super good! Oozes with fruit flavor. Tastes fresh. Perfect amount of lemon. I used about 1/4 whole wheat with all-purpose flour.
Could I try this with strawberries? If I do should I leave out some of the milk or just keep it as is? I know you have lemon strawberry poppyseed scones and I was hoping to make some muffins in the same flavour!!! Thank you!
Hi Lily, you can swap the blackberries with strawberries here, keeping the recipe the same. Let us know how they turn out for you!
Delicious!! I used blueberries (frozen)instead of blackberries, and they are so tasty. I also realized at the last minute that I was out of poppy seeds, but they were still amazing. I forewent the glaze and don’t think they need it – they are sweet enough on their own – but I’m sure the glaze would make them extra indulgent! Thanks for another delicious recipe!
I’ve tried three of your muffin recipes and absolutely love them. But, when I add the wet ingredients into my Kitchenaid mixer, even with the splash guard, the ingredients go flying…everywhere! I’m using a flex-edge paddle and have tried recalibrating the mixer. Is this something I should expect with this recipe?
Hi Kathy, is the mixer going too fast? We’d start with a slow speed and gradually work up as the batter starts to come together.
I’m not a fan of poppy seeds but I have a bunch of fresh blackberries I need to use, can I omit them and make the recipe per directions anyway?
Hi Sam, yes, you can omit the poppy seeds here if needed.
These beautiful muffins are light and fluffy. Don’t skip the lemon icing—it’s absolutely delicious.
Fantastic, I have pictures. I am unsure how to attach them here, but wow! I made them with yogurt and no substitutions, beautiful. THEN I made them with gluten free King Arthur flour and threw in a handful of shredded coconut to copy a recipe I tried in Breckenridge this past week and they are through the roof. Thanks Sally!
Can this be made into a quick bread?
Hi Valerie, absolutely! We’re unsure of the exact bake time, but keep a close eye on it and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
Can this be used for mini muffins? Is the baking time adjusted any for mini muffins?
Hi Colleen, For mini muffins, the blackberries are pretty large, so we would cut them so they are a nice size for mini muffins. Bake at 350°F (177°C) the whole time for about 11-13 minutes, give or take.
These look delicious! Have you tried to make mini muffins with this recipe? If so, how do you adjust baking times/temps?
Hi Beth, For mini muffins, the blackberries are pretty large, so we would cut them so they are a nice size for mini muffins. Bake at 350°F (177°C) the whole time for about 11-13 minutes, give or take.
Great recipe. All of your recipes are great. I made these with gluten free flour and they worked perfectly. Wondering about whole wheat flour, have you tried?
Hi Belinda, we haven’t tested these with whole wheat flour. You could try swapping half the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour, but the muffins may taste a bit dry and heavy.
If I’m using the mini muffin pan, can I still do the 425 for minutes to get them to dome or are they too small to dome?
Hi DJ, For mini muffins, the blackberries are pretty large, so we would cut them so they are a nice size for mini muffins. Bake at 350°F (177°C) the whole time for about 11-13 minutes, give or take.
Delicious muffins, but do not rise up tall as I had hoped. I used all room temperature ingredients and measured each ingredient to the gram. I blasted them at 425 for the first 5 minutes, then lowered to oven temp to 350 for 18 minutes. They were flat and a pale grey color from the berry juice so I cooked for a few more minutes. The flavor and texture is beautiful, but not great visually. Also, I recommend adding the lemon icing after the muffins have completely cooled otherwise it just melts immediately.
This also happened for me. Any tips? I see sally uses a ceramic muffin dish, I used metal…