lemon & poppy seed spelt muffins

I have been quite surprised with the frequency with which I post about breakfast.  I've never really considered myself a breakfast person. 

Somewhere along the line, I just became someone who didn't eat breakfast. No matter how hungry I was when I woke up, I convinced myself that I didn't really like to eat in the mornings and that I could manage without any sustenance until lunchtime. Both of which are not, and never have been, true in all honesty. 

When I was younger, the only breakfast that I would occasionally grab on the way out the door was a chocolate muffin. Full of sugar and goodness knows what else, it wasn't exactly the best way to start the day.

I still like muffins for breakfast but I'd much rather choose one that packed a bit more of a nutritional punch and wasn't going to have me craving sugar by 10am. These muffins pretty much fit that bill. They use a mixture of white and whole wheat spelt flour and only a touch of sugar but the lemon and poppy seeds provide enough flavour and texture to stop them seeming too worthy. 

A couple of words of advice about these muffins. They are really not sweet at all which may or may not be your thing. The citrus flavour is bright and fresh but they really come alive with a smear of jam or lemon curd. A smear of butter would also be good if you are more of a savoury breakfast person. You can always leave out the lemon zest and poppy seeds for a good basic muffin recipe or change them up for any add-ins that you like. 

Although this recipe is very simple, it is vitally important that the mixture is not over-mixed. You really want nothing more than a couple of stirs of the combined wet and dry ingredients otherwise you will end up with something with a very peculiar texture. Not that I'm speaking from experience at all. Also, don't be alarmed if they rise quite a lot in the oven and then fall back a bit. It's only because of the amount of baking powder used. I've actually decreased it slightly in the recipe below because my first batch got a little overexcited and ended up hollow in the middle. Slightly less baking powder makes for a much less disappointing experience.  

A quick note about storage which applies more widely than just these muffins; don't store them in an air-tight container overnight. I find it makes muffins unpleasantly damp and can make them go mouldy really quite quickly. And then you have to throw all the muffins away. Which is sad. I now tend to store freshly baked muffins loosely covered with some foil or a tea towel or, if I'm not going to eat them within a day or two, in the freezer. And my muffins are much happier as a result. 

There seem to be quite a lot of caveats to this recipe; that wasn't really what I intended and it shouldn't be taken as any criticism of either the recipe or these muffins. If I didn't like them, I wouldn't share them with you. 

~

Lemon and poppyseed spelt muffins

Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 90g (1 cup) whole wheat spelt flour
• 110g (1 1/4 cup) white spelt flour
• 50g (1/c cup) light brown soft sugar
• 3/4 tablespoon baking powder
• Zest of 3 large lemons
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 310ml (1 1/4 cups) milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F. Grease a muffin tin well with butter or use paper cases.
2. Lightly whisk together all the dry ingredients (including lemon zest) in a large bowl until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and oil.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and quickly combine; do not stir for more than about 10 - 15 seconds.
5. Fill the paper cases/muffin holes just over 2/3 full and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
6. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the tin before transferring to a wire rack.