Spring is officially here. I know that not only because it’s after March 20 but because; my indoor seeds have started to sprout, the windows are opened every morning and mosquitos and black flies have come out in droves. Given the winter we had, two out of three isn’t bad. But it could be sweeter so I’m going to add “and Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are cooling on my counter”.
Before you check to make sure that you’re on the right blog, yes, I baked muffins. And everyone loved them. So much so that I’m already talking about “the next time”. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Since I’m always up for a challenge and The Kids wanted to “help me”, I thought that I’d bake. I know. Not wanting to get too much out of my comfort zone, I checked out the recipes on Truvia’s website, and when I came upon one for Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, I knew that it was THE ONE.
What I liked about this muffin recipe was that it had 35% fewer calories and 75% less sugar than the full-sugar version. How? It used Truvia Baking Blend with Stevia Leaf Extract.
The stevia leaf extract is a high purity and consistent sweetener containing the best tasting parts of the stevia leaf. It was discovered hundreds of years ago in Paraguay and is often used to sweeten foods and beverages. From the taste tests that The Kids and I did, we could not tell the difference between Truvia products and regular sugar. And, I was pleased to see that I can bake my muffins and eat them too as the baking blend didn’t throw off my sugars like traditional sugars do*.
And so the task of gathering all the ingredients began and was going according to play until I realized that I hadn’t labelled the baking soda from the baking powder. I’m sure you’re not surprised given my previous experience baking cupcakes, cookies, whatever they were.
So, I did what anyone else would do, I posted to Facebook.
Fortunately, I have fabulous friends and followers that immediately came to my aid with ideas like “Add lemon juice” and “Add vinegar” and only one will fizz. The only problem was that in both cases, the baking soda and baking powder fizzed!? For a minute there, I thought that I might have purchased two bags of baking soda (in bulk). In the end, I figured that I had a 50-50 chance of being right and went with my instincts.
The best part about this recipe was that it was so easy that 5-year-olds could do it. Yes, that easy. Having The Kids participate in and be competent in the kitchen is a skill that I’d love them to have.
Ingredients
- -- MUFFINS --
- Zest from 2 lemons
- 1/2 cup (125ml) Truvia Baking Blend
- 2 cups (500ml) all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp (10ml) baking powder
- 1/4 tsp (1.25ml) baking soda
- 1/4 tsp (1.25ml) salt
- 3/4 cup (175ml) reduce-fat sour cream
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp (7.5ml) vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (125ml) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup milk
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 2 Tbsp (30ml) poppy seeds
- .
- -- GLAZE --
- 1/2 cup (125ml) Truvia Baking Blend
- Juice from 1 lemon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F (200°C).
- In a large bowl, combine the lemon zest, Truvía® Baking Blend, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a smaller bowl, combine sour cream, eggs, vanilla, butter and lemon juice and whisk together until smooth.
- Add the sour cream mixture to the flour mixture. Gently mix together until just combined, then fold in the poppy seeds.
- Add milk. Note that this ingredient was an after thought so it may be able to be added earlier in on.
- Divide batter evenly into paper lined muffin cups.
- Bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Prepare glaze by mixing lemon juice with ground Truvía® Baking Blend.
- Brush or drizzle glaze on muffins.
Notes
Can be eaten warm or cooled.
While I have a "convection bake" option, I chose to bake them using the regular setting.
Since I added milk that wasn't originally called for in the recipe, I cooked the muffins for 4 minutes longer. Checking on them in two minute intervals.
The only other deviation I made to the recipe was adding 1/4 cup of milk at the end because I found the mix so dry that I couldn’t work with it. Apparently muffin mixes are really dry. What do I know. Aunt Sally told me not to work with the mix for too long so I used my new Moulinex hand mixer to get out the big lumps quickly. I won’t bother telling you about how I forgot to add poppy seeds after I’d already spooned out most of the batter into the muffin liners and had to take all the batter out, add the poppy seeds and then start over again only this time with wet and soggy muffin liners. No, that might be too much for one post.
In a nutshell, everyone loved the muffins and since the recipe only called for half the sugar quantity (of baking blend) to traditional recipes, I have 3/4 of the package left**. So, I’m back to where I started…
What Would You Bake Next?
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins #Recipe @truvia @zoojourneys http://t.co/SWVIg9GTKE
— Journeys of The Zoo (@zoojourneys) May 8, 2015
Free Sample.
Connect with Truvia Website | Facebook | Twitter
P.S. I never did figure out the baking soda from the baking powder.
P.P.S. See how easy baking can be!
* I’m hypoglycemic.
** Truvia Baking Blend is sold in packages of 680g. Their calorie-free sweetener product is sold in 270g.
Disclosure: Journeys of The Zoo received compensation in exchange for sharing our baking adventures with you.
Great recipe, I love baking/cooking with lemon. Haven’t used Truvia yet…..
Dear Laurie,
It was my first time with lemon (well, it was my first time with anything, smile) but I love lemon in general so I knew that it would be a great fit for the Family.
Did you see the note in my post about how Truvia is offering everyone a FREE Sample!? You can get yours here -> http://truvia.com/canada/products/free_sample
Besos Sarah.
Sarah recently posted…Be Treated like Royalty at @MedievalTimes Dinner and Tournament #Orlando #Disney
I got a sample of it this week, thank you for reminding me of that 🙂
Great recipe! I’ll have to try it! 🙂
Who is this and what have you done with Sarah? I use Truvia in my tea but I haven’t baked with it yet. We prefer low sugar recipes in our home so this is perfect. And hubby LOVES anything with poppy seeds!
Mommy Outside recently posted…French Onion Barley Risotto
Looks tasty. I don’t use a lot of low-sugar options, but I’ll need to try it out.
Did you try putting water on the baking sodapowder? Baking powder fizzes with water, while baking soda doesn’t
Jessica recently posted…When your dreams need to age.
You baked? And then blogged about it? I am so impressed! I will have to try Stevia seems like it would go well with my WW recipes. Thanks!
Jody recently posted…Bloodline, Florida and my Love for Coach Taylor
Dear Jody,
Can’t wait to see a picture of yours. The good news is that they taste as good as they look (or even better)!
Besos Sarah
Sarah recently posted…Surprise Your Kids with Notes of Love from @PICKmeUPnapkins, US/CAN, 5/18
Ok, I’m confused…does the Truvia Baking Blend have flour in them? Oh, nope! You left the flour out of the recipe 🙂 Lemon flavor is one of my favorite flavors EVER! AND poppy seeds with them…yummmmm! I will be pinning this and making my slave…errr…Molly bake these!
Christy Maurer recently posted…GiftsForYouNow.com for #MothersDay
Dear Christy,
Thanks for the note about the flour missing. I’ve added it. I did in fact put it in the original recipe although you never can tell with me.
Can’t wait to hear what you and Molly think of them. Please be sure to share.
Besos Sarah.
Sarah recently posted…Waiting for a Kidney and Pancreas Transplant #organdonation @JimminyMagee
I thought that these were your 2nd lot of muffins, hence my surprise. So glad that they worked out so well for you, they look fantastic and obviously the kids approved of your baking too. I’ve never tried Truvia so I’ve sent off for a sample – thanks for the link btw 🙂 Hope you’ve now labelled the baking soda and baking powder 😉
Dear Elizabeth,
The first time I baked, I tried to make cupcakes with cake mix but The Kids ended up making cookies. It’s an experience I’d rather not remember 😉
I wasn’t going to label the baking soda/powder because technically, I don’t actually know which one is which besides, I thought that it might actually be funny to do it again (yes, I have a warped sense of humour like that) but I labelled them the best I could.
Your welcome on the link for the free sample. Hope you like it as much as we do.
Besos Sarah.
Sarah recently posted…Do You Let Your Kids Talk to Strangers?
This looks great! I have wondered about Truvia…but now with a free sample opportunity and a great recipe in hand, I think I will give it a go! Thanks for sharing the adventure with us! (and great photos)
thanks for sharing they look great
Oh these muffins sound delicious!
Look totally delicious. It is so fun baking with kids.
This looks yummy! I love lemon poppy seed…
These look so delicious… I’ve never baked with Truvia before — it would be an interesting experiment for me to try! Thanks for posting this!
Dear Em
If you bake with Truvia, please let me know how it goes. I couldn’t tell the difference at all, except that the muffins didn’t throw my sugars off and they were lower in calories 🙂
Besos Sarah.
Sarah recently posted…Waiting for a Kidney and Pancreas Transplant #organdonation @JimminyMagee
These sound delicious!
It sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing!!
They sound delicious, but I do love lemon and poppy seeds!
I’m surprised you have mosquito’s and black flies, not a bug in sight over here. Weird.
AlwaysARedhead recently posted…Lost without my laptop
What a great recipe, I will try this weekend
They look so amazing! I think the only difference in baking soda and baking powder is the baking powder makes your baking rise better than soda.
These look so yummy! I love poppy seed cake, so I am sure these will be great. Thanks for the recipe!
These take me back – my granny loved to bake lemon poppy seed muffins. I have never baked with Truvia but I am definitely going to try these.
Dear Heidi,
If I can bake them, anyone can bake them! Let me know how they turn out.
Now I’m craving lemon poppy seed muffins…
Besos Sarah.
Sarah recently posted…Do you Let your Child Sleep with a Pillow at Night?
These sound good although I have not tried Truvia Baking Blend I certainly am open to it.
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I love lemon poppy seed muffins!
I have never used this product or poppy seeds to bake with before. Must try thanks for the recipe.
Thanks,I never thought to make these before but they sure look delicious
Looks awesome
They look delicious!! For me though, I will need to leave out the poppy seeds though for medical reasons.
Dear Louanne,
You can totally remove the poppy seeds and the muffins will still taste great. Let me know how it goes if you make them.
Besos Sarah.
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