Categories: Desserts

Ingredients

• 1 lemon
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tsp poppy seeds
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt (not Greek)
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup packed grated zucchini

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from the lemon in wide strips, being careful not to remove the white pith. Combine the lemon zest and sugar in a food processor and process until the zest is finely chopped, scraping the bowl halfway through, about 1 minute. Stir in the poppy seeds. Scoop out 3 tbsp of the lemon-poppy seed sugar and set aside.

2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Whisk the remaining lemon-poppy seed sugar, the vegetable oil, buttermilk, vanilla and eggs in a medium bowl; stir into the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in the zucchini.

3. Divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling them three-quarters of the way. Tap the bottom of the pan lightly on the counter to smooth out the batter. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the reserved lemon-poppy seed sugar. Bake until the muffins are golden brown around the edges and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 23-25 minutes. Let the muffins cool 5 minutes in the pan, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

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