Easy Bakery-Style Almond Poppy Seed Muffins

If you’ve ever craved a really tender and moist muffin bursting with delicate almond flavor and crowned with a wonderfully crunchy almond streusel, these bakery style almond poppy seed muffins are calling your name. Making these from scratch is much easier than you might think and delivers that irresistible taste and texture you find at your favorite local bakery. They are truly perfect for a leisurely breakfast or a special brunch gathering.

Gathering Your Ingredients

Having everything ready before you start makes the baking process flow so smoothly. You’ll need a few standard pantry items for both the tender muffin base and that craveable crunchy topping. Let’s make sure we have all our components lined up.

For the Muffins

• 2 1/2 cups (310 grams) all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
• 1 teaspoon (6 grams) salt
• 1 1/8 cups (228 grams) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 4 Tablespoons (58 grams) unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly (if you only have salted butter that will work too)
• 1/4 cup (59 ml) vegetable oil
• 1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk
• 3 teaspoons (15 ml) almond extract
• 1/4 cup (36 grams) poppy seeds

For the Almond Streusel Topping

• 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
• 4 Tablespoons (24 grams) sliced almonds finely crushed
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) almond extract

Making the Almond Streusel Topping

• This topping is absolutely essential for that authentic bakery feel. It adds a sweet, nutty crunch that perfectly complements the soft muffin below. It only takes a moment to whip up.
• Get a small bowl ready. Combine the 1/4 cup granulated sugar, the finely crushed sliced almonds, and the 1 teaspoon of almond extract in this bowl.
• Small glass bowl with streusel topping ingredients.
• Using a fork, gently mix these streusel ingredients together. Continue mixing until the sugar, almonds, and extract are well combined and the mixture has a fine crumbly texture.
• Streusel ingredients in glass bowl mixed with a fork.
• Set this finished streusel topping mixture aside for now. You’ll sprinkle it on top of the muffins just before they go into the oven.

Crafting the Muffin Batter

• Now for the heart of the recipe. We’ll build a moist and tender muffin batter that holds up beautifully to all those poppy seeds and that rich almond flavor. Following these steps will give you that perfect bakery style crumb.
• First, preheat your oven. You’ll want it nice and hot at 425°F (220°C).
• Next, prepare a standard 12 cup muffin tin. Line each cup with a paper muffin liner. To prevent sticking and ensure easy removal, I like to give the inside of the paper liners a quick spray with cooking spray. It might seem like an extra step when you’re already using liners, but trust me, it really helps these muffins release cleanly. It’s just one of those little baking tricks that makes a big difference.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients for the muffins. Combine the 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, the 2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, and the 1 teaspoon of salt. Whisking helps distribute the leavening evenly and removes any small lumps in the flour just like sifting would do. Set this bowl aside for a moment. You can add the poppy seeds to this bowl now or later with the wet ingredients. Either way works fine.
• In a separate medium sized bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer if you’re using one), add the 1 and 1/8 cups of granulated sugar and the 2 large eggs.
• Beat the sugar and eggs together. Keep mixing until the mixture becomes noticeably thick and has a light lemon yellow color. You can do this by hand with a whisk, you don’t necessarily need a stand mixer for this recipe.

• Now, add the liquid fats. Pour the 4 Tablespoons of melted and slightly cooled butter into the sugar and egg mixture. Also add the 1/4 cup of vegetable oil at this point. Mix these in until just combined.
• Next, slowly whisk in the 1 cup of buttermilk and the 3 teaspoons of almond extract. Don’t whisk too vigorously here, just incorporate them smoothly into the batter.
• Slowly adding buttermilk to egg mixture with wire whisk.
• If you didn’t add the poppy seeds to the dry ingredients earlier, add them now to the wet mixture. Stir in the 1/4 cup of poppy seeds. It might look like a lot of poppy seeds, but it’s just the right amount for that signature texture and look in these muffins.
• Adding poppy seeds to dry ingredients (or wet, depends on preference).
• Now, pour the wet ingredients from the medium bowl into the large bowl containing the dry ingredients.
• Adding wet ingredients to dry ingredients.
• Mix the wet and dry ingredients together. Do this gently and mix only until the ingredients are just combined. It’s really important not to overmix muffin batter. Overmixing can develop the gluten too much, resulting in tough muffins. It’s perfectly fine if you see a few small lumps of flour remaining in the batter. This is how you get a tender crumb.
• Mixing dry and wet ingredients together.

Baking Your Beautiful Muffins

With the batter ready and the streusel waiting, it’s time to get these beauties into the oven. Proper filling and baking techniques ensure lovely domed tops and perfectly cooked centers.

Divide the muffin batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. I like to fill them so the batter is slightly mounded on top. This helps create those nice tall, rounded muffin tops you see in bakeries. If you’re using the newer style paper liners that stand up taller than the tin itself, you can fill them almost completely full for even larger muffins.

Take the streusel topping you prepared earlier. Sprinkle about one tablespoon of the mixture over the top of the batter in each muffin cup. To make them look extra appealing and truly bakery style, you can press a few extra sliced almonds onto the streusel topping before baking.

Place the muffin tin in your preheated oven. Bake for 16 to 17 minutes. You’ll know they are done when they are golden brown around the edges and a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the muffins comes out clean without any wet batter attached.

Once they’re out of the oven, let the baked muffins rest in the muffin pan for about 3 to 5 minutes. This allows them to set up slightly before you move them.

Remove the muffins carefully from the tin. The cooking spray inside the liners should make this easy. Transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Letting them cool on a rack prevents the bottoms from getting soggy from residual heat in the pan.

Once they are cool enough to handle (or completely cool if you can wait that long), they are ready to enjoy. Take a moment to admire that perfect domed top and crunchy streusel.

Why These Muffins Are Special

These aren’t just any almond poppy seed muffins. They have a wonderful hearty texture that isn’t airy or flimsy. They are dense yet incredibly tender and moist inside, packed generously with poppy seeds, and filled with that lovely almond flavor throughout. That crispy, sweet streusel topping adds just the right contrast and makes them truly special. When you bite into one, you get that satisfying combination of soft muffin, nutty poppy seeds, and sweet almond crunch. They really do rival the muffins you might buy at a high end bakery.

Frequently Asked Questions

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