These fluffy lemon muffins are lightened up, but still bakery style and so good that your family and friends won’t notice they’re healthier than most lemon crumb muffins. This recipe features nonfat greek yogurt for healthy protein, lemon zest and juice for that bright zing of citrus and an easy crumb topping that makes these lemon muffins even more delicious.
These Moist and Fluffy Healthier Lemon Crumb Muffins are a Hit!
I always know when a recipe is a big hit if it gets a thumbs up from my brother Beau and he LOVED these healthier lemon crumb muffins! My brother enjoys traditional recipes we grew up on with all of the sugar, salt and fat and he does NOT compromise on flavor or texture! Beau definitely keeps me in check when I'm trying to make a recipe healthier, but still taste delicious. So whenever he loves something I bake, I know it will be a hit with everyone... especially if the other people in your house don’t like to eat “healthy” options!
How To Make These Healthy Greek Yogurt Lemon Muffins:
This simple lemon muffin recipe is super easy to make in your mixer. You'll have these light and fluffy muffins in the oven in minutes! First, combine all of the wet ingredients in your bowl, then turn on your mixer for a few seconds. Next, add all of the dry ingredients into your bowl and turn on your mixer again! Done and done!
Also, you can totally skip the crumb topping if you want to make this recipe even easier. A simple lemon glaze with powdered sugar and lemon juice is another great option instead of the crumb topping.
I've tested this recipe with regular sugar, cane sugar, butter and coconut oil. I think honey would be a good substitute here too, but I haven't tried it out yet.
Don't you just love when a recipe is versatile and you can adjust the ingredients to what you have on hand?! I used nonfat plain greek yogurt, but you could substitute vanilla greek yogurt or one with a higher fat content if you'd like!
Everything You'll Need
- Eggs: This healthier muffin recipe calls for two eggs to help bind the ingredients together and also add protein!
- Greek Yogurt: A few scoops of plain greek yogurt bring loads of moisture to these muffins as well as protein!
- Lemon Juice: Squeeze fresh lemon into the muffin batter for a bright, lemon flavor. Yum!
- Lemon Zest: Did you know there's actually a lot of flavor in the zest from citrus? I use this tool to finely zest lemons into baked goods and homemade jams.
- Cane Sugar or Honey: Time to add some sweetness! It's up to you, choose cane sugar or honey to sweeten your lemon blueberry muffins.
- Lemon Extract, optional: If I have it, I always add a teaspoon of lemon extract to lemon muffins or lemon cake to make sure the lemon flavor is robust!
- Vanilla Extract: A little vanilla extract is always a nice touch in baking. If you're using vanilla greek yogurt, you can leave this out!
- All-Purpose Flour: I use traditional all-purpose flour to keep these muffins light and airy, however you could substitute 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour or oat flour if you'd like to make this recipe gluten-free.
- Baking Powder: This easy muffin recipe calls for baking powder to help the muffins rise while baking.
- Baking Soda: This ingredient also helps these muffins rise!
- Salt: Add a pinch of salt to balance out the sweetness in this muffin recipe.
Need to make a substitution?
Gluten-free?
I'd recommend swapping the all-purpose flour for a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour like this one from Bob's Red Mill! You could also try gluten-free oat flour.
Dairy-free?
Swap out the regular greek yogurt for your favorite dairy-free yogurt!
Want to add some blueberries?
Here is my healthy lemon blueberry greek yogurt muffin recipe.
These healthier lemon crumb muffins are lower in sugar than traditional recipes, have natural protein from the eggs and greek yogurt and can be made with healthy fats from coconut oil if you wish.
Who do you know that deserves a batch of homemade muffins to brighten their day? They'll take a bite of these lemon muffins and be blown away by your love and kindness... and the uplifting aroma of lemon juice and lemon extract.
More Healthier Breakfast Recipes:
- Healthy Lemon Blueberry Greek Yogurt Muffins
- Peanut Butter Banana Chia Pudding
- Classic Breakfast Acai Bowl
- Crunchy Peanut Butter Granola Clusters
Recipe
Healthier Lemon Crumb Muffins
Let's make healthier lemon crumb muffins! These fluffy lemon muffins feature greek yogurt and a sweet crumble topping.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 9 1x
Ingredients
Muffins:
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup plain Greek yogurt (or vanilla)
- zest of one lemon
- 1-2T lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon extract (optional)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup cane sugar or honey
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup butter or coconut oil, melted
Crumb Topping:
- ½ cup flour
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup cane sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Add eggs, greek yogurt, lemon zest and juice, lemon and vanilla extracts, and sugar (or honey) to your mixing bowl. Beat to combine.
- In another bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and partially combine.
- Lastly, mix in melted butter (or coconut oil) and mix batter until just combined.
- Grease a muffin tin with cooking spray or coconut oil and use a muffin scoop to divide batter into 9 equal muffins.
- Make crumb topping by mixing flour and sugars in a a bowl. Use a knife to chop 3 tablespoons of butter into cubes. Use your fingers to rub the flour and butter together until the crumb mixture comes together and becomes more fine. If you have a pastry cutter you can use this instead of your hands.
- Grease a muffin pan with cooking spray or coconut oil. Scoop muffin batter into pan about ¾ of the way and top each muffin with crumb topping.
- Bake at 400F for 15 minutes until edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean with little to no crumbs.
- Allow lemon crumb muffins to cool and store in an airtight container in the fridge for 5-7 days or on the counter for 3-5 days.
Leave a Reply