Bakery Style Triple Lemon Muffins
Ready to meet your favorite new muffin? These triple lemon, bakery style muffins pack a citrusy punch with lemon in every layer—the batter, a zesty streusel topping, and a glossy lemon glaze. Thanks to creamy yogurt, they stay super moist even on day two (if they last that long!). With their towering domed tops and crunchy streusel, these muffins look like they came straight from a bakery, but they’re so simple to make, you’ll wonder why you ever bought muffins in the first place!

As I was creating this recipe, I wondered, how could I pack as much lemon flavor into a muffin as possible? The answer? Don’t just make a regular lemon muffin. Make a lemon muffin that has lemon streusel on top, AND a quick and easy lemon glaze.
Were going the extra mile here friends, and it is 100% worth it.
For the base, I used the recipe for my basic plain muffins (which I tested 5 times to make sure were perfect) and then punched it up with lemon zest and extract. For the streusel, I took a note from my coffee cake muffins.
As a trained pastry chef, I can’t stop testing when I think a recipe is just ok, I need to make sure it holds up to my high standards. These lemon streusel muffins hit the mark!
The muffin’s texture is thick, yet moist and soft, and wasn’t dried out on day 2. What gives them their punchy flavor is the combination of lots of lemon zest, and lemon extract. You can just use lemon juice but it wont be as heavy on the flavor.
Top with a crunchy streusel that has even more lemon zest, and then a creamy lemon drizzle, and it’s like a bite full of sunshine, even on a cold day.
Are you ready to level up your muffin game? Let’s go!
The zestiest muffins on the block
Lemon zest is the shining ingredient in this recipe- you’ll need 3-4 lemons just for it, but only one for the juice to make the glaze.
You can store the other zested lemons and use the juice for another time. Make sure it’s in the next day or two so the lemon doesn’t get all hard.
The best way to zest a lemon is with a microplane and ideally over the same bowl you are using to mix.
I always zest lemons on top of the sugar in the recipe that I am using to make sure I don’t lose any essential oils (AKA flavor) from transferring between bowls.
Make them moist
The secret to keeping muffins moist lies in the perfect combination of ingredients.
This recipe uses two types of fat—butter for flavor and oil for a softer crumb—plus the richness from whole milk and Greek yogurt.
While yogurt isn’t really a fat, its creamy texture works perfectly alongside the milk to ensure these muffins stay super moist. You can substitute sour cream if you don’t have Greek yogurt!
When I tested the base recipe, I experimented with different ratios of these ingredients, but the balance in this version ended up having the moist and tender texture I was looking for. This combination of butter, oil, Greek yogurt, and whole milk makes sure the muffins stay deliciously moist, even on day two!
Making the muffins
Start by making the streusel. Combine the flour, brown sugar, white sugar, zest, and diced cold butter in a small bowl and pinch together with your fingers until it looks like small crumbs.
Put the bowl in the fridge to chill while you make the muffin batter. This helps keep the butter cool for better streusel crumbs.
Move on to making the batter– no mixer required. Use just two bowls, a whisk, and a spatula. This will help make sure you don’t over mix the batter.
Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl, lemon zest include, and the wet ingredients in the other. Whisk each.
Pour the dry into the wet and using a spatula, gently mix until the flour streaks are gone but still very lumpy.
We do not want a smooth batter. Thick and lumpy is what we want!
Let it rest– Let the batter rest for 10 minutes in the bowl. This allows the flour time to absorb the moisture for a better textured muffin. It also enhances the dome tops.
Scoop and bake- Scoop the batter with an ice cream scoop to the top of a lined muffin tin. Top with LOTS of streusel. We want this to be over the rim of the tin, its ok!
Bake on 425° for 7 minutes, then lower the heat to 350° and keep baking the muffins for an additional 13-15 minutes. Do not open the oven in between.
Cooling and glazing
Cool the muffins for 10 mins in the pan and then cool completely on a wire rack.
Line a sheet tray with parchment paper and put the wire rack of muffins on top. This helps control the mess when you start drizzling the glaze. It makes for a super easy cleanup.
Make the simple lemon glaze by adding powdered sugar, lemon juice, zest, and milk to a small bowl. Whisk till smooth.
Using a spoon, drizzle the muffins with the glaze. Top with more lemon zest if you want!
Make sure to cool completely before glazing otherwise the icing will melt into the muffins from the heat.
Bakery style muffins
Just gonna call out some tips and tricks that you need to do to make sure your muffins come out looking like they came from a bakery.
These things are simple but they make all the difference!
- Filling to the top of the muffin tin– Doing this allows the batter to rise and bake over the rim. This creates that big ridge from the dome to the base of the muffin. If you don’t fill to the top it will come out looking like a cupcake instead.
- Initial high heat temperature- Baking on high heat for the first few minutes allows for the top of the cupcake to bake first creating the rounded top. Then when you turn it down, it helps bake the center evenly.
- Letting the batter rest- Like I mentioned above, if you give the batter 10-20 mins to relax, it helps the flour absorb more of the moisture which creates a thicker batter. A thick batter will lead to a better texture and a more domed top! It also lets the baking soda and baking powder react and have more time to thicken the batter = better rise!
- Dont over-mix- The batter can be easily over mixed and make your muffins dense instead of light and fluffy. Thats why we dont use a mixer for muffins, and instead stir by hand. Remember you want a lumpy batter, not a smooth one!
Use these tips for all your muffin recipes and soon people will think you run a bakery from your house!
Storing and freezing
Store these in an airtight container at room temp. They are best within the first 2 days. To freeze wrap each muffin in foil, and then in a large zip top, freezer safe bag for up to 3 months.
Bakery Style Triple Lemon Muffins
Ingredients
Streusel
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 60g
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, 48g
- 2 tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp lemon zest, You need 3-4 lemons for the whole recipe
- 1/8 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 cup butter, unsalted, cold, diced small
Muffins:
- 3 cups all purpose flour, 360g
- 1 cup white sugar, 200g
- 2 tbsp lemon zest
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil, or other neutral oil
- 1/2 cup whole milk, or other milk
- 1/2 cup greek yogurt, or sour cream
- 3 eggs, large
- 1/2 tsp lemon extract
1 batch lemon glaze
Instructions
Make the streusel:
- In a small bowl combine the 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 brown sugar, 2 tbsp granulated sugar, ½ tsp lemon zest, 1/8 tsp salt, and ¼ cup cold diced butter.
- Using your fingers, pinch the butter into the mixture gently until small clumps form and are about the size of a pea. Place in the fridge while you make the muffin batter.
Make the muffins:
- Preheat the oven to 425° F and line a 12 cup muffin tip with muffin liners.
- Take out 2 medium sized bowls. In one bowl, add the 3 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 2 tsp lemon zest, 3 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp kosher salt. Mix lightly with a whisk.
- In the second bowl, add the 4 tbsp butter and microwave for 30 seconds at a time until fully melted. Then add in the 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup greek yogurt, 3 eggs, and 1/2 tsp lemon extract. Mix well with the whisk.
- All at once, add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Using a large spatula, lightly and gently fold in the flour taking care not to over mix or mix too hard. You want the flour to JUST mix in till there are no mare large streaks. The batter will be lumpy.
- Using an ice cream scoop for accuracy, scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin all the way to the top.
- Sprinkle the streusel on top of the muffins. Be generous! It’s ok if there’s a lot on the muffin tin.
- Bake for 7 minutes on 425, then lower the temperature to 350°F and continue to bake for another 13-15 minutes.
- Take the muffins out and let them cool for 5-10 minutes in the tin, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
- Make the lemon glaze.
- Line a sheet tray or cookie sheet with parchment paper and set the wire rack of muffins on top. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled muffins.
These are SUPERB!!! They’re a bit of a surprise- I didn’t expect the fullness of the flavor!! What a find! Even my die hard chocolate lovers couldn’t get enough. They were gone as soon as they were set out. Thank you, Sam!
Thank you Skye!!!! You made my day! So happy everyone loved these muffins! Thank you so much for the 5 star rating!
These look awesome and I have lemons and plan to bake a batch tomorrow! I have some leftover lemon curd, do you think I could fill the muffin cup half way, add a little curd and then add the rest of the batter? Thank you
Ahh! Kristin ahh this makes me so excited because my next post is lemon curd muffins where I take this recipe and stuff it with curd, so you are one step ahead of me! I havent baked it with lemon curd inside, I baked them and then stuffed them with curd using a donut filler. If you dont have one you can just slather them with lemon curd instead. OR go ahead and bake a couple with the curd inside and see what happens! Please lemme know!! YAY
Perfect! I may try a few each way and I’ll report back.
Great! Cant wait!
Sam, these look delicious! What is your preferred muffin pan to use. I only have dark metal pans and don’t want over baked muffins. Thanks!!
Hey Leslie! I have Caraway muffin tins that I really like! I have an affiliate code for them too for 10% off, the code is on the bottom of my emails. If you dont see it you can email me and Ill send it over! Other than that I would stick with a light colored muffin tin so that the heat distributes evenly. Please lt eme know if you make these!
These came out great! I ended up putting the lemon curd in all of them and thought I would also use some as a spread, but they honestly did not need it as they were super moist. I used one large scoop of batter, one Tablespoon size scoop of curd aimed at the center and then covered it with one more scoop of batter. Two leaked a little curd, but it wasn’t an issue. Loved the lemon flavor and the moist, light texture. Thank you for the recipe and the guidance on the lemon curd.
So glad to hear Kristin!! So great to know that this recipe works with curd baked inside. I was wondering if it would still be curd texture or if it would melt into the batter. Glad to hear it worked the way you wanted it to! I’ll add that note to my lemon curd muffins when they come out! Thanks so much for experimenting and for the 5 star rating!