Lemony Almond Flour Muffins have a moist crumb and a lightly sweet and lemony flavor. Almond flour adds mild nuttiness, and makes this recipe gluten-free! Perfect drizzled with this simple lemon glaze.
Since I’ve been living in France, I’ve adopted the 4pm custom of goûter, or afternoon snack. (Or, let’s be honest, le goûter is just giving me permission for my usual rummaging through the pantry in the late afternoon.) Often I’m craving something just a little sweet to go with a cup of tea or a Turmeric Latte. I seem to feel better with less gluten in my system, so I love having a gluten-free option around for when those sweet cravings hit. These Lemony Almond Flour Muffins hit the mark perfectly.
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Why Make This Recipe
- Healthy Snack or Dessert: These muffins are lightly sweet, with a mild lemon flavor, and just 206 calories each. Muffins are the perfect size for that 4pm pick-me-up, as they won’t ruin your appetite for dinner.
- That Sweet Lemon Glaze: These taste especially delicious when glazed, and it couldn't be easier to make this one with powdered sugar, milk, and lemon juice.
- Great for Make-Ahead: The almond flour in these keeps them extra-moist, so they won't get stale too quickly. Keep them in an airtight container and drizzle with glaze before serving.
🥗 Ingredients for Lemony Almond Flour Muffins
- Almond Flour: Almond flour is made from raw almonds, which are low in carbs and high in fiber, protein, manganese, magnesium, and Vitamin E. They are also high in omega-3 fatty acids. Adding almond flour to a recipe adds fat, which adds richness to a recipe and can extend the shelf life of your baked goods.
- Plain Yogurt: I prefer a nice, thick yogurt for this muffin mix. You can use Greek yogurt if you can't find a regular plain version, or replace with sour cream or crème fraîche. Yogurt helps make a tender crumb for these muffins.
- Lemons: This recipe calls for both lemon zest and lemon juice. I highly recommend a zester like this Microplane Classic Zester, as it makes it so easy to get just the zest and none of the bitter pith!
🥣 Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit or 190 degrees Celsius.
2. Line a muffin tin with muffin/cupcake liners.
3. In a large bowl, combine 2 ¼ cups of almond flour, ⅔ cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt, and stir.
4. Whisk together ¼ cup of plain, full-fat yogurt, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, ½ teaspoon lemon zest, 3 large eggs, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract in a separate bowl. Then stir into bowl with almond flour mixture. Don’t overbeat—stir just until combined.
5. Pour the batter into the muffin cups, filling them ¾ of the way up. If you fill them too high, the muffin tops will rise over the edge of the holes and then fall. This can cause the muffins to stick to the outside of the tin. Note: you may have an extra muffin’s worth of batter. (Bake that after the first batch for your chef’s treat!)
6. Bake for 18 minutes, until tops are golden brown, and a toothpick comes out cleanly. Remove muffin tin from oven and place on cooling rack.
These muffins are soft, so wait for them to cool completely before removing from pan—otherwise, it’s easy to crush them. If they are hard to remove, you can insert a thin rubber spatula around the edges of the cupcake and then use the spatula to tip one up so that you can remove it.
7. While muffins are baking, whisk together ½ cup of confectioner’s sugar, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon of milk for the lemon glaze. To serve, drizzle lemon glaze over the tops of the muffins.
Or, for a less lemony option with less sugar, simply sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar rather than glazing.
🧐 Recipe FAQs
These almond flour muffins can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container. They will last at least 3 days. They are delicious reheated in the microwave for 20 seconds or so. You can store them either without glaze or with glaze. If you want to store the muffins separately from the glaze, store the glaze in the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature before drizzling. Glaze can be stored for 4-5 days in the refrigerator.
Yes, these muffins are easy to freeze. Just let them cool completely after baking. To make sure they don't freeze together, try putting them on a plate in the freezer for a half an hour or so, until quite hard. Then move to a ziplock freezer bag. You can freeze them for up to 3 months. Wait to make the glaze until you have defrosted them and are ready to serve.
Yes you can, with the help of a food processor. Just take a quantity of blanched almonds (you can often find these as blanched, slivered almonds in the grocery store) and blitz in a food processor until they are finely ground. Just make sure you stop as soon as you see the texture you want. If you grind for too long, your almond flour will turn into almond butter.
Almond meal and almond flour are terms used for the same thing—both mean finely ground almonds. The majority of almond flour products are made by finely grinding blanched almonds (almonds where the skins have been removed). Almond meal can mean finely ground blanched or unblanched almonds, and almond meal may be a coarser grind than almond flour.
👩🍳 Expert Tips
Keep in mind that almond flour and other gluten-free cakes have a weaker structure than cakes made with regular flour, so they have a tendency to sink a bit in the middle rather than have a rounded dome on top. I promise they will still taste delicious, and when drizzled with that lemon glaze, you won’t even notice that dip.
If you love using almond flour for baking, don't miss my round-up of The Best Almond Flour Cookie Recipes. And if muffins are your thing, check out my Almond Flour Blackberry Muffins or my Zucchini Almond Flour Muffins with Chocolate Chips.
Add some delightful lavender flavor to these muffins by adding a tablespoon of Lavender Syrup to your powdered sugar glaze.
If you go through almond flour relatively quickly (within a month or so, and before the expiration date), you can keep almond flour in a cool, dry place. If baking with almond flour is not a regular habit, you may want to keep it in the refrigerator or freezer. According to Bob’s Red Mill, you can freeze almond flour for 4-5 months after its sell by date, as long as you keep it in an airtight container.
Want more ideas for gluten-free muffins? I've got a whole post with my favorite Gluten-Free Muffin Recipes! Poppyseed lovers should start with these Gluten Free Lemon Poppyseed Muffins.
Other Almond Flour Recipes
If you enjoyed this Lemony Almond Flour Muffin recipe, you might also want to check out some of my other favorite almond flour recipes:
If you try this recipe, I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment below—I read them all, and your feedback is invaluable to me. And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to my newsletter. I'd love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!
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Lemony Almond Flour Muffins
Ingredients
For the Muffins
- 2 ¼ cups almond flour (200g)
- ⅔ cup sugar (132g)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup plain full-fat yogurt (65g)
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Glaze
- ½ cup confectioners sugar (63g)
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit or 190 degrees Celsius.
- Line a muffin tin with muffin/cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt, and stir.
- Whisk together yogurt, lemon juice, lemon zest, eggs, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl, then stir into bowl with almond flour mixture. Don’t overbeat—stir just until combined.
- Pour the batter into the muffin cups, filling them ¾ of the way up. If you fill them too high, the muffin tops will rise over the edge of the holes and then fall, causing the muffins to stick to the outside of the tin. You may have an extra muffin’s worth of batter. (Bake that after the first batch for your chef’s treat!)
- Bake for 18 minutes, until tops are golden brown, and a toothpick comes out cleanly.
- Remove muffin tin from oven and place on cooling rack. These muffins are soft, so wait for them to cool completely before removing from pan—otherwise, it’s easy to crush them.
- While muffins are baking, whisk together confectioner’s sugar, lemon juice, and milk for the lemon glaze.
- To serve, drizzle lemon glaze over the tops of the muffins. Or, for a less sugary option, simply sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar rather than glazing.
Notes
- Note that almond flour and other gluten-free cakes have a weaker structure than cakes made with regular flour, so they have a tendency to sink a bit in the middle. They still taste delicious!
- If your muffins stick to the edge of the muffin tin, you can insert a thin rubber spatula around the edges of the cupcake to help remove them easily.
- You can replace yogurt with sour cream or creme fraiche, if desired.
- If you are looking for a completely gluten-free recipe, make sure your brand of confectioner's sugar is gluten-free!
Nutrition
Instagram Users: Now that you've made this recipe, tag me @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because I'd love to see your results!
More About Molly
Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!
Lisa J says
Good batter. I wrote out 2 detailed, complimentary reviews and tried to post photos. Lost both reviews. Comment section on this platform seems flaky to me. Batter is recommended.
Molly Pisula says
Hi Lisa, apologies on the comment section! It may be that photos aren't allowed--I will have to check my settings. But I'm so glad you liked this recipe!
Helen says
tasty ingredients but the batter was so foamy after adding the wet and dry ingredients together that all my muffins failed, flopped and stuck to the tin. how has this worked for anyone?? I still scooped the cooked batter out with a spoon and ate it
Molly Pisula says
Hmm, I wonder if your almond flour is slightly different from the one I used. There really is a big difference in brands, which makes recipe writing so hard! But these muffins are a little sticky to be sure--I always use muffin tin liners. Did you not use liners for yours? I appreciate you letting me know about your experience!
stela says
Can honey instead of sugar be used?
Molly Pisula says
I think so, though you may need to add more almond flour if the batter seems too liquidy. Let me know how it turns out!
Nienke says
Hi, I absolutely love this recipe!! Did not think it could possibly work with these ingredients but they are amazingly soft and so yummy, the whole family loved them!
Molly Pisula says
Thanks so much for posting your results--I really appreciate it, and so glad your family loved these muffins!
Brídín says
Made these lemony muffins using sugar substitute (Canderel Bake!) and they turned out great.
Molly Pisula says
Good to know! Thanks so much for commenting.
Linda Wolpeet says
The muffins were surprisingly light with a tasty top.
Heidi | The Frugal Girls says
I love the healthy twist that the yogurt gives these muffins. These would be such a fabulous treat to go with my afternoon coffee!
Chef Molly says
Yes, they are perfect with afternoon coffee! And don't make you feel like you totally indulged afterwards.
Jeff the Chef says
I'll bet this is really, really good. I love almond-flour chocolate cakes for their texture, so if this is like that, but lemony (which is my favorite flavor), then I'm all for it.
Chef Molly says
They're really yummy, though the texture is different from almond flour chocolate cakes. The chocolate in the mix changes the texture quite a bit--these are lighter and fluffier, though I think that's a good fit for the lemon flavor!