Then you will love Lemon Chia Seed!
Love Lemon Poppyseed? To me, nothing says summer more than lemon. Its tangy and light flavor is an amazing addition to plain water, made into lemon curd spread on toast, or added into muffins, breads and cookies and of course, lemonade! These muffins have the tantalizing taste of lemon mixed with almond extract and a healthy dose of chia seeds. (To read about all the benefits of chia seeds see my post for Blueberry Banana Chia Seed Smoothie.) They are then covered in a sweet and sour lemon glaze - could it get any better?? I was watching my friend Angel's kids that morning I made these muffins (the recipe makes 24 muffins) and all of them were gone by 11:00 a.m. - that's between 6 kids! They just kept sneaking them off the counter, the little stinkers!! I would be going into the bathroom and find wrappers on the sink counter and stuffed into the garbage. Gotta love kids and their sneaky antics!
Lemon Chia Seed Muffins
Juice of 3 lemons
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 vegetable oil
2 cups coconut milk (not canned coconut cream or milk, but the actual milk substitute!)
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole chia seeds
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place paper muffins liners in a muffin tin. In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, lemon zest, almond extract, vanilla extract, oil, milk and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine flour, chia seeds, baking powder and salt. Slowly stir dry ingredients into wet ones, stirring only until combined. If you over stir, you will get tough muffins! We are going for light and tender here!! Place a 1/4 cup of batter into each liner. Bake 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. Glaze and enjoy!
Glaze:
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Water
2 cups powdered sugar
In a 1/4 cup measuring cup, add lemon juice, vanilla extract and enough water to make 1/4 cup liquid. Add lemon mixture and powdered sugar into a small saucepan. Heat over medium low heat, stirring constantly until smooth and lightened in color slightly. Place a bowl under your cooling rack with a muffin placed directly over the bowl on the rack. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of glaze over muffin. The glaze sets up very quickly. Glaze the rest of your muffins, scooping the glaze from the bowl underneath the rack back into the saucepan as needed. If the glaze in the saucepan starts to harden, place back on low heat and stir until thinned again.
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 vegetable oil
2 cups coconut milk (not canned coconut cream or milk, but the actual milk substitute!)
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole chia seeds
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place paper muffins liners in a muffin tin. In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, lemon zest, almond extract, vanilla extract, oil, milk and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine flour, chia seeds, baking powder and salt. Slowly stir dry ingredients into wet ones, stirring only until combined. If you over stir, you will get tough muffins! We are going for light and tender here!! Place a 1/4 cup of batter into each liner. Bake 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. Glaze and enjoy!
Glaze:
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Water
2 cups powdered sugar
In a 1/4 cup measuring cup, add lemon juice, vanilla extract and enough water to make 1/4 cup liquid. Add lemon mixture and powdered sugar into a small saucepan. Heat over medium low heat, stirring constantly until smooth and lightened in color slightly. Place a bowl under your cooling rack with a muffin placed directly over the bowl on the rack. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of glaze over muffin. The glaze sets up very quickly. Glaze the rest of your muffins, scooping the glaze from the bowl underneath the rack back into the saucepan as needed. If the glaze in the saucepan starts to harden, place back on low heat and stir until thinned again.