Pass the Plate

I love lemon-flavoured baked goods, so this is one of my favourite recipes. I often bring these to parties and potlucks and everyone loves them. They’re light, sweet and very flavourful.

Ingredients

• Butter, at room temperature ¹⁄₃ cup 75 g
• White granulated sugar 1 cup 250 ml
• Eggs, beaten 2
• Flour 1½ cups 375 ml
• Salt ¼ tsp 1 ml
• Baking powder 1½ tsp 8 ml
• Lemon extract ¾ tsp 10 ml
  or Zest of 1 ½ lemons
• Milk ½ cup 125 ml

(for the topping)

• Lemon juice 4½ tbsp 70 ml
  (from about 1½ lemons)
• White granulated sugar¹⁄₃ cup 85 ml

I honestly can’t taste the difference between using ingredients from fresh lemons and bottled juice and extract. If you can get your hands on the stuff, save yourself the work. 😉

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F / 200°C.
2. Grease your muffin molds.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
4. Add the eggs.
5. Add the flour, salt and baking powder.
6. Add the zest or lemon extract and milk, and stir until well combined. Don’t over-mix it though, a lumpy batter is good.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out with no more than a few crumbs on it.
8. Combine the sugar and lemon juice for the topping.
9. Prick the tops of your muffins with a fork a few times and drizzle the topping on.
   

   The sugar tends to sink to the bottom of the mixture, so make sure you stir it throughout this process. If you feel like this mixture just pours off of your muffins instead of sinking in, add a bit more sugar to make it thicker. This way it’ll at least stay on top.

Makes about 12 muffins. These are also great as mini-muffins for parties or other occasions when you’d want to serve finger foods.