Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

*This one is for my sister who has been begging me for the recipe for the past few months.
If you don't have poppy seeds- no worries- just do without. My boys love, love, love these muffins! It makes a nice change from just oatmeal or pancakes. They are really quick to make, so even on school mornings I can have them ready for breakfast in just over a half hour.


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups(180g) flour
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
2 tsp(10ml) baking powder
1/2 (2.5ml)tsp salt
1 tbsp(15ml) poppy seeds (this is one of the things that I bring back from the States, although I have seen huge bags of them at the wholesale food market)
1/3(80ml) cup oil
1 egg
1/2+(120+ml) milk
1 tbsp(15ml) lemon extract (Click here for a recipe to make your own extract)
2-3 tsp(10-15ml) lemon zest(optional- but your muffins will rock if you add it)

Directions:

Add together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.

Add poppy seeds.

Whisk together until well blended.

Measure out oil, add egg and then add milk until it gets to the 1 cup(240ml) line.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until well combined.

Add lemon extract and lemon zest (if using)

Stir until combined.

Fill muffin liners half full.

Bake at 200 C for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

Homemade Lemon Extract

I love making homemade lemon poppyseed muffins. They are so easy and so much cheaper then buying a muffin mix. Last year I brought back a few bottles of lemon extract from the States for the purpose of using them for homemade muffins. Then this summer my mom bought me a great book called "Make the Bread, Buy the Butter" where the author made her own lemon extract. Needless to say I decided to forgo packing all those bottles of extract and instead packed the book instead!

Ingredients:
200 ml Vodka
zest from 3 lemons

Buy Vodka and lemons. I bought vodka off of Taobao because I just wanted a small bottle of it that I could reuse for storing the extract. Make sure you select fresh lemons with bright peels. Stay away from lemons that appear dry.

Zest all three of your lemons. Make sure to only grate the yellow part- do not get any of the white part.

Put zest into a bottle that has a lid. I just used a canning jar because it was what I had.

Add vodka.

Secure lid

Shake.




Store in a dark place for 10 days, taking it out once a day to shake.

After ten days your extract is ready to use.

Strain the peel out of the alcohol.

Find a bottle or use the same one you got the vodka from and label it.

Use a funnel and pour your extract into the bottle.

And you are done. I probably spent 35 quai on this and it will last me for an entire year.