Lemon Olive Oil & Lemon Olive Oil Muffins

My family has been sick this winter. Never-endingly sick, it seems. The toddler, then me, then the newborn, then my husband, and then as soon as we get better, it starts up again. And so, citrus and, of course, olive oil have been on the menu around here, and LOTS of them both.

This past weekend, when I finally felt well enough to stand up and make something again, I thought of lemon-y olive oil muffins. I’m not sure if I’ve ever even eaten something quite like these before? But that didn’t stop me from craving them, or maybe just craving that summery fragrance. Looking for inspiration, I came upon gorgeous cakes like this and this, and I tried to steal the best from all of them.

With thyme and olive oil, sugar, and lemon, these lemon olive oil muffins manage to be savory, sweet, and tart all at once, and the glaze on top gives them a lovely, messy, cupcake-ish look (although they really don’t taste like cake, which is a good thing, I think). They taste light and fluffy, and the fruity smell of olive and fresh lemon makes me want to believe that warm weather is coming.

Now everyone in my house is *finally* on the mend, again. Was it the muffins? I don’t know. Probably.

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Lemon Olive Oil Muffins with Thyme & Sweet Lemon Olive Oil Glaze

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup oat flour
1 teaspoon thyme
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 cup olive oil (+ 2 tablespoons more for the glaze)
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup yogurt
1/3 cup water
5 tablespoons lemon juice (+ 2 more for the glaze)
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Lightly spray your muffin pan with an olive oil spray.

2. In one bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and thyme, and then set it aside. In the other bowl, mix together the olive oil, brown sugar, eggs, yogurt, water, and lemon juice.

3. Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet with a wooden spoon just until combined.

4. Scoop the batter into the muffin tins. Bake them for 20 minutes, until the muffin tops are lightly golden.

5. While they’re baking, whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon, and olive oil. Have a taste or two. If you’d like it to be a little more lemon-y, add another squeeze of lemon.

6. Spoon the glaze on top of the hot muffins. It’s a thin glaze, light and sweet and a little (or a lot!) tart, and it takes a minute or so to firm up, not that you need to wait. I think they’re great warm, but I also really loved them once they cooled — somehow I appreciated the tanginess of the lemon more at room temperature. I gobbled mine up like a cupcake, and had it with lemon tea and yogurt, and I bet they’d be delicious with lemon yogurt, too. Not to get too carried away.

Be well out there!

Previously: Golden Mean Pumpkin Muffins

Natalie Eve Garrett is an artist who likes surprises and loves olive oil. You can buy prints of her paintings here. Muffins available upon request.