Citrus Poppy Seed Muffins

My sis came back from Canada about 2 weeks ago, and she brought back some interesting flours / grains / seeds.

One of them was poppy seeds. I think she got the idea from the Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins they sold at the cafes in Canada.

I've actually made it once a few years ago using poppy seeds I found in Australia's supermarket. I don't even remember which recipe I used then. But I was excited to make it again simply because I love lemons. :D

Today, I used a recipe from Baking Bites that I had bookmarked for years. It's called Ctirus Poppy Seed Muffins because it uses Orange and Lemon, but the taste of Lemon really stands out. :)

To be frank, I was a little hesitant to make MINI muffins because in my past experience (MANY years ago), the muffins tend to dry out. Probably because I was using baking timings for proper sized muffins. How stupid I was to blame it on the size of the muffins, when it was my inexperience in baking that caused me to just stick to the recipe without realising I should have changed the conditions in which the muffins should bake.

I've made some tweaks to the recipe (as usual. I just can't resist. :P)

RECIPE
Mini Citrus Poppy Seed Muffins
~ Adapted from Baking Bites

Serving size: Makes 27 mini muffins
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 45mins (3 batches)

2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup orange juice + 1/3 cup lemon juice*
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp orange zest
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tbsp poppy seeds
coarse sugar, for topping {optional, since I forgot all about it}

*Note: I used a little more orange juice than lemon juice as 1 orange came up to slightly more than 1/3 cup orange juice. But I kept the total amount of juice the same. Baking Bites actually highlighted that we could stick with one time of citrus (as in, all orange or all lemon).

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Line mini muffin tray with paper liners. 
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour (sifted, just to make sure there are no lumps so it makes my mixing less stress-free later on), sugar, baking powder and salt.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, juices, egg, vanilla extract, citrus zests and poppy seeds. Add in flour mixture. Whisk until no streaks of dry ingredients remain. (Don't over mix!)
4. Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full (almost to the top since the muffin cups are so tiny). Sprinkle with coarse sugar, if using.
5. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until muffins are set and spring back when lightly pressed. Allow to cool in the pan for 2-3 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Personally, I think they taste better if I bake till they've slightly browned on the top.