Simple Lemon Angel Food Cake Muffins
Lemon angel food cake muffins: The best breakfast treat for hot summer mornings! These light and fluffy angel food cake-like muffins are perfectly balanced with homemade lemon sugar and a simple lemon glaze.
I am absolutely obsessed with anything angel food cake. I really appreciate that it’s not an overly sweet cake and it pairs perfectly with all the summer fruits! So, I couldn’t think of any better recipe to kick off summer officially then a lemon angel food “cake” muffin.
This recipe actually came about by accident, but it’s what Bob Ross referred to as a “happy accident”. I was making my lemon angel food cake recipe and added my sugar too early which caused my batter to become denser. But, instead of tossing the batter I decided to bake them and see what came out. To my surprise I LOVED them! These angel food cake muffins are so tasty, and I couldn’t wait to share them with you.
Let’s get into it!
How to make lemon angel food cake muffins
Gather the ingredients
Flour: I used regular AP flour for this recipe
Powdered sugar
Granulated sugar or cane sugar
Egg Whites: It’s important to use fresh egg whites for the recipe. Sometimes when you use the shortcut of carton egg whites, they won’t whip properly. So, just to be safe, go with fresh separated eggs if possible!
Cream of tartar
Pure vanilla extract
Fresh lemons
Baking Tip: To make these muffins, it’s best to use a hand or stand mixer when beating the ingredients. Because of how long the egg whites take to beat up, I wouldn’t recommend making this recipe by hand!
Start by making the lemon sugar. In a small bowl, add in the granulated sugar and zest the lemons into the sugar. Make sure when zesting you only remove the yellow. Zesting the white part of the lemon adds a bitter flavor. Mix the two by rubbing the zest and sugar together with your fingers until fragrant.
Whisk together the flour and powdered sugar in a separate bowl and set aside.
Beat the egg whites with cream of tarter, vanilla and salt. In another clean, dry and oil free bowl, add these four ingredients and beat with a hand or stand mixer on medium.
Add the lemon sugar slowly 1 tablespoon at a time to the egg mixture; this process should take you about 2-3 minutes before all the sugar is added.
Beat the egg white mixture on high once all the sugar has been added. Continue to beat until the mixture is frothy. This should take 4-5 minutes.
Add in the flour and powdered sugar mixture slowly, folding it in with a rubber spatula.
Preheat the oven and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and begin filling the liners with the batter. I like to use a 1/4 cup measurer to scoop my batter.
Make the lemon glaze. While the muffins are baking, add powdered sugar and lemon juice into a small bowl and whisk together until you have the desired consistency.
Allow the muffins to cool inside the oven with the door cracked for about 15 minutes. Once the muffins are COMPLETELY cool to the touch, drizzle on your lemon glaze.
Enjoy! I like to serve these muffins with a little raspberry or blueberry jam!
How to store lemon angel food cake muffins
These muffins will keep at room temperature for 2-3 days in an airtight container. However, if I make these in the summertime, I like to store them in the refrigerator because it is hot! They will keep in the fridge for up to a week.
Why did my muffins shrink?
Angel food cake does shrink slightly once cooled. The cupcake liners keep these muffins supported but a little shrinking is normal!
Why did the tops of my muffins sink?
As stated above, angel food cake puffs up in the oven and shrinks slightly when cooled. If the tops of your muffins have fallen in, the most likely reason is you didn’t beat the egg white mixture long enough or the muffins didn’t cool slowly enough. Remember, to let them cool slowly in the cracked oven after baking. If your muffins do shrink, they will still be tasty. Cover them up and no one will know! 😉
Looking for more?
Easy Southern Bourbon Peach Cobbler with Brown Butter
Before you go, if you try this recipe, rate and/or comment down below. I’d love to hear what you think!
Lemon Angel Food Cake Muffins
Equipment
- Hand or stand mixer
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup AP flour
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 lemons
- 6 egg whites freshly separated
- 3/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Lemon Glaze
- 2-3 TBSP lemon juice use the zested lemons from above
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
- Make the lemon sugar by combining the granulated sugar and the zest of two lemons in a bowl. (set the zested lemons aside for the lemon glaze later) Rub the sugar and zest between your fingers to release the lemon oils. Set this bowl aside.
- Whisk together the flour and 2/3 cup of powdered sugar in a separate bowl and set this aside.
- Next, in an oil free and dry bowl add in the egg whites, cream of tartar, vanilla and salt. With a mixer on medium, begin to beat these ingredients together.
- After the egg mixture has been completely mixed, slowly add in the lemon sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Mix slowly in between each added tablespoon. This should take 2-3 minutes to beat all the sugar in.
- Once all the sugar has been added to the egg mixture, turn the mixer on high and beat for 4-5 minutes until the mixture is fluffy.
- Lastly, fold in the flour and powdered sugar mixture to the fluffy eggs with a rubber spatula. Be careful to fold in the flour mixture gently so the eggs don't deflate.
- When the flour has been completely mixed in, scoop the batter into the lined muffin tin with a 1/4 cup measuring cup.
- Bake for 14-16 minutes. Then, crack the oven door and allow the muffins to cool inside the cracked oven for another 15 minutes.
- While the muffins are baking, make the lemon glaze.
- Once the muffins are completely cooled, drizzle on the lemon glaze.
- For even more decadent flavor, serve the muffins with your favorite jam!
Lemon Glaze
- Combine 3/4 cup of powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice in a small bowl. Whisk them together until the desired consistency is achieved; adding more lemon juice if needed. You want the glaze to pourable but not too runny so it will stick to the muffins.
One response to “Simple Lemon Angel Food Cake Muffins”
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Looks delicious! Perfect summertime treat. Can’t wait to try these.
Looks delicious! Perfect summertime treat. Can’t wait to try these.