Lemon-Yogurt Muffins

This is from the Williams Sonoma Baking Book that my mother-in-law bought me for Christmas. I adapted it slightly, of course, but I highly recommend either version!

Lemon-Yogurt Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 1/4 cups plain yogurt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
5 Tbsp butter, melted
1/4 tsp pure lemon extract or lemon oil* (optional)

For the Topping

1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans*
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp ground mace*

* I used sliced almonds instead because I love lemon and almond together. I also added just a hint of almond extract to my muffins instead of the lemon extract. Further, you can opt for cinnamon instead of mace if it is all you have on hand.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with baking cups.

In a bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest. Make a well in the center and add the yogurt, eggs, melted butter, lemon juice, and lemon/almond extract. Fold together just until combined. The batter should be fluffy and lumpy. Spoon the batter in to the muffin cups.

For the topping, mix together the nuts, sugar, and mace/cinammon. Sprinkle each muffin with an equal amount of the topping.

Bake the muffins until golden around the edges and when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Around 15-20 mins. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for about 5 minutes then remove the muffins from the pan and let cool again on the wire rack. You can eat these while they are still warm though too:)