Zesty Poppy Seed Muffins

Ah muffins, it seems like forever since we last talked.. though it's true I tend to lose track of time.
It was nice to feel your voice against my tastebuds again, your aroma in my kitchen, and your purring in my heart.
The last of my precious poppy seed paste finally made it into it's original destiny... muffins.  I was afraid to "waste" it on something so simple, so I made Khus Khus Curry and Rugelachs, where it was able to shine for one of its original purposes, but I saved just enough to make muffins, which I had been wanting to do all along.
Why does it take such a long time for me to hear what I'm telling myself?

Yield 12 muffins

Ingredients

2 eggs, well beaten

100g (3.5oz) cane sugar
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast

1 packet vanilla sugar

zest from 1 lemon

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup milk

60g (2oz) poppy seed paste

60g (2oz) canola oil

3/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

100g (3.5oz) whole wheat flour

25g (0.9oz) cornmeal

25g (0.9oz) buckwheat flour

50g (1.8oz) raisins

Poppy seeds for garnish

Directions

1.  Beat together the eggs, sugar, nutritional yeast, vanilla, milk, lemon juice and zest, oil, and poppy paste.  Beat it well.  The mixture should not be pasty.  If it is, add just a bit of milk. 

2.  Sift together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Carefully stir in the flour mixture until just combined, then stir in the raisins.

3.  Fill your buttered muffin tins 3/4 full, sprinkle some poppy seeds on top and bake for 18-20 minutes at 180°C 350°F.

These muffins are quite interesting indeed.  The poppy flavor is very present, and the tang of the lemon zest creeps up on you later on, which is pleasant.  I don't know why I went about mixing all those flours together, but sometimes I just do things and only realize it when I sit down to write everything I performed.  The mix worked well here.  If I had more, I would have used a full 100g poppy paste.  I had to spoon the last bit out of that darling little jar to get my 60g.  It ends up being the perfect amount.  The lemon balances out the bitterness of the poppy and the sugar is barely there.. just floating by, just to remind us that this is a muffin.

It feels nice to be baking again.. maybe I'll continue this weekend.