Last weekend, I drove home to Oklahoma for my baby brother’s college graduation. I remember when he was tiny, and I was terrified of dropping him. Now he’s all grown up, and a few inches taller than I am.
A couple of years ago, he developed an interest in videography out of nowhere. Now, he’s made a business of it. He’s going to come up to Kansas City soon and help me make some Cookie and Kate videos! We’re both stubborn perfectionists, and we’re both always right, so stay tuned for how that turns out.
My mom asked me to bring home some muffins to help with breakfast. I was already planning to make these with some frozen berries that Cascadian Farm sent to me, so it was perfect timing. Usually, when I bake muffins for the blog, I just freeze them for later. Watching my family enjoy them was way more fun.
These raspberry muffins are based on my carrot muffins and apple muffins. Like the others, they are marvelously fluffy and moist, but made with 100 percent whole grains, and naturally sweetened, too. I added some lemon zest, which infuses the muffins with light lemon flavor, in between bursts of jammy raspberries.
Raspberries won’t be in season for a couple more months, and strawberries are just beginning to ripen up, so frozen berries were the perfect solution. Since raspberries (also blueberries and blackberries) are so small, you can fold them right into muffin batters without defrosting them first.
Berries are are typically treated with pesticides on the field, so it’s best to buy organic when possible. In fact, strawberries are at the top of the Dirty Dozen list this year, so they are the most important fruit to buy organic.
Frozen organic fruit is a great year-round option, and it’s less expensive than buying fresh organic fruit. I love to use frozen fruits in baked goods and desserts, and savor fresh, in-season fruit in its delicious raw state. You can enjoy these muffins any time you’re craving a sweet, fruity breakfast treat!
Lemon Raspberry Muffins
- Author:
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 22 mins
- Total Time: 32 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
- Category: Baked goods
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
These delicious raspberry muffins are moist and fluffy. They’re healthier than most, too, since they are made from whole wheat flour and naturally sweetened with honey. Recipe yields 1 dozen muffins.
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup honey or maple syrup
- 2 eggs, preferably at room temperature
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt*
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Zest of 1 medium lemon (about ½ teaspoon)
- 1½ cups Cascadian Farm Organic Frozen Raspberries (from one 10-ounce bag)
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (also called raw sugar), for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If necessary, grease all 12 cups on your muffin tin with butter, coconut oil or cooking spray (my pan is non-stick and doesn’t require any grease).
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Blend well with a whisk.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oil and honey or maple syrup and beat together with a whisk. Add the eggs and beat well, then add the yogurt, vanilla and lemon zest. Mix well. (If the coconut oil solidifies in contact with cold ingredients, gently warm the mixture in the microwave in 30 second bursts.)
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a big spoon, just until combined (a few lumps are ok). Gently fold the raspberries into the batter. The mixture will be thick, but don’t worry.
- Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups (I used an ice cream scoop with a wire level, which worked perfectly). Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar. Bake the muffins for 22 to 24 minutes, or until the muffins are golden on top and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
- Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. You might need to run a butter knife along the outer edge of the muffins to loosen them from the pan. If you have leftover muffins, store them, covered, at room temperature for 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Freeze leftover muffins for up to 3 months.
Notes
Recipe adapted from my carrot muffins.
Make it vegan: You can replace the eggs with flax eggs. Replace the yogurt with a smaller amount of vegan buttermilk—just mix ⅔ cup non-dairy milk with 2 teaspoons vinegar. Let it rest for 5 minutes before adding it to the other liquid ingredients. Or, use 1 cup vegan yogurt.
Make it dairy free: See buttermilk option above.
Make it egg free: Substitute flax eggs for the regular eggs.
Make it gluten free: Substitute an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend for the whole wheat flour. Bob’s Red Mill makes a GF blend that works well.
*Note on Greek yogurt: I’ve used a variety of fat percentages and the muffins have always turned out well. Higher fat yogurt will yield a somewhat more rich muffin. You can also substitute plain (not Greek) yogurt, but your muffins might not rise quite as high.
▸ Nutrition Information
This post was created in partnership with Cascadian Farm and I received compensation for my participation. Opinions are my own, always. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who support C+K!
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Nicole
I used buttermilk because that is what I had on hand, AP flour, and honey. These were bright and delicious! Will be putting in our breakfast rotation. Thank you for such a great recipe!
★★★★★
Julie
These are delicious muffins!! I followed the recipe using almond milk with vinegar and subbed one teaspoon almond extract for one of the teaspoons of vanilla extract. Soooo good. I made these in full size and mini. Thanks for the tasty treat!
★★★★★
Meghan Benner
Very easy to make and they tasted so good. I made them with maple syrup and not honey.
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for your review, Meghan!
Madison
I really enjoyed these muffins! Almost like a fruit explosion! I did tweak it a little because I only had sweetened vanilla bean Greek yogurt – I halved the maple syrup, and omitted the vanilla extract. I also used whole wheat pastry flour as I didn’t have regular whole wheat flour. Turned out great!
★★★★★
Kate
I love it! Thank you for sharing, Madison.
Robin
Delish. Made with white ww flour, maple syrup, and frozen raspberries. I may have put in more lemon zest because I really wanted it to shine. Excellent muffins. Thanks.
Danielle Mangnus
They look good. How many calories?
Kate
Hi Danielle! The nutritional information is below the recipe.
Kelly
I tried these with flax eggs and Bobs Red Mill GF flour, they turned out gooey. Any suggestions? I cooked them longer than the receipt called for.
Kate
Hi, I’m sorry to hear that! It’s likely since you used flax eggs and gluten free flour. That combination can be tricky.
Margaret
I did not like this recipe. It was pretty fussy, having to remelt my wet ingredients was extra work (the coconut oil hardened, and I had to temper my eggs to keep the pull 3 from cooking them), and the muffins emerged with greasy bottoms, which did not look nice at all. The flavor was pretty good 3 star), but would have benefitted from lemon juice.
★★
Kate
Hi Margaret, I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy this recipe.
Sally
These muffins are AMAZING!! I use avocado oil and honey and the muffins always turn out so light and perfect. My husband requests them before any other kind of muffins or cookies:)
★★★★★
Kate
I love that! Thank you for sharing, Sally.
Carrie
Hi Kate! This is the second recipe of yours that I have made to perfection!! I love that you make creating in the kitchen fun and easy. I didn’t have a cupcake pan so I made this one as a loaf. I followed the baking time for your banana bread, which is what I will make next (waiting for the bananas to ripen). Thank you for another hit in the kitchen! I feel so empowered to make wonderfully, healthy recipes that taste great, and you have made that possible. My next purchase will be your Love Real Food Cookbook. Thank you again for making cooking and baking fun, easy and delicious!!!
★★★★★
Kate
That’s great to hear, Carrie! I’m glad you are enjoying my recipes.
El Brownlie
Easy and delicious. I added some lemon juice for a little extra kick, plus they weren’t too sweet which I always appreciate!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for sharing, El!
Lysanne
Hi! Can I use fresh Raspberries?
Kate
Hi, they may work ok. I prefer frozen for this recipe. Let me know how it turns out for you!
Annick
These came out insanely delicious! Super sweet and so full of flavor. They make a wonderful breakfast or snack!! Everyone was asking me to share the recipe :)
★★★★★
Kate
Great to hear! Thank you for your review.