Lemon Raspberry Muffins
Fluffy raspberry muffins made with whole wheat flour and naturally sweetened with honey. These healthy raspberry muffins taste amazing!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 30, 2024
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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!
Watch How to Make Lemony Raspberry Muffins
Lemon Raspberry Muffins
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
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
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!
Looking forward to trying this and a few of your other muffin recipes this weekend. If I want to make these as mini muffins, at what temperature and for how long would you recommend I bake them?
Hi! To do mini muffins, it should work to just cut the time in half. Be sure to watch them though so they don’t get over done.
These are some of our favorite muffins! There has never been a recipe of yours I didn’t like!
Made these delicious muffins this morning.
I only had fresh raspberries which basically disintegrated in the cooking but still good flavor. Added some frozen blueberries too which made the muffins more attractive. Love the whole wheat aspect. Will make these again!!
I’m happy you enjoyed them, Don! Thank you for sharing.
I tried your recipe with a few replacements and they turned out delicious! I used 3/4 cup oat flour & 1 cup whole grain flour instead of WW flour. And I was making it to share with my toddler so I reduced the sweetness and used 1/6 cup of date syrup instead, although I did add some dark choc chips to the “adult” muffins. Toddler loved it and the adults did too. Great recipe, will definitely bake them again!
That’s great to hear, Sunitha! I appreciate your review.
Holy cow- these are packed with raspberry flavor. I used plain skyr as my yogurt and topped with brown sugar instead of turbinado. Absolutely delicious!
Great to hear, Val!
These muffins were very flavorful and delicious! I did add lemon juice and a crumb topping, which in my opinion was a great addition (even though the crumb topping makes it less healthy lol) :)
Great to hear, Leah! I appreciate your review.
Made these last night with fresh raspberries picked in our yard! Super easy and delicious. I added 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut shreds because I love lemon and coconut together. I skipped the sugar topping and mixed 1/2 c confectioners sugar with 2 Tbsp lemon juice to make a sweet lemon glaze that I drizzled on top. Absolutely yummy and easy.
Made exactly as described with fresh raspberries and King Arthur wheat flour, was delicious! Had to pop the batter back in the microwave for 30 seconds and add a splash of water to moisten it back up, nbd. Was looking for nutritional info though and couldn’t find it.
These look delicious and I will be trying, but does anyone happen to know the amount of calories, and the. nutrition facts? It is probably somewhere on here, but I cannot find them.
Hi Reagan! The nutritional information is below the notes section of the blog.
These were so easy to make and tasted heavenly! Will absolutely make these again.
Great to hear, Heather!
Could you make these with fresh raspberries or would the moisture content be too high?
Hi! I recommend this recipe best as written.
The raspberry and lemon burst of flavour, so good! Substituted the yogurt and flax seeds with what I had, chia seeds and sour cream. Used honey and olive oil. Didn’t have whole wheat flour so used half unbleached all purpose and half whole wheat pastry flour. Had to substitute raw sugar with brown sugar and mixed in a little cinnamon.
What do you think about throwing in some white chocolate chips?
Making this tomorrow
I haven’t tried it. Let me know what you think!
These muffins are delish! My husband & I love them! All I had was All- purpose flour & I used maple syrup and instead of the coconut oil, I used Lemon EVOO. Next time I’m going to try it with blueberries and the turbinado sugar which I didn’t have this time. Thank you so much for the recipe! I’ll be making these again soon :)
That’s great to hear, Susan!
Also they worked out perfectly even tho I’m in UK and wasn’t sure how to measure in cups! We weigh everything so no room for error, but wasn’t sure how much to pack into a cup! Do you loosely fill a cup with flour, not pack it down and add more? Thanks for advice.
Hi Nicola! I use the “spoon and level” method and I’ve been meaning to publish a post to show how that works! Basically, give your flour a stir, then use a large spoon to transfer flour into the cup, then level off the top with a knife (never pack it).
Thanks so much! I’ll be trying your carrot ones next!
Do these freeze well?
Typically muffins are good when frozen. Let me know how it turns out for you!
Amazing! I don’t often like wholefood muffins but these were beautiful! So easy to make, tasty, and my 11 year old daughter loves them too!
I have yet to make a muffin recipe from Kate that isn’t amazing. This one did not disappoint. I made a few changes, one being an accident that turned out amazing. My daughter didn’t want lemon so we left that out and added chocolate chips. I accidentally reached for the almond extract instead of vanilla and had already poured it in before I noticed. It turned out to be a great mistake! Other than those two changes I followed the recipe exact.
Wonderful to hear, Alice!
Hi, can I make this into a quick bread? If so any modifications?
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure. If you try it, let m know!
They are good but too sticky and they stuck to muffin wrappers. Also, recipe says the zest of 1 lemon but then says 1/2 tsp. The zest of one lemon is more like 1 tbs and and so I think that is a typo. Will eat them but won’t make them again.
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t love it, Sarah.
Complete baking novice here. I don’t have a muffin tin. Could I just use the same amount of ingredients in a loaf or round tin or would I need to consider anything else?
I haven’t tried this as a loaf so I can’t say for sure.
Could I use the quantity for 12 muffins also in a round or loaf tin?
Thanks!
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure, sorry!
These look so yum! Do you know if you could swap the Greek yogurt for cottage cheese? I’m out of yogurt right now!
Did you try it?
I wonder how this recipe would turn out with blended cottage cheese instead of yogurt? Has anyone tried it?