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 brotherโs college graduation. I remember when he was tiny, and I was terrified of dropping him. Now heโs 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, heโs made a business of it. Heโs going to come up to Kansas City soon and help me make some Cookie and Kate videos! Weโre both stubborn perfectionists, and weโre 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 berries from my freezer, 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 wonโt 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 itโs 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 itโs 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 youโre craving a sweet, fruity breakfast treat!
Watch How to Make Lemony Raspberry Muffins
Lemon Raspberry Muffins
These delicious raspberry muffins are moist and fluffy. Theyโre healthier than most, too, since they are made from whole wheat flour and naturally sweetened with honey. Recipe yields 1 dozen muffins.
Ingredients
- 1ยพ cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ยฝ teaspoon baking soda
- ยฝ teaspoon fine salt
- โ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil
- ยฝ 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 ยฝ teaspoon)
- 1ยฝ cups frozen raspberriesย (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 doesnโt 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 donโt 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 buttermilkโjust mix โ 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. Bobโs Red Mill makes a GF blend that works well.
*Note on Greek yogurt: Iโve 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 nutritionistโs advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
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 donโt get over done.
These are some of our favorite muffins! There has never been a recipe of yours I didnโt 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!!
Iโm 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 โadultโ muffins. Toddler loved it and the adults did too. Great recipe, will definitely bake them again!
Thatโs 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 couldnโt 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. Didnโt 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 havenโt 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 Iโm going to try it with blueberries and the turbinado sugar which I didnโt have this time. Thank you so much for the recipe! Iโll be making these again soon :)
Thatโs great to hear, Susan!
Also they worked out perfectly even tho Iโm in UK and wasnโt sure how to measure in cups! We weigh everything so no room for error, but wasnโt 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 โspoon and levelโ method and Iโve 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! Iโll 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 donโt 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 isnโt amazing. This one did not disappoint. I made a few changes, one being an accident that turned out amazing. My daughter didnโt 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 havenโt tried it so I canโt 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 wonโt make them again.
Iโm sorry to hear you didnโt love it, Sarah.
Complete baking novice here. I donโt 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 havenโt tried this as a loaf so I canโt say for sure.
Could I use the quantity for 12 muffins also in a round or loaf tin?
Thanks!
I havenโt tried it so I canโt say for sure, sorry!
These look so yum! Do you know if you could swap the Greek yogurt for cottage cheese? Iโm 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?
Made these true to recipe and they are so delicious
Hi Kate, Can you make this with AP flour (for the raspberry lemon muffins)? Thx! Kim
Sure, Kim. It should still work. Let me know how it turns out for you!
Lovely. I omitted the lemon and substituted the oil for a mix of mashed banana and natural peanut butter. Great healthy muffins
Thank you for your review, C!
These turn out great, I usually add a cup of ground flax instead of a cup flour and make 3x the recipe. Thanks for the option of tripling the recipe.
Absolutely loved these!
Could these be made with whole wheat pastry flour?
Hi
I live in the UK and love your recipes and ethos. However, the recipes use a cup measurement and I do not know the equivalent in grams or ounces.
Thank you.
Hi Hayley, thank you for your feedback. It is on my list of long term goals to add weights of ingredients to my baking recipes.
These are delicious with a lovely, fluffy texture. I made a couple of minor changes:
1/3 cup of honey
1 cup whole wheat flour + 3/4 cup of white flour
1 tsp vanilla
Regular full-fat yogurt mixed with a little sour cream
Mixed frozen berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries)
I plan to freeze them and make them again soon! Thank you!
Very good, thanks for the recipe. My only complaint is they come out with a dry texture- does anyone know how to fix that? Thanks:)
Hi Jaden, you may want to test the muffins with a toothpick a few minutes earlier. It sounds like they were just slightly overbaked.
Baking these right now and canโt wait to taste them! The recipe is so quick and easy โ and judging by the licking-of-the-spoon โ I know these will be delicious!
Can I use fresh raspberries instead of frozen ones for this recipe?
Hi Liza, yes fresh should work fine.
I substitute a bit of the flour for protein powder when making these for my son, he loves them as a healthier version of high protein muffins.
Do u think this recipe would work if cooked in a loaf tin? Flat slices would make it easier for me to store in the freezer.
Hi Marion, yes, you could make these in a loaf tin. Iโd use the baking instructions in my healthy banana bread as a guide.
Hi Kate, tbsnks for this recipe. The flavors are spot on. I used coconut oil and maple syrup with a dash of Fiori di Sicilia extract in addition to the vanilla.
Before making these, I read the comments because itโs August and the fresh raspberries were on sale so I bought extra. However, I figured the liquid might be a problem for the dough or they would break apart while folding them. So I froze them for about 40 minutes. But that only delayed the problem in a way. My raspberries were very large. I used 10 ounces but maybe there were too many. I wish this recipe had been written with weights for all the ingredients as well as measurements. Itโs possible the flour was scant because I was careful not to overload the cups when measuring.
Because the raspberries were so big, they prevented the muffin batter from baking evenly, so I had to put some muffins into the oven for an additional 10 minutes. But the flavors were nice. I think a new recipe could be written using a heavier dough with fresh raspberries, like a scone dough, perhaps. Or using corn flour? Iโm no expert in tinkering with the ratios of dry to liquid ingredients. But it was worth a shot! Thanks again for making your recipes available and not behind a pay wall.
Maybe some day I will try again using the frozen ones from the frozen section.
Hello, thank you for sharing your experience! The fresh versus frozen raspberries make a difference. I have begun converting some baking recipes to weights but it is an ongoing process. I appreciate the feedback.