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Raspberry Muffins |  |
Bakery-Style Muffins Made from Scratch in Just One Bowl, No Mixer Required. Stay Fresh for Several Days. Fun Picnic Food. Budget Friendly. Weekday Doable, Weekend Special. Breakfast & Brunch Friendly. Vegetarian.
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COMPLIMENTS!
- "Wow. Delicious. Thank you so much." ~ Guys working on our pool, licking their fingers.
Summer Goals: More Muffins.
Spring's in full swing around here.
The air is golden with swoops of wild canaries, eight or ten at a time grappling for prime position at the feeders. A bluebird alights on a fence post, then nabs a perch among the goldfinches: their blue and yellow feathers are as resplendent as a Ukrainian flag waving in the wind. A Carolina wren built an ill-fated nest inside the grill: one of the grill's air holes looks juuuust like a birdhouse entrance.
The peas are planted along the fenceline, oops, not doing well. The Artichokes — we've named them Vera Mae and Oscar — may soon stand as tall as small humans.
All this and morning muffins, too?
Life is good. Let's put it on a t-shirt or something.
What's In Raspberry Muffins? Pantry Ingredients!
In all my recipes and most well-written recipes, every ingredient serves a purpose. Each one matters. Each one contributes to the overall dish. It's not that an ingredient can't be substituted by something else but when choosing the substitute, it's important to understand why the original ingredient was present in the first place.
- Those Pretty-Pretty Raspberries! Fresh raspberries work especially well, both in the batter itself plus just one atop each muffin for a fun, festive appearance. Frozen raspberries also work well in the batter. Raspberries are a bit large, that's why it's good to cut each one into halves or quarters, that way they distribute more evenly throughout the muffins.
- All the Usual Wet Ingredients butter + sugar + 1 egg + buttermilk or milk + lemon extract or lemon zest
- Very Typical Dry Ingredients flour + baking powder + baking soda + salt
- For a Subtle Rustic Texture Cornmeal is what keeps these sweet treats in the land of muffins vs the world of cupcakes. But this isn't the time to pull out that coarse cornmeal that makes the best cornbread. Instead, use a finely ground cornmeal, it comes in small cardboard cylinders. Yellow cornmeal gives the muffins a pretty golden cast but texture-wise, white cornmeal works just fine.
- For a Crisp Muffin Top Before baking, sprinkle the top of each muffin with a little raw sugar, that's the larger, pale brown crystals. The raw sugar gives the muffins a crisp, crackly sweetness in every bite, very cool. Sadly, plain white sugar adds sweetness without the crispness. Just buy a bag! It keeps and really adds to muffins, quick breads, even some unfrosted cakes.
How to Make Raspberry Muffins
The detailed recipe is written in traditional recipe form below but here are the highlights in four easy steps. You can do this!
- Soften the butter in the microwave.
- Mix all the ingredients by hand in a single bowl, no mixer required.
- Fill the muffin cups and top each one with a little raw sugar and a single fresh raspberry.
- Bake at 350F/180C for 25-30 minutes. Let cool a bit, then dig in!
You Might Wonder Be Wondering ...
Have another question? Ask away, I'll do my best to answer!
- Is this really a "small batch" of muffins? Why do the pictures show so many muffins? Um, real life? My first few batches, I baked the usual dozen muffins. Then, while updating a special collection of recipes for small households, Cooking for One or Two, I realized how nice it is, for just the two of us, to bake just six muffins at a time and how easy that is to do that in just one bowl, no mixer required. But don't worry. The recipe perfectly doubles (no half eggs, etc.) for an even dozen muffins.
- Where did the six-cup muffin pans come from? Six-cup muffin pans are so hard to find anymore! Mine come from Williams-Sonoma's non-stick Gold-Touch Pro collection. I love these pans! No doubt, they're on the pricey side but maybe I'm entitled? After all, until now I've used the same set of baking pans purchased at the Iowa State Fair way back in the 1980s. After so many years, one cookie sheet has disappeared entirely and the cake pans leak through pin-prick holes. So I figure these Williams-Sonoma pans will likely outlive me, so far, the muffin pans and a pizza crisper and the mini tart pan. FYI, this is not a sponsored post, I'm just sharing products that work for me.
- Can you skip the lemon extract? Yes! Just substitute vanilla for lemon extract, then if you like, add a tiny splash of almond extract too. Fresh lemon zest also works nicely, especially if done with a microplane (affiliate link) that scrapes off larger bits of zest. Lime zest is quite lovely. Orange zest would be another choice.
- What about blackberries instead of raspberries? Maybe. Blackberries are both larger and sturdier than raspberries. Would they work? I think so but can't promise for sure. UPDATE Blackberries do "work" but just aren't as special, that lovely sourness of raspberries just isn't there, nor is the pretty color. Still. If you only have blackberries? Go for it.
- Can these Raspberry Muffins be gluten-free? Probably. I haven't tested a gluten-free version but in other recipes, have great luck substituting King Arthur's Measure for Measure Gluten-Free Flour to substitute for all-purpose flour. If you're baking for someone with celiac or a high sensitivity to gluten, please remember that your entire baking environment must be entirely gluten-free, the bowls, the utensils, the baking pans, even the baking powder, baking soda containers. (I think of this every time I reach for baking powder and realize that my hands are a touch floury.)
- Can Raspberry Muffins be converted from vegetarian to vegan? Probably. I haven't tested a vegan version but our great-niece (hi, Niki!) has opened my eyes to how good vegan substitutes are, these days. Here, there are three ingredients that need substitutes. For dairy butter, substitute a plant-based fat like coconut oil, Earth Balance and possibly even almond butter thinned with a vegetable oil. For buttermilk, substitute a plant-based milk, almond milk, oat milk, etc. For egg, the choices are many: packaged egg replacers; ground flax + water; chia + water; applesauce; silken tofu; vegan yogurt; banana; aquafaba aka chickpea cooking liquid. To me, none is an obvious substitute, if any has experience here, please do chime in! This page from Clean Green Simple is an excellent resource.
For Best Results
For my weekly column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, I interviewed chefs and translated their restaurant recipes for home kitchens. The most illuminating question? "How can a home cook ensure the same results?" So now I ask that question of myself, too, for my own recipes. Have another question? Ask away, I'll do my best to answer!
Use Fine Cornmeal Even fine cornmeal adds a touch of texture to to Raspberry Muffins. Skip the coarse stone-ground cornmeal that's so good in cornbread, unless, that is, the cornmeal is very finely ground. I keep Quaker Yellow Cornmeal on hand, not just for muffins but also for dusting pizza crusts, bread doughs and also as a gluten-free thickener in stews.
Cut the Raspberries Up Raspberries are pretty big, you might end up with some muffins with no berries, that'd be a raspberry shame! Just cut the berries into halves or quarters, they'll distribute more evenly through the muffins.
Use a Light Touch Mix the muffin batter by hand. But be gentle, the mix action should really be a "gentle stir" to add the ingredients versus "beating" them in.
Hungry Yet?
A Spring Brunch Menu
Baked Bacon
French Scrambled Eggs or
Never-the-Same-Twice Vegetable Frittata or Spin Dip Baked Eggs or
Asparagus Omelet with Rémoulade Sauce or
Crustless Quiche with Roasted Peppers
Fresh Fruit drizzled with Honey-Sweetened Greek Yogurt
Raspberry Muffins
(recipe below)
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How do you save and share favorite recipes? recipes that fit your personal cooking style? a particular recipe your mom or daughter or best friend would just love? If this simple muffin recipe inspires you, please do save and share! I'd be honored ...
~ PIN This Recipe ~
RASPBERRY MUFFINS
Time-to-table: 1 hour
Makes 6 regular-size muffins (easily doubled for an even dozen muffins)
Fresh and frozen raspberries work equally well in the muffins themselves but one fresh raspberry on top makes the muffins extra-pretty.
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick, 3oz, 85g) salted butter, cut into cubes (see ALANNA's TIPS)
- 6 tablespoons (75g) sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1/3 cup (80g) buttermilk or milk
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract (or zest of half a lemon)
- 1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder (see TIPS)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda (see TIPS)
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- 1 cups (125g) all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup (50g) fine yellow cornmeal
- 3 ounces (85g) fresh or still-frozen raspberries, quartered to distribute evenly
-
TOPPINGS, PER MUFFIN (OPTIONAL BUT REALLY NICE)
- A sprinkle of raw sugar (about 1/2 teaspoon), adds a nice crispness
- A single fresh raspberry gently pressed into the batter, very pretty
PREP Heat the oven to 350F/180C. Spray six cups in a muffin pan. If you're using a twelve-cup pan for six muffins, alternate the cups, leaving an open spot next to a filled cup.
GENTLY SOFTEN THE BUTTER Place the cubed butter in a microwave-safe bowl, loosely cover the cubes with the butter wrapper or a piece of wax paper so butter doesn't splatter all over. Microwave the butter in 10-second bursts until it begins to melt but is mostly still soft. With a large fork (like a meat fork), stir the butter until it's completely melted.
MIX THE BATTER BY HAND Stir in the sugar first, then the egg, then the buttermilk and lemon extract, incorporating well after each.
Sprinkle the baking powder, baking soda and table salt across the top of the muffin batter. Mix in, just until incorporated. Stir in the flour and cornmeal, only mixing in about halfway. Add the raspberries and gently finish mixing the batter, just until the raspberry pieces are evenly distributed and the last bits of flour almost disappear.
DIVIDE Divide the batter evenly among the cups, using a cookie scoop or two spoons, one to scoop and one to scrape.
TOP? If you like, sprinkle a little raw sugar across the tops of the muffins, then gently press one raspberry into the batter, burying it by about a third or a half.
BAKE for 25-30 minutes or until the edges are golden and a cake tester (affiliate link) or a slim knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
COOL for 15 minutes before gently removing from the muffin pans, they're a bit heavy, it helps to use the cake tester to lift them just a bit before pulling from the pan.
SERVE warm or at room temperature. Do enjoy! So wonderful, these!
IF USING UNSALTED BUTTER instead of salted butter, no problem. Just increase the table salt to 1/2 teaspoon.
IS YOUR BUTTER IS ALREADY VERY SOFT Just skip the microwave step, the muffin batter mixes up just as easily and bake off the same.
IF USING MILK instead of buttermilk, no problem. Just increase the baking powder to 1-1/2 teaspoons and omit the baking soda.
TO USE A MIXER This small batch has so little batter, it's really better to mix by hand. But for a double batch, a mixer works just fine. Just use room temperature butter and stir in the raspberries by hand at the end.
MAKE-AHEAD TIPS Raspberry Muffins are definitely best on the first day, especially, swoon, still slightly warm from the oven. That said, they do stay fresh and enjoyable through the fourth day though the muffin top loses its sugary crispness.
If using frozen berries, cut them up, then return to the freezer until ready to be turned into the batter; otherwise, the berry juice will stain the batter, not as pretty. If you decide to skip the cutting step, be sure to break apart any raspberry clumps before mixing into the batter. Really love raspberries? I hear you! Double the raspberries, add a couple of extra tablespoons of sugar and make 8 or 9 muffins instead of 6.
FOR MORE INFO If you "skipped straight to the recipe," please scroll back to the top of this page for ingredient information, ingredient substitutions, tips and more.
If you print this recipe, you'll want to check the recipe online for even more tips and extra information about ingredient substitutions, best results and more. See https://www.kitchenparade.com/2023/05/raspberry-muffins.html .
My Disclosure PromiseSeasonal Cooking: Height of Spring, Across the Years
Easy-Easy Jam Tart Chameleon Ice Cream Rhubarb Sorbet Raspberry Morning Cake Strawberry Banana Chocolate Crumble Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler Poppy Seed Cake Recipes Fish with Herb Butter Herb-Coated Broiled Fish Strawberry Salsa with Sweet-Cinnamon Baked Tortilla Chips Savory Cauliflower Cake Finnish Strawberry Whipped Cream Cake Deep Mexico: Ingredient-Driven Mexican Meal Prep Lime Crema Best Quick Tomato Salsa (Red Salsa) Healthy Smoothies: Recipes & Tips
- THE RECIPE Rhubarb Muffins Whole grain, less sweet.
- ANOTHER TAKE Rhubarb Cake Simple and rustic, less sweet to taste rhubarb's wonderful "sour". (PIN This)
- THE RECIPE Make-Ahead Bran Muffin Batter Mix now, bake later in small batches including a single mug in the microwave. (PIN This)
- ANOTHER TAKE Hearty Heart-Loving Muffins Moist and flavorful with all the traditional Morning Glory goodies.
- THE RECIPE Banana-Peanut Butter Muffins Whole-wheat muffins with banana, peanut butter and chocolate. (PIN This)
- ANOTHER TAKE Banana Streusel Muffins A super-moist banana muffin recipe topped with a "streusel" mix of toasted nuts and cinnamon. (PIN This)
Ready for Raspberries?!
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~ Raspberry Morning Cake ~
more
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from Kitchen Parade
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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences.
Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail, you'll find my current address in the FAQs. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, for more scratch cooking recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.
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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. But I also love hearing your reactions, your curiosity, even your concerns! When you've made a recipe, I especially love to know how it turned out, what variations you made, what you'll do differently the next time. ~ Alanna