I am in love with this new recipe for whole wheat lemon raspberry muffins! It’s so good I think I want one with frosting on top for my birthday (which is not until May, but a girl can plan ahead)! The raspberries and lemon complement each other so well, and it’s such a nice diversion from the usual muffin flavors. You will also love this Raspberry Bread!
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Lemon raspberry muffins with whole wheat flour and real food ingredients
These flavor-packed lemon raspberry muffins are made with whole wheat flour and have no refined sugar. I always advocate eating real food, and leaving out the processed ingredients really brings out the natural flavors of the fresh lemon zest and raspberries in this muffin recipe. Check out these red fruits too!
Instead of sugar, I used ½ cup of pure maple syrup to balance out the tartness of the raspberry and lemon. You can easily substitute the sugar with other natural sweeteners such as honey or applesauce, but I find the maple flavor compliments the fruit flavors perfectly.
Learn all about the different types of berries!
How to use fresh or frozen raspberries in these lemon raspberry muffins
I love baking with frozen raspberries! Since they’re preserved immediately after picking, frozen raspberries can actually be more flavorful than the fresh ones you buy at the store. Frozen berries are also a great way to eat real food on a budget.
The downside to frozen raspberries is that they can become mushy very quickly, which means instead of delicious chunks of raspberry in your muffins you wind up with lemon and raspberry flavored muffins (and dyed batter). To avoid this, leave your raspberries in the freezer until you’re ready to use them. Once you add the berries, don’t let them warm up while you fold them into the batter or fill your muffin pan.
If you prefer using fresh raspberries you don’t need to worry about thawing, but you should still make sure to fold gently since raspberries, especially ripe ones, mash easily.
How to zest a lemon
The fresh lemon zest is what adds the lemon flavor in these lemon raspberry muffins! If you’ve never zested a lemon before, you’re essentially just grating the peel with a fine grater. I recommend using a microplane (over a zester) for the best texture.
To zest, first clean and dry your lemon. Then place the end of your microplane on the cutting board, holding it with one hand on an angle. With the other hand, run the lemon back and forth on the microplane; the grated lemon will fall on the cutting board below.
- Don’t grate the white part of the lemon peel. This part is bitter on all citrus fruit.
- You only need a small amount of lemon zest; adding too much can overpower the raspberry flavor in these muffins.
- Be gentle as you zest and don’t press down too firmly.
- The microplane is VERY sharp so be careful not to slip and cut your hand or fingers!
If you don’t have a lemon zester or microplane you can also use a box grater or cheese grater. Choose the smallest size option and then run the lemon back and forth until you have 1 teaspoon of zest.
For more baking resources, check out this Teaspoons and Tablespoons guide. Use the zest in our Lemon Blueberry Bread!
Can I use lemon juice instead of lemon zest?
Lemon zest and lemon juice have slightly different flavors and levels of acidity, but if lemon zest isn’t an option, 100% freshly squeezed lemon juice will work in a pinch.
To substitute the lemon zest with lemon juice in these lemon raspberry muffins, first skip the step where you add zest. Then add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice with the other wet ingredients.
Lemon juice can sometimes taste more tart than zest, but you probably won’t notice a huge difference in this muffin recipe because there are so many other flavors to balance it out.
How to store whole wheat lemon raspberry muffins
Cooled leftover muffins (if you even have any leftovers!) can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days, or in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Muffins can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature, in the fridge, or in the microwave for a quick, healthy snack or grab and go breakfast.
I hope your kids gobble up these lemon raspberry muffins like mine did. I’d love to hear what they think in the comments below. :)
Other muffin recipes you might like
- Whole Wheat Banana (Nut) Muffins
- Whole Wheat Carrot Applesauce Muffins
- Apple Walnut Muffins
- Blueberry, Fruit, Nut (or anything you want) Whole Wheat Muffins
Whole-Wheat Lemon Raspberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/2 cup butter (softened but not melted (1 stick))
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup frozen raspberries (no need to defrost)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper or silicone liners and set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest (I usually use a zester, but I just ordered a microplane because I’ve been told it’s much easier!).
- In a large bowl fitted with an electric whisk (or beaters), cream the butter until smooth.
- Turn the speed down to low and slowly add in the egg, syrup, milk and vanilla.
- With the speed still on low slowly add in the flour, scraping the sides of the bowl if necessary.
- Carefully fold in the raspberries with a spatula until well combined.
- Use a small ice cream scooper or large spoon to add the batter to the muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick comes cleans when inserted in the center, about 18 to 20 minutes.
These are so good! I used fresh berries from the garden and they turned out wonderful. Lisa, all of your recipes that I have tried are wonderful and my family loves them. Thank you so much for sharing your journey and inspiring so many other mom’s who want to keep their families eating healthy and “real”.
This is the first of your recipes that I’ve looked at and it poses a slight problem. I have diabetes and need to watch carbs carefully. Is nutrition information available?
Hi Justina. We do not provide nutrition info because our focus is on getting people to eat real food and less so on numbers. We understand that it is necessary with certain conditions to know all the details. There are several tools available online that will give you that info when you plug in the recipe. Here is an example: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/. ~Amy
Colleen, did you try with coconut oil? Would this recipe use salted or unsalted butter?
Colleen, I havent made this recipe, but I have replaced butter and other oils with coconut oil with much success. I baked some whole wheat blueberry muffins made with coconut oil for fathers day and they were fabulous.
Thanks Meghan! Will certainly give it a try. Will repost my results!
Want to try these – but with coconut oil instead of butter – anyone try this? I am not opposed to butter, but I am on a coconut oil kick! Thanks :)
I made these and they game out very mushy. What can I do differently?
Hi there. Not sure what might have gone wrong. They should not have been mushy but fluffy. Could you have measured a liquid wrong? Maybe go a bit longer on cooking time. ~Amy
Do you ever work out the nutritional info for your delicious recipes? These look delicious, but I am on a pretty strict calorie count and don’t want to blow out my daily allowance on one muffin.
Thanks!!
According to https://www.verywellfit.com/about-us each muffin has 192 calories.
If I don’t have an electric beater…?
I am at my daughters with no electric beaters so I mixed them by hand. I was worried because the butter didn’t seem to cream well or mix smoothly with the other wet ingredients but they were wonderful!! I just made a second batch :)
Just tried this recipe this evening…fantastic! They are amazing! Fluffy and tart.
I live in Ruidoso, NM…6,800 altitude. What changes do I make to the recipe?
Hi. This should helpf: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipe/high-altitude-baking.html. ~Amy
Can I use Lactaid (whole) for the milk in this recipe? My daughter is lactose intolerant. She can handle little so with the butter I was hoping I could use her Lactaid. Thanks.
Hi Amber. That should work. :)
I just made these this weekend, and my kids (12,9,5, and 3) all fought over who would get to eat the last one. Even my 12 year old who claimed he “doesn’t like whole-wheat” ate 3 of them. I will be making a double batch next time, probably tomorrow!
These were fabulous! Didn’t have raspberries so used blueberries instead and swapped honey for the maple syrup. Yum!
Another HUGE hit in my house. I made a double batch, half with and half without the frozen fruit. My husband and son both LOVED them. Added the juice of a lemon just to give them an extra lemony taste and they were just right for us. I think my family are falling in love with these muffin recipes :D
Can I use fresh (instead of frozen) raspberries in the lemon raspberry muffin recipe? Thank you!
Hi Erin. You can but you will find that the raspberries and will change the color of your muffin. :)
Yum!
We didn’t have frozen raspberries, so I used blueberries. Otherwise followed the recipe exactly and they came out so yummy!
I’ve been meaning to make these for awhile and finally did last night. Wow…best muffin I’ve ever eaten, no joke! My husband loved them too. I made no changes to the recipe and it came out perfectly! Will be making these over and over again. :)
I made these with quiona flour (Homemade in food processor) 1/2 whole wheat flour and blue berries instead. Great muffins!
Made these yesterday with Blackberries (since the grocery store didn’t have any raspberries) and they were a big hit! Very moist and delicious!
Just made these muffins with my son, they are so delicious. It will be a toss up which is my favourite now…carrot or these!!! This is my first comment on your blog, I have been following your site for a few months now and I love it!
Success! Tried again and they are delicious!
I made these with dairy free butter and almond milk. They are delicious. Thank you!
I love this recipe, when Lisa mentioned it as her birthday cupcake that inspired me to turn this into a cake.
I use Bob’s Red Mill All Purposed Gluten Free Flour, 1/2 cup of coconut oil instead of butter, 1/2 cup of honey instead of maple syrup (all I had on hand) and 1/2 cup of Almond Milk instead of Milk. Always turns out amazing!! I also make the cream cheese frosting for those who are not gluten and dairy intolerant.
I’m bummed! I made these tonight and they didn’t come out right for some reason. They didn’t rise like a regular muffin and they just crumbled. Not a light texture at all. Never had any muffins come out like this. I’ll try again.
A friend mentioned baking these last week and had me at “lemon raspberry.” I’m so glad she mentioned them and linked the recipe! These are quite possibly the best muffins I’ve ever had (typed as I wipe muffin crumbs from my face)
Can you use olive oil in place of butter? If so, would you use the same 1/2 cup? Thank you!
Hi Ali. Our typical sub for butter is coconut oil. ~Amy
I made these last night and they are the best muffins I’ve ever made. I only had half a lemon, so I used some juice from it as well as the zest. Thank you for this recipe. I’ll definitely be making them again!
I’m not a prolific baker, but this is the first muffin recipe I’ve seen that doesn’t require absolute minimal stirring once the flour goes in (and never with an electric mixer). Can someone explain why this one is different?
I made it and just used a spoon to stir the flour in. My toddler loved them!
These look absolutely amazing and I’m so anxious to try them. I read through all of the comments and didn’t see this clarified so if it was I missed it. I know Lisa uses the KA 100% White Whole Wheat flour to make bread. In this recipe does she also use the White Whole Wheat flour, or is she using actual Whole Wheat Flour? It may seem like I’m splitting hairs, but it can make a difference in the outcome of baked goods as we see from the comments. Thanks so much to all at 100 days for all of the wonderful recipes and inspiration! Peace.
I used straight up whole-wheat flour in this recipe …I’ve kind of transitioned over to that and am used to it now, but either will work. :)
These look so delicious! I’m going to have to try to make them soon! I was wondering… do you think you can order organic flour at an organic food store online?
Hi there, Yes, you can. Bob’s Red Mill is a popular brand. ~Amy
I too have made these and love, love, love them but was wondering about turning them into a cake for my daughters 2nd bday.
I’ve made these about a half a dozen times now. They are incredible! Thank you for this fantastic recipe!
Just pulled these out of the oven 30 minutes ago! This is my first time using one of Lisa’s recipes… I must say they turned out pretty good. Definitely the most light and fluffy muffins I have ever made. I too had the issue with the butter not getting completely smooth but it didn’t seem to make too much of a difference. I think next time I would like to try this using honey instead of maple syrup… Should I still use 1/2 cup, or more/less?
Hi Kati. We would typically exchange them 1:1. ~Amy
Can I use fresh raspberries?
Hi Michelle. You can but they won’t hold together like the frozen ones. :) ~Amy
Awesome! Whole family & guests loved them :) we used melted coconut oil & almond milk instead to make a dairy free version -turned out great & these immediately become the new fav muffin for our house! We’ve swapped butter for coconut oil & switched to Almond milk (less sugar, more calcium than cow milk) and avoid straight sugar or processed foods in general….and it feels great! Thanks for the delicious recipe!
My kids declared these the “best muffins ever!” And we make a lot of muffins, so this is high praise.
Can I substitute frozen chopped strawberries for the raspberries?
Hi Laura. I think strawberries will work, too. ~Amy
I love these muffins & so does my toddler. Random question, but do you think I could bake these in a silicone cake pop mold? For my daughter’s 2nd bday, we are doing a bouncy ball theme & at 2 yrs old, I see no reason for cake, when she would love the muffins just as much.
Hi Steph. I think that would work. I might do a trial run because muffins can stick. ~Amy
These were SO GOOD! I made them the other day with dried organic wild blueberries and sprinkled a little lemon zest and raw sugar on the top before baking and they were DELICIOUS!
I love these! But the first time I made them the whole raspberries left weird pockets and textures in the muffins. The second time I kinda smooshed them a bit before folding them in and they turned out much better!!! Thanks! This blog has completely changed how my family eats and the same for several friends!!!!