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
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 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 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 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 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.
Do you use nonfat greek yogurt or full fat?
Hi Colleen, I’ve used a variety of fat percentages to make these muffins, and they all turned out well.
These look great! Can’t wait to try them…
Thank you, Christina!
I’ve made other muffins with your recipes, so I’m looking forward to trying these. That was the first time I used coconut oil in baking. I was blown away by the difference it makes. Highly recommend!
But I’m really only commenting because I want to encourage you to make videos! Love cooking videos! How nice you get to try out a new endeavor with your brother!
Thank you, Beth! I hope you love these, too. I think you will. :) I’m really looking forward to making some videos with my brother once I finish the cookbook! I think it will be fun.
Love your blog! It has inspired me to learn how to cook. Is maple syrup or honey healthier?
That’s great to hear, Rebecca! Thank you. Both maple syrup and honey have their merits. It’s hard to say which one is healthier, but they are both definitely more redeeming options that processed sugar. I usually just pick the one that tastes best in the recipe. Honey is less expensive, so it’s usually the one that I try first.
Cannot wait to try these! I love all your recipes, but especially your baking ones! I try to use natural sweeteners, whole wheat flour, and coconut oil in place of butter whenever possible in baking – and your recipes do that without sacrificing taste or texture. Just wondering – could I use whole wheat pastry flour in this recipe instead? I have that on hand and want to make these as soon as I get home :)
Thank you, Jackie! I’m glad you found my recipes. Yes, I think whole wheat pastry flour will work well in these muffins! I tend to use white whole wheat flour most, since it’s easier to find and less finicky than the pastry flour. Pastry flour usually works well in quick breads and muffins, so you shouldn’t have any trouble with it here.
WHOLE spelt flour is also great in muffins. It is naturally lower in gluten and while not gluten free, I try to watch how much gluten our family injests. Spelt produces a tender crumb, perfect for all muffins. I buy Bob’s Red Mill.
Could these muffins be made with almond flower? If so, what modifications should be made? Please let me know. I need to be gluten free. Thank you for your time. Daniela
Hi Daniela, I’m not sure. I haven’t tried. Almond flour is a totally different animal, since it’s gluten free and made from nuts instead of grains. I am confident that a gluten-free all-purpose flour (such as Bob’s Red Mill) will work well for these muffins, if you’d like to give that a shot.
These are so beautiful and sound amazing!! Love the lemon in there!
These look fantastic! I can’t wait to make them. Also, I enjoyed reading your interview in an earlier post.
Thank you, Danica! That’s nice to hear.
I love raspberry muffins! This is a great brunch and breakfast treat to have in the summer!
These look delicious! Do you notice much flavor difference when you use honey vs. maple syrup? Honey makes more sense to me with summer flavors, but I don’t like when baked goods have a strong honey flavor. Also, do you prefer coconut oil or olive oil? They have very distinctive, but different flavors.
Honey is a little sweeter than maple, ounce for ounce, but these don’t have a pronounced honey flavor. You would have to use more honey or add a honey glaze for that to happen. I just use whichever complements the other flavors best, and lean toward honey when possible since it’s less expensive. I list my preferred ingredients first, so honey and coconut oil are my top picks here. :)
I love it when I can use frozen fruit in a muffin recipe. It makes it that much easier. Good luck with your videos!
These look so amazing! I love the combination of lemon and raspberry! Do you ever find that using frozen berries leaves muffins soggy?
Nope, I don’t ever have trouble with small frozen berries like raspberries or blueberries. You want to add them to the batter frozen (I can imagine that defrosting them first could add problems). I tried using frozen strawberries in these, but they were too large, so they fell out of the bottoms. Chopped fresh strawberries would work.
I made these today for my one year old (and me!) and they turned out delicious! He’s been living on your banana bread so I was excited to give these a try. I didn’t have raspberries so I used blueberries and pulsed them frozen a few times through the food processor since my son isn’t so into whole pieces of fruit yet. I feel so great about making your recipes for him because they are so much healthier and better tasting than anything I can find at the store (and I can get him to eat some fruit this way)! Thank you so much for another wonderful baked treat!!
Hooray! Happy to hear you both are enjoying my recipes. Thanks, Kelsea!
I love that springy lemon/raspberry combination! Love the greek yogurt and maple syrup swaps :)
Hi Kate,
What an AMAZING looking recipe (those photos are gorgeous). I can’t wait to give it a try!
What inspired you to use frozen raspberries rather than fresh?
Thanks in advance for your response … I’m truly enjoying perusing Cookie+Kate!
Thanks, Donnelly! So, the idea for these muffins came to me when Cascadian Farm (they’re the brand of organic frozen raspberries I used) asked me to come up with the recipe. Frozen raspberries are also more practical, since fresh raspberries don’t keep for long in the refrigerator, but you could use fresh, too! Fresh raspberries won’t be in season for a couple more months.
Lemon and raspberry is one of my favorite summer food combinations! I can’t wait for the upcoming season and eating these muffins :)
I’m new to this blog, and am blown away by all these delicious recipes! I’d love to give these a try this weekend. Any advice on substituting Greek yoghurt for natural yoghurt?
Thanks, Fin! I’m glad you found my blog. Do you mean regular plain yogurt? That should work fine, but your muffins might not dome up quite as high.
Those muffins look absolutely delicious – I agree on the organic front, especially when it comes to berries! Looking forward to all those amazing videos ♡
These look delicious Kate! Love the lemon raspberry combo! Can’t wait to try!
Can’t wait to try these! Love that they’re naturally sweetened.
These look scrumptious! And apparently Cookie would like one…..or two!
Haha, she would eat the whole batch if she could! So ornery.
Frozen berries are such a good compromise between following the seasons and eating fruit during the six months between growing seasons. These muffins look fantastic- I can’t wait to try them.
I made these for breakfast this morning and they are super delicious! We only have two left out of twelve. My six year old ate four muffins and my one year old ate two muffins.
So glad your family enjoyed the muffins! Thank you for letting me know.
Kathryne, these were so very good! I stole three graduation morn. I will try this. Love,Grandma L.
Thank you, Grandma!
This is my new favorite muffin recipe. We made them this morning and there are only a few muffins left…Thank you for another great recipe!
Thanks, Sally! Happy to hear that!
Just made these with a few adjustments… I used blueberries and blackberries, unsweetened coconut yogurt and 2 chia eggs to make it vegan.
So good! Nice and fluffy and perfectly sweet!
Totally reminded me of your blueberry pancakes made with oat flour (also yummy as heck)
Thank you for another delicious recipe I know I’ll be able to use over and over again!
Thank you, Anna! Glad you’re enjoying those blueberry pancakes, too!
Lemon and raspberry is such a yummy combo!
Ive made your banana bread and it turned out great. Ive got some raspberries to use and this recipe sounds great however i dont have any lemon. Would it taste weird without the lemon?
Nope, won’t be weird! You’ll just end up with delicious raspberry muffins.
This recipe is looks amazing. I am waiting for mine to bake and can’t wait………
Delicious!
Thanks, Natalie! Hope they turned out marvelously!
I made these with vegan buttermilk (using almond milk) as suggested, and half all purpose flour and half whole spelt, as well as blueberries instead of raspberries, and they turned out so good! Super fluffy and just the right amount of sweetness. Thanks for this great recipe Kate!
Thank you, Emma! Your muffins sound delicious!
I just made these muffins today. I ran out if maple syrup and used a mix of honey and coconut nectar instead. Turned out great. My boys loved it more than the usual cocao banana cupcakes I make them. Thanks for the recipe :)
Thank you, Janice! I’m glad you all enjoyed them.
These turned out great! I’ve never made muffins with ingredients like these (yogurt, maple syrup, EVOO) and now I’ll never go back. Excellent with a little lemon curd on top!
Thanks, Kristen! Lemon curd sounds like the perfect topping.
Can you make the raspberry lemon muffins with fresh raspberries? Can’t wait for your cookbook!
Yes, definitely! I think a standard 6-ounce container holds about 1 cup, which would be fine.
Hi – This is the first time I’ve been to your site. This recipe sounds very yummy. I’ve been asked by a friend to make a diabetic friendly dessert without artificial sweeteners – no small feat. I came across your site after several different types if searches and was wondering if there was any way to make these more cupcake-y? Apparently the honey is fine. Unfortunately I don’t have a whole lot of time to play with the recipe myself. Your help is appreciated.
Hey Adrienne, I think these would make great cupcakes. Maybe you could serve them with a dollop of whipped cream, or coconut whipped cream? Most frostings require a lot of powdered sugar, so those are probably out.
Hi Kate-
I made the muffins (lemon , raspberry). They came out a bit dry. Trying to figure out what went wrong. I’m not following by to lie- they stayed in the oven 3 minutes longer then they should, but still, is that what you think I did?
Love your blog!!! Looking forward to your response
Selma Winston
Hi Selma, I’m sorry your muffins turned out a bit dry. Mine were very moist. The extra baking time might have done it, or maybe you measured your flour heavier than I did? I use the spoon and swoop method—spoon flour into the measuring cups, then level off the top with a knife.
Hi, Greetings from the UK. Do you know if you could use low fat or non fat Greek yoghurt in this recipe?
Thanks
Apologies in earlier review I meant to hit five stars – Nina UK
Yes, any fat percentage should do. I’ve had good luck with a variety of them!
Thanks for replying. I will give your recipe a go very soon!
I made these last night with my mom and they are GREAT! We both prefer salty to sweet so we love that these muffins aren’t overpowered with refined sugar and sweetness. I used coconut oil and honey and love how they turned out. We had them for dessert last night and my husband I had them for breakfast this morning and there’s a good chance they’ll turn in to lunch today as well :) Your muffin recipes are my favorite! The only thing I would do is add more lemon next time – I love lemon and just want to taste it a bit more.
Thanks, Lis! I’m so glad you enjoyed the muffins. You could definitely add more zest next time!
Hey Guys! i just veganized this. and they are good! I swapped in Einkhorn flour (what i had), Sodelicous unsweetened coconut yogurt, and 2 flax eggs instead of real eggs. I also switched to 1 tsp soda and 1/2 tsp powder. Nice and fluffy and good! Next time though, i’ll roll my raspberries in a touch of sugar.
Thanks, Liz! Glad your vegan muffins turned out well.
Hi Kate..I’m not a fan of yogurt and curious if baking with yogurt gives the muffins a sour taste. I’m sure it doesn’t but wanted to double-check. Thank you for sharing all your great recipes, you have really inspired me to have a healthier approach to my cooking : ) p.s. your Healthy Banana bread was delicious!!
Hey Lainey, I can’t say the muffins taste like yogurt. They have a slight tang, like you’d get with sour cream. You can use the “buttermilk” option in my notes if you’d rather not use yogurt. Glad you liked the banana bread!
Hi Kate,
I made this recipe, with minor adjustments and they are delicious. I used one cup of crushed bananas in lieu of yogurt plus a mixture of frozen raspberries and strawberries, and addition of white chocolate chips. Wonderful recipe which I’ll make for years. I also make your maple sweetened banana muffins on a regular basis using honey instead maple syrup and adding blueberries and chocolate chips. Always goes over well with my son and his friends. Thank you for posting healthy, FIVE STAR, delicious recipes.
Thank you, Janny! I’m so glad you have been enjoying my baked good recipes. Your variations sound awesome. Have a great day!
I made these two days ago and used fresh raspberries instead of frozen. I think frozen fruit might yield better results as my leftovers are now slightly mushy right next to the raspberries. These smelled so delicious baking and I love that I can eat them without feeling much guilt because of the healthy ingredient swaps.
I have been vising your blog regularly for at least a year but this is my first comment. I can’t wait for your cookbook. I’m also blown away that your blog makes it easy for me to find tomato free vegetarian recipes – I am constantly frustrated by seeing vegetarian recipes that look wonderful, only to discover I can’t eat them. But no frustrations here! So thank you Kate!
I’m a big fan of Cookie and hope there will be plenty of Cookie photos in the cookbook as well. My dog used to help me in the kitchen as well…especially if I dropped a carrot! Keep up the good work, Cookie.
Thank you so much for your comment, Heather. I’m glad to hear you’ve been enjoying my recipes, and the tomato-free feature! I was hearing that request more and more, so I made a special category for it. Cookie says hi! There will definitely be lots of photos of her in the book. Just took a few more last night. I can’t help myself.
Had some fresh raspberries on hand and made these for breakfast this morning. I barely got a taste! I made them with regular natural yogurt and they were fluffier than I anticipated.
They came out with a perfect round top, but that dropped as they cooled off. Did I do something wrong?
Thanks, Adriana! I’m glad they turned out well for you. Mine may have dropped a little bit, but not completely. Perhaps they needed another minute in the oven? If you used the full 1 1/2 cup fresh raspberries, you might have better results with 1 cup next time… but I generally think the more berries, the better.
Hi Kate, reader from NZ here. Love your recipes! Just trying to work out what size your muffin tins are, can’t quite tell by the pics. Would you please tell me the diameter of one of the muffin cups?
Thanks!
Hey Rose, I used a standard muffin tin, each cup being about 2.75″ wide.
These look fabulous! And three of my favorites all in one place…lemon, raspberry, greek yogurt! Num!
Hey! Have you ever tried with a coconut flour?
No, and I would not recommend substituting coconut flour in any baked good recipe that doesn’t call for it. Coconut flour soaks up a ton of moisture, which can have a profound effect on the outcome.
ooooh these look so delish. I want to make them for Friday …. but am not sure about the cups measure (I am in uk) I look on various sites and the measures are all so different!!! and with baking it has to be precise! Do you please have any idea as to what the amounts would be in metric or imperial? Many thanks. xx. love the blog.
Hi Nina, I am from uk as well, and I would like to make these muffins…. did u use cups or did unconverted to metric or imperial? I have had disaster converting … thank yiu Maggie .
Have to say didn’t like this recipe at all. Although I hate the taste of honey & Cocconut and they totally dominated the flavour. I thought they would be a replacement for the sugar and oil and you wouldn’t really taste them but you do. My kids wouldn’t even lick the bowl. I hate coconut. Is vegetable oil just as good? Why is everyone obsessed with Cocconut oil?
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy the muffins, Tiffany. I didn’t think that they had an overwhelming coconut or honey flavor myself, although I could taste the honey (and I love honey). Coconut oil contains a special kind of fat that is especially good for your brain and is immediately burned for energy, rather than stored as fat for later. You could use vegetable oil instead of coconut, but it is chemically products and there are a lot of negative by-products of the processing.
These were fabulous. I made them with the frozen raspberries and honey as the sweetener and they were a tiny bit tangy – which we loved. Yesterday was my husband’s birthday and I repeated the recipe, this time using maple syrup as the sweetener and fresh blueberries. Again – absolutely awesome! I used King Arthur white whole wheat flour, Aldi Friendly Farms nonfat Greek yogurt and olive oil for both batches. I’m going to try these using an egg substitute and applesauce or fruit purees instead of the oil and see if I can make an even healthier muffin though I’m reluctant to mess with perfection. Thanks so much.
Thank you, Mary Ellen. I’m so glad you’re enjoying the muffins. Happy belated birthday to your husband! Your substitutions might work fine, although I don’t worry about the fat content in these myself—it helps lower their blood sugar impact and keeps you fuller longer.
Another keeper muffin recipe and of course, it’s from you :)
My son and I enjoy baking together and we loved the tanginess of the lemon and the fluffiness of the muffins.
Our swaps: we used 2 flax eggs and we used half gluten-free flour and half pastry whole-wheat. I also used frozen cranberries since I didn’t have raspberries on hand.
Thank you, deal Nella! So glad you two enjoyed these.
We had these for breakfast this morning, and they were great!
Very filling, just the right amount of sweetness, great flavor combination. Love how fast/easy they were to make, too!
Thanks for sharing!