These raspberry muffins are light, fluffy and incredibly moist bakery style muffins filled with fresh or frozen raspberries and a hint of lemon. This quick and easy raspberry muffin recipe makes the best lemon raspberry muffins you’ll want to make over and over again.
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Why Should You Make This Recipe
I absolutely adore a bakery style muffin. My Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins, Lemon Muffins, Pistachio Muffins, Banana Coffee Cake Muffins, and Cinnamon Streusel Muffins are the best muffin recipes I always reach for when I want beautiful bakery style muffins. I know you’ll love this raspberry muffins recipe just as much as I do!
- Layers of flavors and textures: From the moist and fluffy vanilla and lemon flavored muffin, to the sweet and tart fresh or frozen raspberries these tender crumb lemon raspberry muffins will delight your senses.
- Easy to make, bake and eat: These homemade raspberry muffins look and taste like you just bought them from the best bakery in town. But they are actually super easy to make with two bowls, a whisk and a muffin pan.
Ingredients
These raspberry lemon muffins require only a handful of simple ingredients to make. Here’s what you’ll need.
Dry Ingredients: Gather all purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
Wet Ingredients: Gather granulated sugar, lemon zest, melted butter, eggs, sour cream, milk, vanilla extract and raspberries.
Substitutions
These moist and fluffy raspberry muffins are as easy to make as they are delicious. Here are my recommended substitutions to make these homemade muffins if you need them.
- All purpose flour: To make these cinnamon crunch muffins gluten free, use a good 1-1 gluten free flour. I recommend using the one from Bob’s Red Mill.
- Melted Butter: Feel free to use an equal amount of salted butter in place of the unsalted butter. Just make sure to omit the added salt. Vegan butter or plant based can also be used in place of regular unsalted butter for this easy raspberry muffin recipe.
- Granulated Sugar: This moist raspberry muffin recipe calls for granulated sugar, but maple sugar would also work well to make these muffins refined sugar free.
- Lemon Zest: Replace the lemon with any citrus you like. Lime, meyer lemons, orange, they all work well in this recipe!
- Eggs: This recipe has not been tested without eggs.
- Sour Cream: Greek yogurt works well in place of sour cream.
- Milk: Use any milk you like.
- Vanilla Extract: This adds a lovely background flavor that pairs really well with lemon and raspberries.
- Raspberries: You can fresh or frozen raspberries. If using frozen berries, do not let them thaw before using them in the muffin recipe. Also note that the baking time will be a bit longer if using frozen berries.
Variations
- Raspberry Muffins with Streusel: Make an easy streusel topping by combining ¼ cup (30 g) flour with 2 tablespoon (25 g) sugar and 2 tablespoon (28 g) cold butter until it forms a sand like consistency. Prepare the lemon raspberry muffins according to the recipe directions, top the muffins with the streusel and bake. If you love raspberry and almond together, make sure to check out my Raspberry Almond Streusel Muffins.
- Lemon Glaze: Top the moist raspberry lemon muffins with a tart lemon glaze. Whisk 1 cup powdered sugar (120 g) with 2-3 tablespoons (30-45 ml) lemon juice until smooth. Drizzle over the muffins and enjoy.
- Vanilla Glaze: Top the easy raspberry muffins with a vanilla glaze. Whisk 1 cup powdered sugar (120 g) with 1 teaspoons (5 ml) vanilla extract and 2-3 tablespoons milk. Drizzle over the barely warm muffins and enjoy.
How To Make
Learn how to make the best raspberry blueberry muffins in a few easy steps!
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together until well combined.
- In another bowl whisk the sugar and lemon zest together until well combined with a wet sand consistency. Whisk in the melted butter, eggs, sour cream, milk and vanilla extract until well combined. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet. Do not overmix.
- Let the raspberry muffin batter rest at room temperature for 30 - 60 minutes for bakery style muffins. While the muffins rest, preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C). Line (2) 12 ct. muffin pans with cupcake liners. Fold them in the fresh or frozen raspberries after the rest period.
- Use a 3 tablespoon sized cookie scoop to scoop the muffin batter into each of the muffin liners, alternating every other cup. Bake the muffins at 375 F (190 C) for 18 - 22 minutes. The muffins are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes about with a few moist crumbs or when a finger pressed gently into the center of the muffins quickly bounces back. Cool the moist raspberry muffins in the muffin pan for 5 - 10 minutes. Carefully remove the muffins to cool to room temperature and enjoy!
How To Store, Freeze and Thaw
Store leftover muffins: Place the moist and fluffy lemon raspberry muffins in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Then transfer the muffins to the fridge for up to 3 more days.
Freeze the muffins: Make sure the muffins are completely cooled to room temperature. Individually wrap each muffin in plastic wrap. Place each wrapped muffin in a ziplock bag. Store in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Thaw the muffins: The easiest and tastiest way to thaw the raspberry lemon muffins is to let them sit out at room temperature for at least two hours. Enjoy at room temperature or microwave the muffin for 20 - 30 seconds for that “fresh from the oven” taste.
M’s Expert Tips
- Bring cold ingredients to room temperature.This allows the ingredients to mix together more evenly which requires less mixing, resulting in soft, fluffy and moist muffins.
- Don’t overmix the muffin batter. Mix in the dry ingredients into the wet by hand until just combined.
- Rest the batter for 30 - 60 minutes. This is a little trick to get those beautiful bakery style domes on muffins. Allowing some time for resting allows the batter to hydrate, thicken and rise, making these the best blueberry buttermilk muffins.
- Alternate muffin wells in the muffin pan. This allows each muffin to get the maximum of amount of even heat circulating around it. The tops will still pop up, but they won’t be as high if you decide to fill all the muffin liners at once.
FAQs
You absolutely can! Use my Mini Blueberry Muffins recipe and replace the blueberries with raspberries.
Often this is caused by leaving the muffins to cool in the pan for too long. The steam from the hot muffins can become trapped in the bottom of the muffin as it cools, resulting in a soggy bottom. To prevent this, make sure to remove the muffins from the pan after 5 - 10 minutes of cooling.
There are a few things that can help create domed, bakery style tops on muffins. Make sure to let the batter rest for at least 30 minutes, use a higher oven temperature and alternate muffin wells.
Make sure to coat the fresh or frozen raspberries in 1 tablespoon (13 g) of flour per cup of berries. Coating the berries in flour catches the juices that are released during baking and keeps the berries from sinking or getting too soggy in cakes and muffins.
Other Raspberry Recipes To Try
If you try this Raspberry Muffins recipe please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Doing so helps other readers decide if this is a great recipe to bake. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using @olivesnthyme so I can see what you’re baking! Happy Baking! -M
Raspberry Muffins Recipe
Equipment
- 12 muffin liners
- 1 whisk or flexible spatula
- 1 large cookie scoop (3 tbsp, 45 ml) optional
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 lemon, zested
- 4 tbsp (57 g) unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup (59 ml) oil
- 2 large eggs (US), room temperature
- 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120 g) sour cream, room temperature
- ½ cup (118 ml) milk, room temperature
- 2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries tossed in 2 tablespoon (25 g) flour
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together until well combined.2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour, 2 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- In another bowl whisk the sugar and lemon zest together until well combined with a wet sand consistency.1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar, 1 lemon, zested
- Whisk in the melted butter, eggs, sour cream, milk and vanilla extract until well combined.4 tablespoon (57 g) unsalted butter, melted, ¼ cup (59 ml) oil , 2 large eggs (US), room temperature, 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract , ½ cup (120 g) sour cream, room temperature, ½ cup (118 ml) milk, room temperature
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet. Do not overmix. Let the raspberry muffin batter rest at room temperature for 30 - 60 minutes for bakery style muffins.
- While the muffins rest, preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C).Line (2) 12 ct. muffin pans with cupcake liners.
- Fold in the fresh or frozen raspberries after the rest period. Use a 3 tablespoon sized cookie scoop to scoop the muffin batter into each of the muffin liners, alternating every other cup.2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
- Bake the muffins at 375 F (190 C) for 18 - 22 minutes. The muffins are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes about with a few moist crumbs or when a finger pressed gently into the center of the muffins quickly bounces back.
- Cool the moist raspberry muffins in the muffin pan for 5 - 10 minutes. Carefully remove the muffins to cool to room temperature and enjoy!
Crystal says
These looks amazing. Is there something I can use in place of sour cream to make them dairy free? Thanks!
Megan says
Hi! You can use a diary free yogurt (full fat if possible) or you can make a DIY buttermilk using nut milk. Pour 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice or vinegar into a measuring cup. Pour a dairy free milk up to one cup and allow it to sit for 10 minutes to curdle. This recipe calls for 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup milk, so just replace both with 1 cup (237 ml) DIY diary free buttermilk.
Theresa Harrington says
Hi Megan! Could I use this recipe and replace the raspberries with some shredded apple pieces? I have tried other fruits like blueberries and peaches and and the recipe comes out just fine. My husband and I love this recipe!
Thanks, Theresa
Megan says
Hi Theresa, I think apples would be absolutely delicious in this recipe. I would wait to fold in the shredded apples until right before baking (after letting the dough rest). You could also add 2 -3 teaspoons of your favorite spice blend like apple pie spice, pumpkin spice or chai spice. Please let me know how the recipe turns out with the apples. Enjoy!