While I love making jams, jellies, and syrups from our fresh fruit to use later in the year, there’s nothing like fresh baked goodies.
I adore blueberry muffins, but our raspberries are coming on strong. I happened to be in a baking mood this morning (note to self, don’t do this on 90 degree days again), and I made oatmeal pancakes, red currant juice, and then baked these. But a hot kitchen was worth it. These are the best muffins I think I’ve ever had.
Pioneering Today Raspberry Lemon Cream Cheese Muffins
1 cup coconut oil (you can use butter or 1/2 butter and 1/2 coconut oil)
1 cup sugar (I only use raw organic cane sugar to avoid GMO’s)
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 and 1/2 cups plain yogurt or sour cream
1/2 cup milk
2 and 1/2 cups flour (soft white wheat or all purpose)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
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2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
Filling
4 tablespoons softened cream cheese
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 squeezed lemon
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease tins. Beat eggs, coconut oil, sugar, and vanilla together. Cream in lemon zest, yogurt, and milk. Mix dry ingredients together and blend with liquids. Add berries at the end.
Cream together cream cheese, lemon, and sugar. Fill greased muffins tins half way with batter. Spoon a large teaspoon into center of batter. Top with remaining batter, completely covering cream cheese.Sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Raspberry Cream Cheese Muffin Recipe
Equipment
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Mixing Bowls
- Electric Mixer
- Silicone Spatula
- Muffin Tin
Ingredients
Muffin Batter:
- 2 1/2 Cups Flour fresh ground soft white wheat, all purpose, or a gluten-free blend.
- 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 Cup Coconut Oil or half and half butter and coconut oil
- 1 Cup Sugar I only use raw organic cane sugar to avoid GMO’s
- 4 Whole Egg
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla
- 2 Teaspoons Lemon Zest grated
- 1 1/2 Cups Plain Yogurt or sour cream
- 1/2 Cup Milk
- 2 Cups Raspberries fresh or frozen
Filling:
- 4 Tablespoons Cream Cheese softened
- 2 Tablespoons Sugar
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1 Teaspoon Lemon Zest grated
Optional Lemon Glaze:
- 1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. If you are not using muffin liners, grease muffin tins. Mix together flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, cream together eggs, coconut oil, sugar and vanilla. Add in the yogurt, milk, and two teaspoons of the lemon zest.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and fold until just combined.
- To prevent the raspberries from sinking to the bottom of the muffin, lightly dust them with flour. Then, gently fold the raspberries into the batter.
- Using the mixing bowl from your dry ingredients, cream together cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, and remaining lemon zest.
- Fill the muffin tins halfway with the batter, spoon a large teaspoon of the filling in the center, and top with the remaining batter to completely cover the filling.
- Bake in the oven for 16 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The muffin top will be golden brown. Allow to cool completely.
- Before serving, you can optionally top with a lemon glaze. Just whisk together powdered sugar with enough lemon juice to the desired consistency. Drizzle over the raspberry cream cheese muffins, and enjoy!
Notes
- Spring/Summer – Toss in fresh blueberries for a vibrant muffin batter. Their tartness balances raspberries perfectly.
- Autumn – Replace the raspberries with diced apples or pears. A pinch of cinnamon in the batter will warm things up without overpowering the fruit.
- Winter – Replace the lemon juice, zest, and raspberries with orange juice, zest and fresh cranberries for a holiday appeal.
- Anytime – Throw in a handful of chocolate chips or add a streusel topping for a sweeter, more dessert-like muffin.
| Detail | Tip |
| Prepare Your Raspberries | If using frozen berries, pat them dry and toss them with flour before folding them into the muffin batter. This will prevent sogginess and ensure even distribution. Fresh berries are much more delicate than frozen. To keep their shape, gently fold them into the batter. |
| Measuring | Use proper measuring utensils to accurately measure your ingredients, and spoon and level your flour instead of scooping it from the container. Using too much flour is the top reason muffins come out dense. |
| Mixing | Bring your wet ingredients to room temperature and mix your wet and dry ingredients separately before mixing them together. Don’t use an electric mixer when combining wet and dry ingredients. You could overdevelop the gluten, resulting in dense muffins or large holes in the crumb. |
| Filling | Do not overfill your muffin pan. Fill standard-sized muffin cups with about ¼ cup of batter; jumbo-sized muffins use about ½ cup of batter per cup. Pro-Tip: Use a cookie scoop for ease of filling. |
| Baking | Don’t open the oven door before the minimum baking time is complete, or the muffins may deflate. To check if they are ready, insert a toothpick into the center of one muffin. If it comes out clean with no wet batter, they have finished baking. |
| Extras | Try some of the recipe variations above, or sprinkle a streusel topping for an added touch. |
Nutrition
Makes 12 large or 24 small muffins.
I love them, very fluffy and flavorful, I got much more muffins though 12 big and 24 small, a big treat for family and friends!!! Thank you for the wonderful recipe
Do you have any suggestions for making these gluten-free? <3
I would try a gluten-free blend like Bob’s Red Mill that already has the needed binders in it 🙂
Enjoying everything you put on facebook!!!
Thank you so much for this recipe, it was a little bit of grunt work but MAN it was worth it!! Thank you for all the time and energy you put into this blog for people you may never meet. Bless you!! – Allie 🙂
Hi, can you tell me what I could use as a substitute for coconut oil? Can’t get it here in Dublin, Ireland.
Thanks
Jennifer, you can use butter if you don’t have coconut oil, same measurements.
Just curious, is the 1/2 tsp. soda supposed to be BAKING soda?
Melissa, yes it’s supposed to be baking soda, sorry about that. I’ll fix it. 🙂
These look divine! Yummmmm!