Lemon-Raspberry Muffins

Our store had some beautiful raspberries this past weekend. Looking at them, I rememberd a recipe for Lemon-Raspberry Muffins I'd looked over in the latest issue of Eating Well & decided to give it a try for our Sunday breakfast. The only problem I had with the recipe came when it was time to fold the berries in. The batter is very thick, more so than other muffin recipes, & it was pretty near impossible to fold the berries in without crushing more than a few, which causes the batter to turn a purple-ish color. The end result is a moist & tasty muffin that is not overwhelmingly sweet. I sprinkled a little sugar on the tops during the last 5 minutes of baking for a little added crunch.

The next time I get some fresh berries, I'm going to try this recipe from Cucina Bella for raspberry white chocolate muffins.

Lemon-Raspberry Muffins
1 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup nonfat buttermilk
1/3 cup canola oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white whole-wheat flour or whole-wheat pastry flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen (not thawed) raspberries

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 large (1/2-cup) muffin cups with cooking spray or line with paper liners.
2. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the zest from the lemon in long strips. Combine the zest and sugar in a food processor; pulse until the zest is very finely chopped into the sugar. Add buttermilk, oil, egg and vanilla and pulse until blended.
3. Combine whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the buttermilk mixture and fold until almost blended. Gently fold in raspberries. Divide the batter among the muffin cups.
4. Bake the muffins until the edges and tops are golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Serve warm.