Raspberry Cornmeal Muffins

These raspberry cornmeal muffins are simple to make and easy to adapt to what’s on hand. Great for brunch, they’re also wonderful as a snack or even dessert!

While I love a good blueberry muffin or slice of banana bread, these raspberry corn muffins are one of my favorite spring treats.

They’re mildly sweet and have a heartier texture thanks to the cornmeal. But it’s the delightful combination of raspberry and lemon that always keeps me coming back for more.

Since this is a small-batch recipe, we like to bake the muffins in our toaster oven. Of course, you can use a traditional “big” oven if you prefer.

Either way, you’ll have a small batch of berry-filled cornbread muffins that taste great served warm and even better slathered in butter!

Ingredient Notes

Raspberries: Fresh or Frozen. If using frozen, don’t thaw the berries and work quickly when folding them into the batter.

Yellow Cornmeal: Use fine ground cornmeal. Avoid coarse or medium-grind cornmeal, they’ll make the muffins gritty while cornflour won’t provide enough structure.

Buttermilk: Keeps the muffins moist, adds a little tang, and reacts with the baking soda to provide lift. Similar to our mini soda bread recipe, plain Kefir or yogurt thinned with a little milk make good substitutes if you don’t have any buttermilk.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Adjust the cooking rack to the middle position and preheat to 425°F (400°F Convection). If using a toaster oven select the BAKE setting and use the middle or bottom rack positions. Grease a 6-cavity muffin tin with oil or butter.

2. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. In a small bowl combine the sugar and lemon zest. Using your fingers, rub the sugar and zest together until the sugar turns a light yellow color. This helps release more oil/flavor from the lemon peel.

4. To the lemon sugar, add the egg, buttermilk, and oil, and whisk to combine.

5. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and stir just until combined. Then, gently fold in the berries.

6. Divide the batter evenly among the greased muffin cups. We like to sprinkle ours with sparkling sugar before baking. It gives the muffins a premium bakery-style feel and a bit of crunchy sweetness.

7. Before you add the pan to the oven, reduce the temperature to 400°F (375°F Convection). Then bake until the muffins are golden around the edges and a toothpick inserted in the middle of one or two comes out clean, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Allow the muffins to cool for at least 10 minutes, then slather one with butter and enjoy!

Tips and Variations

Don’t Overmix The Batter: The less you mix the batter the more tender the muffins will be. You want to make sure there are no dry pockets of flour or flour in the bottom of the bowl. But you’re not aiming for a smooth batter – it should be lumpy.

Large Raspberries: When our berries are on the larger side I like to slice them in half or roughly chop them. I find it results in a better berry-to-muffin ratio in each bite. To keep the berry juices from turning the batter an unappealing purple color I usually toss them with some of the flour and try to be extra gentle when stirring them in.

Change Up The Berries: Blueberries, blackberries, and chopped strawberries would all be tasty. Just try to keep the amount between ½ cup and ⅔ cup of fruit.

Storage: The muffins taste best the day they are baked but can be stored at room temperature for a day or two. We like to freeze any leftover muffins, they taste fantastic reheated in the toaster oven!

More Tasty Baking Recipes

• Banana Bread For Two
• Small No Knead Bread
• Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins (Cake Mix Recipe)
• Cornbread Zucchini Muffins
• Mini Banana Bread Loaf (No-Egg)