Raspberry Lemon Whole Wheat Muffins

My mom was an amazing gardener.  She had the most incredible garden in our backyard and some of my favorite memories of her (there are hundreds!) are looking out our back door and seeing her working in her garden.  It made her happy and even after working long days at the hospital she would go out and take care of whatever was growing and needing her attention.  I remember there were a few summers when she grew raspberries.  I would go back to the garden with her and pick the raspberries and eat them while I talked to her and watched her work.  I should have done more of the working than the eating.  But when I see raspberries I remember those times and it makes me smile.  So, raspberries make me smile.

I love their color and their tartness.  I love eating them plain or mixed in my granola or in a salad or in my dessert.  I love eating them in these muffins!

These Raspberry Lemon Whole Wheat Muffins are super moist.  They are healthy!  There is no added sugar (unless you want to sprinkle a little on the top before baking them).  They are perfect as breakfast or a snack.  They are a wonderful summer-time recipe.  And I LOVE the added lemon zest.

When I opened up the oven door to take these muffins out - oh my.  Raspberry lemon heaven.  The smell was so good.  I couldn't wait for them to cool before I had to taste one.

Raspberry Lemon Whole Wheat Muffins
Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease muffin tins and set aside.

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

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the oil and honey.  Add the eggs and whisk well again.  Then add the yogurt, vanilla and lemon zest.  Whisk well.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and with a big spoon or spatula mix just until combined.  Gently fold in the raspberries (they don't need to thaw).  The mixture will be very thick.

Scoop the batter our evenly between the 12 muffin cups.  I use my favorite muffin scoop.  This scoop is perfect for filling muffin tins and I use it every time we make muffins or cupcakes.  Bake the muffins for 24 minutes, or until they are golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the pan before removing them and allowing them to cool the rest of the way on a cooling rack.  If you have leftover muffins, store them in a tight tupperware at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for 5 days.  Freeze any other leftover muffins for up to 3 months.


Recipe Source:  adapted slightly from cookie and kate.