Baked Sweets and Treats
October 21, 2010

Raspberry Lemon Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

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Healthy muffins with cream cheese frosting.

Can we divert from Fall for a second here? As much as I am LOVING posting all my cool season pumpkin, sweet potato & cinnamon spice recipes I need to de-rail for a moment. I had a special request from my daughter & it needed to be honored. How could I refuse? I know the raspberry lemon combo is a bit summer, but this mix of ingredients was very, very tasty & well worth the diversion.

Homemade muffins with cream cheese frosting.

What defines a muffin? When does that muffin transform into a cupcake? This is a question I asked on Facebook and Twitter a few weeks ago. The responses varied, but we concluded that a muffin is not as sweet as a cupcake. A muffin can be eaten for breakfast with no guilt, a muffin might have some kind of nutrition in it. Cupcakes are small, very sweet cakes with heaps of frosting and are for certain just a treat.

Great news guys, these muffins look like cupcakes. They taste like cupcakes, but they are indeed muffins. They are filled with great for you ingredients. Oh happy day!

Low glycemic, low fat, healthy breakfast muffin recipe.

Tuck one or two of these muffins in your lunchbox and you have a treat that will pick you up and won’t let you down. Enjoy with a shot of espresso or mug of your favorite brewed coffee. Kids will love these with a glass of chilled milk. The balance of the sweetened cream cheese and slightly sweet muffins is so satisfying. You will not miss refined sugar at all.


Low fat Breakfast or brunch muffin recipe.

The raspberry-lemon combo is a match made in heaven. The pinch of lemon zest on the top gives that extra kick of bright citrus flavor.

Homemade muffin recipe for breakfast, brunch or snack.

If you have a minute please check out my guest post Homemade Halloween Treats (Not Tricks) over at Simple Organic.

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Raspberry Lemon Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

24 mini muffins

NOTES

  • I used frozen raspberries in these muffins. They were easy to chop & did not get mushy.
  • See the Variations below for some great recipe substitutions and ideas.

INGREDIENTS

{Muffins}

  • 1 1/2 plus 1/4 cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (set aside 1/4 cup measurement)
  • 1/2 cup Oat Flour (If you don’t have this you can finely grind rolled oats in a food processor)
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
  • pinch of Salt
  • Vanilla Stevia Drops to taste – I used about 3 full droppers
  • 2 large Eggs
  • 1/2 cup non fat Greek Yogurt
  • 1/2 cup non fat Milk (or your favorite milk choice, dairy free, etc)
  • 1/2 cup light Coconut Milk
  • 3 tablespoons melted unsalted Butter
  • about 1 tablespoon Lemon juice (from about 2 Lemons)
  • zest from 1 Lemon
  • 1 cup frozen Raspberries (see note above)
  • optional: Fresh Raspberries to top each muffin

{Cream Cheese Frosting}

  • 8 ounces light whipped Cream Cheese
  • Vanilla Stevia to taste or your favorite natural sweetener – Maple Syrup, Honey, Sucanat

METHOD

Preheat oven to 375ËšF with rack in the center of the oven. Prepare muffin tins with liners or just grease with butter. Sift together all the dry ingredients – flours, baking powder & salt in a large bowl. Toss frozen raspberries with 1/4 cup of flour. Add wet ingredients to dry and combine thoroughly with a spatula. Add the raspberries last so they don’t break up too much. Fill muffin tins about 3/4 full, tap pan on a counter top to get out any air bubbles. Bake muffins for about 12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the muffins.

For frosting: stir cream cheese & sweetener of choice together until it is sweetened to your satisfaction. Assembly: Top each muffin with a dollop of frosting, a pinch of lemon zest and a fresh raspberry.

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Variations

  • Use blueberries or cranberries instead of raspberries or perhaps all three.
  • You can use chopped dried fruit instead of the raspberries or in addition to them. Raisins, apricots, dates would all be tasty.
  • Add some nuts to the batter chopped pecans, walnuts, almonds, etc.

Muffin Recipe Links

 

~ Marla Meridith

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117 thoughts on “Raspberry Lemon Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting”

  9. I could totally see these muffins tricking someone into thinking they are cupcakes! I love that you used yogurt and coconut milk in them. Raspberry and lemon is a rock solid combo. Super refreshing and delicious I’m sure 🙂

    What a great giveaway! Lord knows I need some styling help 😉 Your pictures always look amazing, I bet you could write a book on food styling.

    Reply

  11. You had me a “Greek Yogurt”! I love using this stuff in all kinds of dishes! And I really, really, really need the stylist book. I would love you forever. 🙂

    Reply

  13. Those muffins look gorgeous and so pretty! I bet they taste divine.

    I’d love to win that book because I’d really love to learn more about food styling.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Reply

  16. I love this recipe! I will definitely be trying it this weekend.
    Great giveaway- I lack in the food styling category. I would LOVE to have this book for guidance!

    Reply

  20. On Denise’s website, I learned that she has cooked for prestigious guests like George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Prince Charles.

    Reply

  24. I hopped over to Food Fanantics and I was so impressed. Offers to much knowledge. They were even the stylists on Food Network’s Unwrapped: Greetings from L.A. Very cool.

    Reply

  29. Marla – I would never miss a post of yours! But, thank you for letting me know they will actually send to Canada. Wonderful, particularly as we are in the midst of organizing a Local Food Celebration here and one of the workshops will be on food styling. This book would be a great addition to that session and the display there. Of course, I would love to use it to do better on my site, myself. Love your recipe, as always. Raspberries win me over every time. I grow my own and they are my favourite fruit flavour of all the zillions of fruit flavours. Hot, cold, or in between they are precious jewels of nature. YUM!
    🙂
    Valerie

    Reply

  34. I went to the Food Fanatic’s website and I was linked to their blog and read about Tosca’s book of clean eating!

    Reply

  35. Thank you for this fruity and no-white flour recipe. Those are usually rare to find. Will definitely try them out!
    AND this is the best giveaway. I love books like that!
    (Added Family Fresh Cooking to my favorites@FB)

    Reply

  45. Your daughter is such a sweetie that I wouldn’t be able to resist honoring her request either. Plus these muffins sound downright amazing. No question about it. Lemon and raspberry are a match made in heaven,

    What an awesome giveaway! I’ve been coveting that book.

    Reply

  47. Love the muffins, Marla! Isn’t cooking healthy foods for the people you love the best feeling in the world? I bet the kiddos loved these! Thanks for another great giveaway!

    Reply

  50. Marla…your small de-railment has served us well…great healthy ingredients certainly leads to a happier muffin treat ;o)

    Flavourful wishes,
    Claudia

    Reply

  51. With all the Interior design books and cookbooks that grace my shelf…a Food Styling book would certainly complete the path to more creativity in my hosting ;o)

    Marla, thanks for making this giveaway for all….much appreciated ;o)

    Ciao for now,
    Claudia

    Reply

  52. what care in making these muffins! the results are worth it and I am thinking I need to make these next time, even if i use some sugar for the sake of speed (I cant see myself counting 60 drops )
    Beautiful photos!

    Reply

    1. Joumana: You are so right I re-read the recipe and swapped out the “60 drops” for roughly 3 full droppers. Not sure what I was thinking there – but I do not think most folks would count 60 drops!

      Claudia: I am sure your hosting is all ready spectacular, bet heck we all could use some divine inspiration sometimes. This book makes me realize how much I don’t know, but it helps me learn it with clarity and focus. I had the lovely opportunity of meeting Denise earlier this year & she is a true motivator!

      Faith: Yes, cooking REAL food for my loved ones is truly the most rewarding feeling. I love contributing to their overall health and enjoyment of life through food.

      Reply

  53. Okay, wow, where do I start. First on the beautiful muffins. They look divine and I know kids would gobble them up. Second, the book. I could use some style tips. I could use a LOT of style tips. I am just fumbling my way through food styling and photography, hoping to get a few decent shots that I can post on my website. Your pictures are gorgeous, I’d love to be able to pull that off.

    Reply

  56. I love the pink little muffin! It’s hard resisting a request from your kids regardless of whether or not it’s seasonal-lucky little girl!

    Reply

  59. Visited Denise’s website …. I may need to get her book on starting your own home based catering business.

    Reply

  60. I went to Denise’s website and I discovered she wrote a book, Do It For Less: Weddings ! My daughter is getting married next year and I went to Amazon and read about this book. I think it’s just what we need!

    Reply

  61. The muffins look amazing. I’ve been craving something lemon, so I will absolutely try this recipe. I love that you included variations because I have bags of frozen blueberries in the freezer which I’ll use to replace the raspberries. Thanks for the recipe and the giveaway.

    Reply

  62. I am with you on enough of the Fall stuff. I vote to bring back warmer weather and you do it with these muffins! What a great, healthy recipe. By the way, I follow you on Twitter and like you on FB. 🙂

    Reply

  64. What a great giveaway, because I’ve had my eye on this book and would LOVE a copy! We have not one, but two meyer lemon trees in the yard. And they’re JUST starting to turn yellow now. They’ll be ready in December. Definitely bookmarking this recipe for then!

    [K]

    Reply

  67. Oh, and I actually went to Denise’s website, and ordered not one, not two, but THREE books from Amazon through her page!!! 🙂 And two of those books were Denise’s, from long, long ago. (How to Start a Home-Based Catering Business, 4th Edition). I had no idea Denise was such a successful caterer!!!

    So yep, that’s what I learned when hopping over to her site.

    [K]

    Reply

    1. Kim: That is so exciting that you had great luck at Denise’s website. She is such a talented woman & has had sweet success for some time now. I am so thrilled to watch you guys get excited about her books and achievements. Can’t wait to hear about all you will learn from her. Best of luck with those Meyer Lemon trees-these muffins will taste great with fresh squeezes from those lemons 🙂

      Reply

  73. I love raspberry muffins and these look great!

    I’d love for you to submit one of your beautiful photos, and a link to your post, to my new food photo gallery showcasing beautiful baking.

    Reply

  75. Marla, this is a great giveaway. I so need this book! I feel totally lost and I think my blog could be a lot better with the right food styling and lighting setup.

    Reply

  81. My husband loves raspberries! I could use this book because I do functional not pretty. I cook for a Senior Center, so things are portioned out so I don’t have to present it.

    Reply

  83. I checked out Food Fanatics. I’ve seen some of that on the Food Network, but it’s a lot more detailed than I thought. I need to take pictures of some of my failures to post!!

    Reply

    1. Shana: I know we should all have a day where we post failures. That would for sure get a few giggles. I have some nasty photos in the archives. Thank goodness for delete buttons and photoshop!

      Laura: That is such a sweet compliment. Yes, it has been a short while since I started blogging – but I am crazy dedicated to my “third child!”

      Reply

  92. You’ve really put it all together in these fab muffins, Marla. I love the way you’ve so clearly thought through the ingredients list to keep things as light and healthy as possible while still retaining all that scrumptious flavor. Need to get some raspberries NOW before they disappear for the season!

    Reply

    1. Kate: Heck, I like you too! Like your definitive response to the frosted muffin being a CUPCAKE!

      Amelia: It is amazing how many amazing projects the Food Fanatics work on. I too would love to attend Denise’s Culinary entrepreneurship program.

      Reply
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  110. Do you have to use pastry flour? That’s not something I usually have on hand. I do have whole wheat and white whole wheat…

    Do they freeze well?

    Thanks!

    Reply

    1. Hi! WW pastry flour has a lighter & less wheaty flavor then the regular. Also a more delicate crumb. You can try the white WWPF instead. Might have good results.
      I did not try freezing them. I bet they would freeze well though. No frosting until defrosting though 🙂

      Reply

  111. could you tell me how (if possible) how I could use stevia powder and vanilla extract in place of vanilla stevia liquid drops? I just found this recipe & desperately want to make these for a party tomorrow so I won’t have time to order them on line. thanks!!!

    Reply

    1. Hi April, sorry for the delayed response. It all depends on what stevia you are using. I use a no-carb blend so a very small amount is used and I can adjust to taste. This is the NuNaturals powder I prefer for baking. Generally it will be about 1 teaspoon in a recipe like this. The vanilla extract about 1 teaspoon as well. I do not recommend using stevia baking blends for this. Good luck!

      Reply

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