Fresh and Fruity – Raspberry-Lemon Muffins

My friend V is getting married at the end of the month, so a few of us got together and threw her an unforgettable bachelorette night to celebrate her last days as a single woman, followed by a girlie sleepover party.

Of course, after a night of debauchery, nobody’s really in the mood to eat a heavy breakfast, but a little nibble and a big cup of coffee really help you freshen up. Seeing as pink is V’s favourite colour, I decided to bake up a batch of light and fruity muffins with fresh raspberries and lemon for the morning-after recovery breakfast. It’s not exactly hair of the dog, but it certainly did the trick. :)

The raspberry and lemon are tart and refreshing, perfect for waking up whatever’s still asleep – be it your tastebuds or a houseful of sleepy girls. To boost the tangy flavour, I used low-fat buttermilk in the batter, which has the added benefit of keeping the fat content reasonable while still producing a rich, moist muffin (you can sub regular milk, if you’re not a fan of buttermilk, though).

For an that extra girlie touch, I lined the cups of my muffin tin with squares of parchment paper using a little trick from Martha Stewart. Besides being pretty, this trick is rather practical too – since parchment is non-stick, it peels away easily and leaves the muffin intact. However, you can go ahead and use regular paper liners if you’re not feeling quite so fancified.

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Raspberry-Lemon Muffins

1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 lemon
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
2 cups frozen raspberries (unthawed)

Preheat oven to 400F. Line the cups of a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the buttermilk, sugar, oil, egg and vanilla until smooth. Zest and juice the lemon into the buttermilk mixture; stir again until combined.
In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and fold until almost combined. Gently fold in the still-frozen raspberries, being careful not to break them up. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of each muffin comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 5-10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.