Lemon Raspberry Muffins

I love muffins, and these are my absolute favorite. The flavors are light and fresh and always seem to cheer me up. The original recipe is from Eating Well. I changed it to make it all whole wheat and a more noticeable lemon flavor.

Whenever I make muffins I make a double batch and freeze the extras. Muffins freeze very well and can be thawed from frozen by wrapping in a paper towel and microwaving on high for one minute.


Ingredients

* 2 lemons
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 cup nonfat buttermilk + a little extra
* 1/3 cup canola oil
* 1 large egg
* juice from half a lemon
* 1 cup white whole-wheat flour
* 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen (not thawed) raspberries, cut into pieces

Preparation

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 lemons 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 lemon juice and pulse until blended.
3. Combine the whole-wheat flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the buttermilk mixture and fold until almost blended. Gently fold in raspberries. Let batter rest 10-15 mins. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Top with coarse sugar if desired.
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.