Buttermilk

Simply Raspberry Muffins

by:
May  2, 2021
5
9 Ratings
Simply Raspberry Muffins
  • Makes 10-12 muffins (depending on your tin filling tendencies)
Author Notes

There are only two places from which I've had muffins I like (apologies to everyone out there who is a muffin fanatic, I don't know if I'm picky, or what. I'm just more of a scone girl). Muffins from some unknown bakery that one of my old bosses lived next to and muffins from Joanne Chang's Flour bakery. Her's are everything a muffin should be, so light, tender and crumbly, they just barely hold together, but with a shiny, sturdy, almost crisp top. Sweet, but not too sweet, and packed with lots of fruit.
So, when I was at Flour a while back, and flipping through her new(ish) cookbook while waiting for my lunch, I decided to check out her muffin recipe. I was immediately struck by how vehement she was that everything needs to be room temperature. Hmmm. Maybe, just maybe that actually mattered. It does! As much as having extremely cold ingredients matters for making shortcrust or biscuits. It has revolutionized my muffin baking!
So, here are some simple raspberry muffins, based somewhat off of Joanne Chang's recipe, particularly the use of creme fraiche, (if I had a photographic memory or owned the book, I would probably just use hers since they are so good, but alas, it is not the case) and my experience with a number of other muffin attempts including those from The Best Recipes, which are quite tasty as well.
No streusal, no extra flavorings (except for some requisite vanilla, oh and I browned the butter because, why not? And it adds a little voluptuousness), just lots of raspberries. Yum! My favorite berry. Of course, if you wanted to, you could also replace half of the raspberries with chopped peaches. That would also be delicious. Nor would I try to stop you if you wanted to add some lemon zest. But really, I don't think you can go wrong if you're just all about the raspberries. - fiveandspice —fiveandspice

Test Kitchen Notes

These could easily be named "Simply the Best Raspberry Muffins." The tender, cakey base isn't overly sweet, not even distantly related to the leaden hockey pucks that often masquerade as muffins. Fiveandspice adds a few genius touches: brown butter flecks the batter and perfumes the muffins with its nutty flavor, and the combination of creme fraiche and buttermilk add a lovely, tart dimension that's echoed by the fresh raspberries. There's also a generous dose of sea salt, which means your tongue hits lovely little bursts of saltiness every now and again. Note: these muffins are divine just out the oven. - A&M —The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs. sugar
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk AT ROOM TEMP
  • 1/2 cup creme fraiche AT ROOM TEMP
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten, AT ROOM TEMP
  • 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten, AT ROOM TEMP
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup fresh raspberries (you could also use frozen - don't defrost if you do)
Directions
  1. In a small saucepan, melt the butter, and cook over medium heat, stirring nearly constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan as you go, until the butter turns brown and smells nutty. Mine took about 7 minutes. Set aside to cool to room temperature or slightly warmer.
  2. Preheat your oven to 350F and grease (or line with muffin cups) a muffin tin.
  3. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  4. In another bowl, whisk together the the sugar, buttermilk, and creme fraiche until totally combined. Whisk in the egg and egg yolk until smooth. Finally, whisk in the browned butter and vanilla.
  5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and start to gently fold it together. When it is still quite lumpy and not fully combined, stir in the raspberries. Continue to stir gently just until you see no more dry patches. Don't overmix!
  6. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin, filling each well about 3/4s of the way full.
  7. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a tester inserted in the center of one comes out clean. Let cool for just a minute or two, and then turn them out of the pan quickly (otherwise the bottoms steam) and cool on a cooling rack. Or eat them warm, with plenty of butter, because that is really what one ought to do with fresh muffins.
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120 Reviews

Peaches
Peaches October 17, 2020
Where do you find creme fraiche? I don't think I've seen it in groceries.
(And "hers" should not have an apostrophe.)
 
Grooviness
Grooviness July 15, 2024
You can make your own. 1 cup cream (preferably not ultra-pasteurized) mixed with a tablespoon of buttermilk. Cover the container with cheesecloth & secure with a rubber band (it needs to breathe), and leave on the counter overnight or until it thickens.
 
Gingarr
Gingarr May 23, 2020
Made these today using all ingredients listed and they turned out great! I baked them for 30 minutes in a 12 cup muffin pan. They rose just perfectly! The batter is quite sweet, but so is store bought muffins, so i guess these are actually just regular sweet? Anyways, great recipe! I'm really impressed how they turned out.
 
Frienda
Frienda October 10, 2019
I made these as described with the exception of using fresh blueberries instead of raspberries. They were a hit! The only thing I’d change is to reduce the batter in the cups, it rises well and does not require them to be filled all the way to the top.
 
lgoldenhar
lgoldenhar July 23, 2017
Just made this morning with raspberries from our CSA. Very light and airy. I'm actually not sure if that was a result of the flours I used. This morning I discovered that I did not have 1 3/4 cup of all purpose flour or whole wheat flour. I ended up using about 1 cup of all purpose flour, about 14 tbsp (a little under 3/4 cup) whole wheat flour and 2 tbsp(ish) yellow cornmeal. I was nervous, but they came out fantastic! The only other sub I made was instead of buttermilk, I made my own using 1/2 cup whole milk and 1/2 tbsp of lemon juice.
 
Grooviness
Grooviness July 16, 2017
I'm making these again today. They're very popular at work.
 
Hina K.
Hina K. July 16, 2017
This is by far my favorite muffin recipe...it almost seems to delicious to even be a muffin...and today I made them with strawberries and peaches and they were sensational!
 
Margit V.
Margit V. August 5, 2013
My favorite way of making this excellent recipe is to bake it in a 9-inch cake pan and serve it with whipped cream flavored with powdered sugar and maple syrup. Also, I use plain Greek or regular yogurt and 1/2 and 1/2 as the dairy part, since that's what I always have in the fridge. So delicious! Also, I think the cake-pan method keeps the recipe fresh for the following day. Everyone I've served it to has been delighted!

 
fiveandspice
fiveandspice August 7, 2013
Great suggestion!
 
Toni W.
Toni W. June 13, 2013
These are delicious! I made a batch this morning (no buttermilk or creme fraiche, but I substituted with milk & vinegar) and they were gone before dinner time! Your recipe is so easy to follow that I just finished up another batch with my 5 year old. great recipe!
 
fiveandspice
fiveandspice June 13, 2013
Thank you so much! I'm glad you guys have been enjoying them.
 
skenny89
skenny89 May 18, 2013
These is insanely good, I ate half a batch the first day, which I never do because by the time I'm done cooking I'm kind of tired of the food at that point. I would suggest freezing those you don't want to eat the first day because their delicious moist texture also causes the, to go bad quickly
 
fiveandspice
fiveandspice May 18, 2013
Thanks skenny89! I'm so happy you liked them so much!
 
My P.
My P. October 7, 2012
These muffins sound delicious. Has anyone tried them the next day? I need to make a big batch to bring somewhere and will need to make the night before. Thoughts?
 
drbabs
drbabs October 7, 2012
I saw this because I had commented on this recipe before and your comments were emailed to me. I haven't made them (they do sound wonderful) but I wanted to tell you that you might get more responses by posting your question on hotline. (although fiveandspice might see your question also and answer herself).
 
fiveandspice
fiveandspice October 7, 2012
I think they're still quite good the next day, especially if you can warm them up in a toaster oven or oven.
 
Themk
Themk June 19, 2012
These are absolutely delicious and have become my favorite muffin recipe.
 
fiveandspice
fiveandspice June 19, 2012
I'm totally thrilled to hear that Themk! I'm delighted that you've been enjoying them so much!
 
kat I.
kat I. June 6, 2012
Thank you so much. I happened upon your recipe only because I had some buttermilk in the fridge and frozen rasberries. Like you, I am not a big fan of muffins - having only ever tasted those dry stodgy over-sweet ones. I gobbled 4 and my kids finished the rest - this is a keeper. Thank you for sharing this.
 
fiveandspice
fiveandspice June 6, 2012
Thank you for your kind comment kat! I'm glad I could help out another non-muffin fan! :)
 
EmilyMarieC
EmilyMarieC March 11, 2012
I just made these muffins out of my copy of Flour this morning (the peach-ginger version). At least in my version of Flour, all the measurements are doubled, and I'm very confused - the recipe says it makes 12 muffins, but even filling the cups nearly to overflowing as Chang suggests, I got 21 muffins out of it! There was no way the batter was going to fit into only 12 muffin tins. Has anyone else had this problem?? Or was this possibly an error that was fixed in later versions?
 
fiveandspice
fiveandspice March 11, 2012
Hi EmilyMarieC. I'm afraid I'm going to be totally unhelpful and say, I have no idea why that happened. Maybe they use bigger muffin cups? This version is based on my memory of the recipe in the Flour cookbook, combined with the Cook's Illustrated blueberry muffin recipe, and a recipe from 101cookbooks, plus a few touches of my own. I think my baseline flour measurement I worked from was based on Cook's Illustrated's.
 
Blissful B.
Blissful B. January 25, 2012
Wow! Like their title, these muffins are simply awesome. The raspberry flavor just pops with every bite. The only substitution I made was to use 1 cup kefir instead of the buttermilk/creme fraiche combo. I stock kefir in my house & it's consistency is right between the two & delivers a similar tang. Delicious!
 
fiveandspice
fiveandspice March 11, 2012
Hi BB! Don't know how I missed this comment earlier, but thanks!! I'm so glad you enjoyed them. Love the use of kefir - great idea!
 
Grooviness
Grooviness October 10, 2011
I made a double batch of these yesterday and they're sitting next to my desk at work today quickly disappearing. I wish I'd have had more raspberries though. The pint I bought at the farmers market came to two cups but I think it could have used three.
 
fiveandspice
fiveandspice October 12, 2011
Haha! I definitely consider them disappearing muffins! :) And, if you like another cup of fruit in your muffins, you should most definitely add it!!
 
Scarla
Scarla July 22, 2011
My hat is off to you -- these are, hands down, the best muffins I've ever baked/eaten (even better than mine, which are an Editor's Pick!). Since I am constitutionally incapable of leaving a recipe alone, I substituted blackberries (I was out of raspberries; I just cut them in half), made my own faux-buttermilk with vinegar, and used sour cream in place of the creme fraiche, since I didn't have any. I also used Bakewell Cream for the baking powder, and finally got my hands on some prized White Lily flour, which is heavenly. I also sprinkled some sanding sugar on top before baking for a little extra crunch. The crumb is perfect, and they are amazingly tender -- no "muffin toughness" at all. And the browned butter is genius! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe -- it will be a regular part of my repertoire.
 
fiveandspice
fiveandspice July 22, 2011
Thanks Scarla! That's great! I love all your little changes, and I bet they were awesome with balckberries.
 
fitsxarts
fitsxarts July 21, 2011
these are incredible! i made them with blueberries and voila, the best blueberry muffin i've ever made. thank you!
 
fiveandspice
fiveandspice July 21, 2011
That's so wonderful! I'm glad to hear you liked them! It really is a great versatile base. Thanks so much for letting me know how it went with blueberries!
 
gingerroot
gingerroot July 20, 2011
Made these yesterday with my son and they are probably the best muffin to ever come out of my oven. Really, these are my ideal - crisp top, fluffy interior, and the perfect amount of sweetness (just as you described!). Thank you fiveandspice for such a fabulous recipe!! Both of my children have requested them to share at school on their respective birthdays. Congrats - these are a winner in my house!
 
fiveandspice
fiveandspice July 20, 2011
Oh, thank you so much gingerroot! Hearing that just really made my day a lot better! (It's been a nutty one.)
 
sexyLAMBCHOPx
sexyLAMBCHOPx July 20, 2011
Congrats for the runner-up title. These muffins have provided me a winning method for muffins done right!
 
fiveandspice
fiveandspice July 20, 2011
Thanks sexyLAMBCHOPx. I'm so pleased to have helped you find a muffin you can really enjoy!
 
Sagegreen
Sagegreen July 20, 2011
Congrats on being the runner-up. Your recipe is perfect. I have made these 3 times and just love them.
 
fiveandspice
fiveandspice July 20, 2011
Thank you Sagegreen. That means a lot to me.