Lemon Raspberry Muffins

Again, I made this recipe at the recommendation of a friend (thanks Denise!). These are one of Denise's favorite muffins, and after making them they are mine too...simply delicious. 

I must have over-mixed mine because they turned out with a purple hue and some had those pointy peaks that leave a cook no wiggle room for explaining the number of times the spatula circled around the batter, but they were moist and flavorful...in fact I could have used even more lemon flavor...perhaps next time I will zest two lemons. I also did not have white whole wheat flour, so I used regular whole wheat flour. 

The original recipe for these muffins, as passed along to me from my friend, was posted on the eatingwell website (http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/lemon_raspberry_muffins.html).  

Lemon Raspberry Muffins

1 lemon

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup buttermilk

1/3 cup canola oil

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups frozen (not thawed) raspberries

Preheat oven to 400 deg F. Coat a (12 count, large) muffin pan with cooking spray or line with paper liners.

Use a vegetable peeler to remove the zest from the lemon 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 vanilla and pulse until blended.

Combine whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the buttermilk mixture and fold until almost blended. 

Gently fold in raspberries. Divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups.

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.