Lemon-Cranberry Muffins
These lemony cranberry-studded muffins crunch lightly with cornmeal and are topped with a kiss of sugared lemon zest. They’re great warm from the oven, but also keep well for a few days and freeze beautifully.
Servings
1 dozen muffins
Prep Time
25 minutes
Total Time
1 hour
Ingredients
- 1/2cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons, divided
- 3/4cup nonfat plain yogurt
- 1/3cup canola oil
- 1large egg
- 3teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest, divided
- 2tablespoons lemon juice
- 1teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2cups white whole-wheat flour
- 1/2cup cornmeal, preferably medium or fine stone-ground
- 2teaspoons baking powder
- 1teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2cups cranberries, fresh or frozen (thawed), coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups with cooking spray or line with paper liners.
- Whisk 1/2 cup sugar, yogurt, oil, egg, 2 teaspoons lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla in a medium bowl.
- Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the yogurt mixture and fold until almost blended. Gently fold in cranberries. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and remaining 1 teaspoon lemon zest in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over the tops of the muffins.
- Bake the muffins until golden brown and they spring back lightly to the touch, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving.
Tips
To make quick work of chopping cranberries, place whole berries in a food processor and pulse a few times until the berries are coarsely chopped.
White whole-wheat flour is made from hard white wheat berries, which makes it lighter in color and flavor than regular whole-wheat flour, but with the same nutritional properties. For the best flavor, store it airtight in the freezer.
Individually wrap in plastic and freeze in a freezer bag for up to 1 month. To reheat frozen muffins, remove plastic, wrap muffin in a paper towel and microwave on High for 30 to 60 seconds.
Muffin tin with 12 (1/2-cup) cups
Nutrition Facts
Per serving (recipe makes 1 dozen muffins)
| Calories | 187kcal |
|---|---|
| Carbohydrate Total | 29g |
| Total Sugars | 12g |
| Added Sugars | 10g |
| Fiber | 3g |
| Total Fat | 7g |
| Saturated Fat | 1g |
| Mono Saturated Fat | 4g |
| Cholesterol | 18mg |
| Sodium | 254mg |
| Protein | 4g |
| Potassium | 96mg |
| Calcium | 81mg |
| Chromium | 2mcg |
| Folate | 6mcg |
| Omega-3 | 1g |
| Omega-6 | 1g |
| Vitamin E | 2mg |
© Meredith Operations Corporation. All rights reserved. Used with permission.