The Best Muffins - Ever! Raspberry Crumble Muffins w/ Citrus Drizzle

I’ve been REALLY trying to be good …………… have you noticed? I’ve been posting healthy and low-fat lately, like this wonderful salad and these fabulous Quinoa Stuffed Portobellos. There have been delicious and nutritious soups like this one and this one. There was one exception, but it was definitely an exception-al situation, you have to agree with that, right? And really.... if the paper baking liners hadn't been so darn cute, I wouldn't have fallen prey to these enticing, impossible-to-eat-just-one muffins. ................
.................. If you read my last post, I explained a dilemma that I experience quite frequently: I'll be minding my own business and suddenly from a strange and unexpected source, I get an inspiration for a
recipe.

This time it happened in T.J. Maxx. Browsing innocently through the home section, I suddenly spied the darling red and white plaid baking paper liners. Not normal cupcake liners, I might have been able to pass those up. No, these were really fun, shallow liners that were sturdy enough to stand on their own and resembled  mini tart pans. 

Okay, so admittedly, I didn't look the other way or head in another direction. Instead, I picked up the little package and stared at it with an admiring gaze. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I heard a little voice (in my head, thankfully) saying, "absolootly positootly perfect for ........... raspberry muffins". And then a few seconds later I'm hearing, "Yes, with a yummy crumble" .................. (now we're on a roll) ................ "Oh, and a Meyer lemon drizzle would be quite lovely". 

So that was that. It was the cute paper liner’s fault, or should I blame T.J. Maxx?.... or maybe it's my husband's fault for suggesting we stop there ................ or maybe ..................

Okay, OKAY, I take responsibility, it’s totally my crazy culinary brain at work again, but regardless, I think you'll LOVE the results. They're fabulously delicious .................. melt-in your-mouth, tender, sweet, but not too sweet, a touch of tartness from the raspberry bits and a crisp, buttery crumble on top. Did I tell you about the to-die-for citrus icing drizzle made with lemon and orange juice and zest?

Try them. Soon. You won't be disappointed. I promise. Think you can eat just one? …………… Hmmm, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

P.S. I made them in the pretty, shallow baking papers I found, but this recipe is also perfect for regular sized muffins. It makes 10 of the larger, lower muffins or a full dozen regular-sized muffins.

Oh, and I couldn't find any Meyer lemons so I used a combination of orange and lemon juice, not quite the same, but still scrumptiously delicious.

Raspberry Crumble Muffins w/ Citrus Drizzle

Ingredients for the crumble:

1¼ cup flour

⅓ cup sugar

salt, a pinch
7 tablespoons butter, melted
½ teaspoon vanilla

Ingredients for the muffins:
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
1 large egg
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon soda
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup frozen raspberries, do not allow to thaw

Ingredients for the drizzle:
1 cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 tablespoon milk

Instructions for the crumble:
1. Combine flour, sugar and a pinch of salt. Stir with a fork to combine. Add the melted butter and the vanilla.

2. Mix crumble mixture with a fork until butter is well incorporated. Keep stirring (for about 2 minutes) until small crumbles appear. You don't want a lot of dry crumbs at the bottom of the bowl. Set aside.

Instructions for the muffins:
1. Take frozen raspberries and, with your fingers, crumble them up into small pieces. They should split apart quite easily when frozen. If they are too hard to crumble, wait just a minute or two for them to unthaw a tiny bit, but don't let them really unthaw. (I like to wear clean rubber gloves for this step as the berries are very cold and the gloves also keep my fingers from getting stained.) Place berry crumbles on a small plate and return to freezer while preparing muffin batter. (You don't want them to starting thawing for this recipe, but rather to stay as intact little raspberry crumbles. This will keep your muffins pretty and "polka dotted" rather than a purple-red mess!)

2.  Preheat oven to 400˚F. Either grease 12 muffin pan cups with baking spray or line the cups with paper liners. If you're using the stand alone disposable papers (like I did), place 10 liners on a large sheet pan.

3. Beat the butter until fluffy. Add the sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat at medium speed for another 2 minutes.

4. Combine dry ingredients and add alternately with buttermilk, beating just until combined.

5. Removed raspberries from freezer and very gently fold in them into the batter. Work quickly at this point, because you don't want the raspberries to start to unthaw or your batter will turn into a purplish-red mess.

6. Spoon into prepared muffin cups 2/3 full. Sprinkle with crumble, dividing evenly. Bake for 10 minutes then lower heat to 375˚F. Continue to bake for another 8-10 minutes or until pale golden and springy to the touch. Cool completely, then drizzle with Citrus Drizzle.

Instructions for the drizzle:

1. Combine all the ingredients and stir vigorously with a fork or small whisk until smooth.

PRINTABLE RECIPE