Luscious Lemon Berry Muffins from Scratch

You love lemon. You love the tangy sweetness of berries. And when you merge the two? Perfection! These luscious lemon berry muffins have the right blend of fruity flavors. They’re perfect for breakfast or even for dessert or a mid-afternoon snack!

These Lemon Berry Muffins Hit All the Notes!

A few days back I settled in to watch a video on YouTube. When it ended, another video started–a post featuring several muffin recipes (basically a similar recipe used three different ways).

I was intrigued, of course. I’m always open to new ideas.

After watching the video I bookmarked it so that I could go back and watch it again later. Thanks to Brian Lagerstrom for the inspirations. I made a couple of tweaks to his recipe, of course. I can’t seem to follow directions without making changes.

Still, the basic premise is the same–a solid muffin recipe that’s useable for a variety of flavors.

I already had a great berry muffin recipe. My Oatmeal Blueberry Muffin mix is great. But the idea of merging lemon and berry sounded intriguing to me, so I decided to doctor up Brian’s original recipe with even more lemon zest and juice.

Lemon. . .and Berries? Is that a Thing?

Yes, definitely! If you’ve been following my blog you know that I love using strawberry and lemon together. My Strawberry Lemonade Cake is one of my most requested, after all. And my Strawberry Lemon Creme Scones are yummy, too!

So, merging those two flavors in a muffin? Yes, please!

I started with Brian’s base recipe then added to it. Here are the ingredients I used. (You’ll find a full printable recipe at the bottom of this post.)

This is a large recipe that makes 24 cupcake-sized muffins or 12 jumbo muffins. Here’s what you’ll need:

Lemon Berry Muffin Ingredients:

• white sugar
• whole eggs, room temperature
• egg yolks
• sour cream
• whole milk
• fresh lemon juice
• lemon zest
• vanilla extract
• vegetable oil 
• room temperature butter
• all purpose flour
• salt
• baking powder 
• baking soda 
• berries (fresh or frozen, any berries you like)

Just a note about the berries. You could use fresh blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, or blackberries. But you can also use frozen. They work just as well.

Lemon Sugar Topping Ingredients:

• raw sugar (turbinado/coarse)
• lemon zest

How to Make these Amazing Lemon Berry Muffins:

You won’t need an electric mixer or a stand mixer with paddle attachment for this recipe. You can make it using a couple of bowls (a medium bowl and a large bowl).

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Zest one lemon and squeeze the juice. Set aside.

Combine sugar and eggs and mix well.

Add all other wet ingredients, including the zest of one lemon and the lemon juice from one lemon. Stir until fully incorporated. (Don’t worry if it looks a little runny at this point.)

In a separate bowl merge all dry ingredients. Whisk them together until fully incorporated.

Slowly work the dry ingredients into the wet and fold until combined. Don’t over mix. You don’t want to over-activate the gluten strands. Fold in the berries with the flour mixture.

Prepare your muffin tin. I used liners for mine but it’s fine to bake them directly in the pan as long as you use non-stick spray first.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill the muffin cups to about the 2/3 point.

Now it’s time to make the topping. In a small bowl mix the zest of one lemon with the raw sugar.

Sprinkle about a tablespoon of this lemon sugar over each muffin. Make sure you don’t let it touch the edges of the muffin or the muffins will stick to the pan. (Ask me how I know!)

Place in preheated 350 degree oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until muffins are golden brown and spring back to the touch.

Remove and place pan on a wire cooling rack. Don’t attempt to pull from the pan until they’re cool enough to handle. If the sugar causes any sticking use the tip of a paring knife to pry it loose.

These muffins are yummy on the same day, but can I just say that I thought they were even better the following morning! The juicy berries spill over into the rest of the batter and bake into the mix. (Yum!)

These are moist muffins, thanks to the addition of vegetable oil, but they have a buttery flavor, as well.

My favorite part is the muffin tops. That turbinado sugar with lemon zest is the perfect complement to the berries inside the muffin. Talk about a fresh lemon flavor!

Variations on These Lemon Berry Muffins

These muffins had such a bright flavor. They are super tasty, but I’m already thinking of ways to change them up next time. Here are some of the ways I might do that:

• Use mayo in place of sour cream. This will add another layer of richness to an already rich muffin. Or, if you’re out of both, consider adding greek yogurt.
• Turn this into a lemon berry cake by baking in 8″ rounds and layering with lemon curd and fresh berries. (Yum! Lemon blueberry cake sounds amazing!)
• Instead of regular muffin cups, I’m dying to try this recipe in a jumbo muffin pan.
• Wanting to up the lemon flavor? Add a teaspoon of lemon extract to the recipe.
• I can also imagine that a lemon berry pound cake would be yummy. I’ve already posted a terrific Old-Fashioned Pound Cake recipe. Adding berries and lemon zest? Yes, please!
• Serve with lemon curd and fresh berries for a real treat! (These would be great for a high tea.)
• Make a sweet lemon glaze using powdered sugar and lemon juice. Drizzle over the muffins in place of the lemon sugar.

More Tips and Recipes:

Store these muffins in an airtight container. I put mine in a ziplock baggie to take to church friends.

If you’re interested in other muffin recipes from Out of the Box Baking, take a look at my Easy Cinnamon Streusel Muffins with Pecans or my Double Dark Chocolate Espresso Muffins. They’re so tasty!

Thanks for stopping by! I’m so grateful you took the time. Leave a comment with your favorite muffin recipe and I’ll do my best to bake it soon!

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About the Author

Janice Thompson is an author, baker, and all-around mischief maker! She has overcome a host of baking catastrophes, including a toppled wedding cake, to learn more about the baking process. Janice has published over 150 books for the Christian market but particularly enjoys writing recipes and baking devotions. To learn more about Janice or to drop her a note, visit her About the Author page.