Raspberry White Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe

Muffins are a perfect breakfast because they are both easy to make and something that can be made in advance. There are plenty of different types of muffins to try, with fruit based muffins being perhaps one of the most popular and versatile types out there. While blueberry or banana muffins are super common, these raspberry white chocolate chip muffins from recipe developer Jessica Morone switch things up by featuring the sweet-tart berry, along with chocolatey goodness for added sweetness and richness.

"Raspberries are one of my favorite fruits, but they aren't used as much in baked goods," Morone says. "In these muffins I love how the juicy raspberries bring a fresh burst of flavor, while the creamy white chocolate adds just the right amount of richness to balance out their tartness." Thanks to the addition of white chocolate, these muffins are so tasty that they could also be served as a dessert. Besides being effortless and quick to whip up, these are easy to pack up and take with you for an on-the-go breakfast or a lunch treat. 

For the muffin batter you will need flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, milk, eggs, butter, vanilla extract, raspberries, and white chocolate chips. Then you make a streusel topping out of more flour, sugar and butter. Finally, there is an optional glaze made from powdered sugar and milk. 

Morone advises that you can use fresh or frozen raspberries for this recipe and says, "If you are using frozen raspberries don't thaw them first, and if you're worried about the batter turning too pink, you can toss them with about a tablespoon of flour before adding them to the batter."

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Grease a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a separate large bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract until combined.

Mix the flour mixture into the bowl with the wet ingredients until just combined.

Gently fold in the raspberries and white chocolate chips until combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each one about ¾ full. Set aside.

In a small bowl use a pastry blender, a fork, or your fingers to combine the streusel ingredients until the mixture is crumbly.

Sprinkle the streusel over the muffin batter.

Bake in the preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely.

If making the glaze, in a small bowl whisk together the powdered sugar and milk until smooth (the glaze should be thick, but still easy to drizzle).

Use a spoon to drizzle the glaze over the tops of the muffins.

Let the glaze set, then serve.

There are a couple of ways you can change these muffins up. The first is by swapping out the raspberries for a different type of fruit. You can either use any other kind of small fruit, like blueberries or cherries, or you can chop up a larger fruit into chunks, such as an apple or strawberries. You could even do something like a mixed berry muffin with several different types of fruit. Whatever you choose, you can use the same amount, about 1 ½ cups of your choice of fruit. 

Another switch you can make is to the chocolate chips. This recipe uses white chocolate because the flavor goes so well with raspberries, but it will also work with milk, semi-sweet, or dark chocolate chips. And if chocolate chips aren't your thing, there are also plenty of substitutes for chocolate chips, like yogurt chips. The glaze is also optional, but if you still want to do a drizzle you could just melt more white chocolate and drizzle that over the muffins rather than making the glaze. 

Muffins aren't too difficult to make, but there are still some tips you can try to make sure you make the perfect muffins. The main thing you want to avoid is ending up with dense, dry muffins. This tends to happen when the batter is overmixed. There is actually a science to how you are supposed to mix up muffins, which involves keeping the wet and dry ingredients separate until you are ready to combine everything. This keeps the leavening agents from activating too early, and also keeps the flour from getting clumpy in the batter. 

In addition to not mixing the batter too much, one thing you want to make sure of in this recipe is that the butter isn't too hot before you add it into the other wet ingredients. If its too warm, it can cause the eggs to start cooking and turn the batter into scrambled eggs. So after you melt the butter, let it sit out until when touched it is no longer hot (but still liquidy).