These raspberry chocolate muffins are moist, chocolatey and studded with fresh raspberries. They’re made with simple ingredients and come together without a mixer in just 30 minutes. Perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack. Freeze leftovers so you always have some on hand!
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The secret to these chocolate raspberry muffins is sour cream and lemon zest in the chocolate batter. You won’t taste the lemon directly, but it works with the raspberries to make these taste fresh tasting. Sour cream helps the muffins bake up tender and moist.
They bake up moist and rich without being overly sweet, kind of like my raspberry and peach cake but in muffin form.
Every bite combines tart raspberries and rich chocolate. They taste like they’re from a bakery but come together quickly from scratch. If you want to whip up another quick raspberry treat, try my raspberry and white chocolate cupcakes.
These muffins are a bit less sweet than my white chocolate and raspberry cupcakes, which makes them perfect for breakfast!
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Cocoa powder gives these a riche chocolatey taste, similar to my avocado chocolate chip muffins (but without the secret veggie!)
- The sweet-tart flavor of the raspberries is perfect with the rich chocolatey flavor!
- These stay moist and fresh for days thanks to oil and sour cream.
- Mix these up without a mixer. One bowl, a whisk, and simple ingredients is all you need.
Ingredient Notes
Muffins are one of my favorite breakfast foods! I love to grab one at a bakery with coffee, but homemade always tastes better!
You can make these with simple pantry friendly ingredients. Here are useful notes on some of the ingredients.
- Sour cream adds a delicious tangy flavor to these muffins. It also adds moisture without thinning out the batter.
- I recommend whole milk. You can also use 2% or 1%.
- Use vegetable oil or canola. Oil helps these muffins stay moist.
- This recipe uses both granulated sugar and light brown sugar. Granulated sugar adds sweetness and flavor and makes these muffins tender. Brown sugar adds flavor and helps make these muffins moist.
- I prefer using fresh raspberries. You can also use frozen. Do not thaw frozen berries. You’ll probably need to add a couple of extra minutes to the baking time if using frozen raspberries.
- Use unsweetened natural cocoa powder such as Hershey’s cocoa powder or dutch process cocoa powder.
- Baking soda helps these rise and keep the muffins from being dense.
- Lemon zest won’t make the muffins taste very lemony, but adds a nice fresh flavor.
- Turbinado sugar: Turbinado sugar is also called demerara or raw sugar. It is optional but adds crunch and a special touch to these homemade raspberry muffins.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions and Variations
- Instead of the sour cream and milk, you can use buttermilk.
- Use blueberries, blackberries or strawberries instead of raspberries.
- Sprinkle muffins with granulated sugar in place of turbinado sugar.
- Add some regular or mini chocolate chips to make these extra chocolatey.
Step by Step Instructions
Here are the directions on how to make these raspberry muffins from scratch.
Step 1: (Picture 1 above). In a large bowl, whisk to combine the dry ingredients.
Step 2: (Picture 2 above). Whisk to together the wet ingredients in a medium bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Fold everything together with a spatula just until all flour streaks disappear. Gently fold in the raspberries.
Step 3: (Picture 3 above). Transfer batter to a muffin pan. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
Step 4: (Picture 4 above). Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 18-22 minutes. Cool muffins in the pan for 10 minutes then transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.
Expert Tips
- Insert a toothpick in the center of a muffin. If it comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached, the muffins are done.
- Make sure your egg, milk, and sour cream are at room temperature so that they fully incorporate into the batter. Take them out of the fridge 1-2 hours before baking.
- Mix the batter by hand. This helps to make sure you don’t overmix it. Stop mixing once the batter is just combined. Overmixing will lead to dense, rubbery muffins.
- Don’t open the oven door mid-baking or you risk the muffins deflating. Wait til it’s towards the end of the baking time to open the oven door.
Recipe FAQs
For moist muffins, it’s important not to overmix your batter. Also, make sure not to overbake your muffins.
Tossing fruit in a little flour will help keep it from sinking to the bottom of the muffins while they bake. The flour will absorb some of the juice the berries release as they bake. This will keep them from sinking.
Yes! Blueberries, blackberries, or chopped strawberries all work well. Use the same amount (1¼ cups). Wild blueberries are especially great because they’re smaller and distribute evenly.
Yes! Use frozen raspberries straight from the freezer. Do not thaw them. Muffins may need an extra 2-3 minutes of baking time if you use frozen berries.
Store chocolate and raspberry muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost them at room temperature for about 3 hours.
More Recipes You’ll Love
Raspberry Chocolate Muffins
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups (218 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (43 g) cocoa powder
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (110 g) light brown sugar
- 1¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (118.29 ml) vegetable oil or canola oil
- 1 large egg room temperature
- ½ cup (115 g) sour cream room temperature
- ½ cup (118 ml) milk whole milk or 2%, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1¼ cups (150 g) raspberries fresh or frozen (not thawed)
- turbinado sugar (also called demerara or raw sugar) for topping, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375℉. Line a 12-count muffin pans with 12 paper liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk to combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugars, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the oil, egg, sour cream, milk, vanilla extract and lemon zest until just combined.
- Use a spatula to stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until almost combined. Stop stirring when you see just a few streaks of flour remaining. Add the raspberries and fold them in just a couple times with a spatula til just combined. Be careful not to overmix the batter.
- Transfer batter to your prepared muffin tin (an ice cream scoop works well for neatly and evenly scooping batter into the muffin tin). Fill each one to the top with batter. Optional: Sprinkle turbinado sugar evenly on top of every muffin.
- Bake for 18-21 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick. When a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of a muffin, they are done. Remove from oven and allow muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes then transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that nutritional values are created by an online calculator and should only be used as an estimate.
Jenny
One of the best muffin recipes I’ve ever made.
Natalie Ward
Thanks Jenny! So happy you enjoyed these muffins!
Aubrey
Home. Run.
These are awesome! Super moist and very tasty.
Natalie Ward
Thanks so much for giving these a try Aubrey! I’m so glad you loved them 🙂
Jme
Big hit at my house…
I baked them.. took a nap..
and when I woke up… they were gone…
lol
that says it all!!
Natalie
Hahaha! I love to hear that! Thanks so much for making these muffins and for making me smile 🙂
Annie
These raspberry muffins are so good! Not too sweet, perfect for a morning snack. Love the chocolatey taste too ♥️
Natalie
Hi Annie! I’m so happy you enjoyed these raspberry muffins! Thank you for making them! XO
Barbara Briggs Ward
Perfect! Will be making these Raspberry Muffins for Valentine’s Day
Natalie
Happy to hear that! Hope you love them.