The secret to the sparkling flavor of these delicately crumbed muffins is the strips of lemon zest finely ground into the sugar. Enjoy the muffins warm right from the oven.

Makes 1 dozen muffins

ACTIVE TIME: 15 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 40 minutes

EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy

1 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup nonfat buttermilk (see Tip)
1/3 cup canola oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white whole-wheat flour or whole-wheat pastry flour (see Shopping Tip)
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen (not thawed) raspberries

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 large (1/2-cup) muffin cups with cooking spray or line with paper liners.
2. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the zest from the lemon in long strips. Combine the zest and sugar in a food processor; pulse until the zest is very finely chopped into the sugar. Add buttermilk, oil, egg and vanilla and pulse until blended.
3. Combine whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the buttermilk mixture and fold until almost blended. Gently fold in raspberries. Divide the batter among the muffin cups.
4. Bake the muffins until the edges and tops are golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Serve warm.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per muffin: 185 calories; 7 g fat (1 g sat, 4 g mono); 18 mg cholesterol; 27 g carbohydrate; 4 g protein; 2 g fiber; 245 mg sodium; 42 mg potassium.

2 Carbohydrate Servings

Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 other carbohydrate, 1 1/2 fat

TIP: Tip: No buttermilk? Mix 1 tablespoon lemon juice into 1 cup milk.

Shopping Tip: White whole-wheat flour, made from a special variety of white wheat, is light in color and flavor but has the same nutritional properties as regular whole wheat. Whole-wheat pastry flour can be used as a substitute here. Both can be found in the natural-foods section of the supermarket or online from King Arthur Flour, bakerscatalogue.com.

MAKE AHEAD TIP: Wrap each in plastic and freeze in a freezer bag for up to 1 month. To reheat, remove plastic, wrap muffin in a paper towel and microwave on High for 30 to 60 seconds.

This is 1 of the best tasting muffin recipes I've seen. I slightly altered it b/c all I had was vanilla soymilk in the house. Also I used spelt flour. Lastly when I make it again I would use about 15-20% less sugar because I like things a little less sweet than recipes usually call for. I can't wait to make these again.

, Valley Cottage, NY

Absolutely one of the best muffin recipes I have tried.

, Waite Park, MN

Loved these muffins. Not too sweet, very easy to make. I have made these muffins for friends and family and constantly receive compliments.

These muffins were not very flavorful ... and rather dense - like the texture of cornbread ... we will not be making them again.

Anonymous, Clive, IA

I make this recipe over and over. Berries, cherries, peaches, kiwis. All good. Kids love it, adults love it. And they don't even know it's good for them. As with all Eating Well baked goods, Do Not Overcook.

M. Pomeroy, Redondo Beach, CA

Very, very good. Better than the other muffins that I have tried on this site, this one all of my kids enjoyed. They even asked for seconds!

Maureen, Peculair, MO

Amazing smell in the house. The muffins were tasty and very soft and moist!

Debbie

Delicious, moist, almost like eating poundcake. I used Raspberry yogurt instead of oil too! I'm going to try lemon yogurt next time.

Amelia, Tucson, AZ

I've made this recipe several times with raspberries that I grow myself. It is wonderful! I was glad to find it in the online index, because I had lost track of which issue it was in. I've been Jonesing for some of these.

Murrel Wolfrom, Spokane Valley, WA