Lemon Berry Cornmeal Muffins

Lemon Berry Cornmeal Muffins, an easy dairy-free corn flour muffin recipe with mixed berries and lemon zest. A great summer harvest breakfast on-the-go!

Do you buy premade, packaged muffins? Recently we’ve been picking up a package of healthy-ish muffins at the store to have for easy breakfasts or afternoon snacks on the go. But in my quest to reduce plastic packaging — and stick to healthier-for-you homemade versions of store-bought foods — I decided to whip up a batch of corn flour muffins from scratch instead.

We do our best to choose green, homemade versions of grocery staples (for example, we love making our own vegetable broth from food scraps) but if it’s not always convenient to make your own food products, and I have to admit that many times my best intentions are just that…intentions.

That’s why this recipe for Lemon Berry Cornmeal Muffins had to be easy — 30 minutes total, from mixing the first ingredients to pulling the muffins out of the oven. It also had to store well — I wanted muffins that would last the week and could easily be frozen and pulled out when we need a breakfast on the go.

Thankfully these cornbread muffins did not disappoint. Fluffy, slightly sweet, a little tart, and made with oil instead of dairy, they are a new favorite weekly staple in our house.

Ready to learn how to make these easy Lemon Berry Cornmeal Muffin? Let’s do it!

How to make Lemon Berry Cornmeal Muffins

Making muffins comes down to three easy steps: mix the dry ingredients, mix the wet ingredients, then combine and add fruit filling. Bake, cool, and then enjoy. Easy!

To make this lemon and mixed berry corn flour muffin recipe, first preheat your oven to 350 degree F (175 C) and mix the dry ingredients by adding all-purpose flour, corn flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together wet ingredients including eggs, oil, milk, vanilla, and lemon juice until well combined. Add wet ingredients mixture to dry ingredients and stir well to combine. The cornbread muffin batter should be thoroughly mixed without clumps, but should still have a thick consistency.

Finally, fold mixed berries into batter and fill a muffin tin ⅔ way with muffin batter. Top the batter with a pinch of brown sugar and lemon zest, and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a light golden brown color and a toothpick comes out clean from muffins.

That’s it! A simple corn muffin recipe that you’ll love all berry season long.

Lemon Berry Cornmeal Muffins: Tips, tricks, and tools

While this corn flour muffin recipe is super simple to make, there are a few tips and tricks to streamlining prep time and making your recipe as sustainable as possible:

• Use fresh or frozen berries: use fresh berries in the summer when they’re ripe (and cheap!); however, frozen berries will work well if it’s not berry season in your neck of the woods
• Use organic corn flour: we opt for organic corn flour, cornmeal, and masa harina whenever possible to support farmers who choose to grow organic corn
• Freeze muffins to enjoy longer: these berry cornmeal muffins are a great recipe to freeze; when ready to eat, simple remove from freezer and let thaw in the refrigerator for a few hours or zap quickly in the microwave to enjoy right away

Love this simple muffin recipe made with cornmeal? Check out our other recipes using cornbread and cornmeal, like this Black Cherry Hoecakes (cornmeal pancakes) recipe or this savory Braised Mushroom Carrot Polenta.

Did you make this Lemon Berry Cornbread Muffin recipe? Leave a comment below and rate the recipe to let us know how it turned out. Save this muffin recipe for later by pinning to your favorite breakfast Pinterest board and make sure to tag me on Fork in the Road’s Instagram to show me your cornbread muffin creations!

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Yield: 12 muffins

Lemon Berry Cornmeal Muffins (Dairy-Free)

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Lemon Berry Cornmeal Muffins, an easy dairy-free corn flour muffin recipe with mixed berries and lemon zest. A great summer harvest breakfast on-the-go!

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Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cups corn flour
• ½ cup granulated or brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• ¼ cup lightly-flavored oil (grapeseed, etc.)
• 1 ¼ cups plant-based milk, unsweetened
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (about ½ squeezed lemon)

Muffin Fruit and Toppings

• 1 cup mixed berries (fresh or frozen)
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• Zest of 1 lemon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C).
2. Mix dry ingredients by adding all-purpose, corn flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
3. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together wet ingredients including eggs, oil, milk, vanilla, and lemon juice until well combined.
4. Add wet ingredients mixture to dry ingredients and stir well to combine. Cornbread muffin batter should be thoroughly mixed without clumps, but should still have a thick consistency. Finally, fold mixed berries into batter.
5. Fill muffin tin ⅔ way with muffin batter (you should have enough for 10-12 muffins). Top the batter with a pinch of brown sugar and lemon zest, and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a light golden brown color and a toothpick comes out clean from muffins.
6. Remove muffins from oven, let cool for five minutes in muffin tin and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Notes

• If you are using butter, use ½ cup unsalted butter and omit oil.
• If you prefer a sweeter muffin, use ¾ cup sugar of choice.
• Tools Needed: glass mixing bowls, whisk, muffin tin, cooling rack
• Leftovers and Storage: Store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days, or in the refrigerator for up to five days. Muffins can be frozen up to one month.
• Nutrition notes: Nutrition information is an estimate and include toppings. This recipe is cornbread muffin recipe is low dairy free.

 

Nutrition Information:

Serving Size:

1 muffin
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 189 Total Fat: 7g Saturated Fat: 1g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 6g Cholesterol: 47mg Sodium: 285mg Carbohydrates: 28g Fiber: 2g Sugar: 11g Protein: 4g