Triple Berry Muffins are high rising muffins bursting with tart berry flavor. We use fresh or frozen berries for a deliciously convenient breakfast treat. (This latest muffin recipe is a new favorite in the test kitchen!)

you’re going to love these triple berry muffins
Ok, this one is really good, people! In fact, we made this recipe three times, and ate just about every last muffin. It’s everything you could want in a perfect muffin ~ they’re moist, soft, and cake-y, with excellent flavor. How did we do it? We’ve hit on the perfect ratio of butter, sugar, eggs, milk, flour and leavening for the texture, and nailed that bright flavor thanks to a generous amount of vanilla extract, lemon zest, and of course the bright, tart berries.
did I mention they’re a breeze to make?
- Melted butter means no creaming.
- No mixer necessary, just use a good old spoon.
- You can do it in one bowl, just sift your dry ingredients right into your wet.
- Use frozen berries right from the freezer for convenience.
why I use lemon zest and juice in mixed berry muffins
You might be wondering why there is lemon juice and zest in a berry muffin recipe. I do this for two reasons:
- I use lemon zest to brighten the berry flavor. Much like vanilla, lemon can bring out flavors and make them even more vibrant. The flavor of lemons is concentrated in the peel, so grating the bright yellow zest into my batter gives these muffins a distinctive flavor.
- A bit of lemon juice adds acidity to the batter, which helps it rise. The leaveners react with the acid to form carbon dioxide, which in turn rises the muffins.
Baking with frozen berries
One of my favorite baking rituals of the year is in late winter when I use up the last of my precious frozen berries we picked the previous summer. That means sometime in February or March we bake something delicious with the random assortment that’s left in the freezer and get to enjoy that bright taste of fresh summer fruit. I used a combo of raspberries, blackberries, and black raspberries, but feel free to get creative.
- If you don’t have a stash of berries in your freezer, store-bought frozen berries will work great too.
- Use your frozen berries straight from the freezer, don’t thaw them first.
- I actually prefer to bake with frozen berries because they don’t get crushed or stain my batter when I fold them in.
- Smaller frozen berries work best for muffins: avoid whole strawberries or very large blackberries.
- Even when I’ve got fresh berries I’ll often flash freeze them before I bake with them!
top 3 tips for high rise muffins
- make sure your oven is preheated – a hot, preheated oven helps muffins rise to their full potential.
- for large high rise muffins fill your muffin cups right to the top.
- a combination of baking powder and baking soda gives these muffins their nice lift. Make sure your baking powder is fresh.
reheat those leftovers
These muffins reheat beautifully in the microwave the next day – just microwave them for about 20 seconds and they will be (almost) as good as hot out of the oven.
More great uses for your frozen (or fresh) berries!
- Raspberry Champagne Sorbet
- Blackberry Cobbler Bars
- Blueberry Lemon Breakfast Cake
- Raspberry Coffee Cake
- Strawberry Buttermilk Cake
Triple Berry Muffins
Video
Equipment
- muffin pan
- muffin liners
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- zest of 1 medium lemon
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups mixed berries (fresh or frozen), heaped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin tin liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, eggs, milk, vanilla extract, lemon zest and lemon juice.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix to combine, until there are no pockets of dry flour left.
- Gently fold in the berries, just until evenly distributed.
- Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. This recipe makes enough for 12 large muffins, so you should be able to fill your muffin cups all the way to the top.
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until risen and just starting to turn golden on top.
Delish! I used what I had, substituting a 3.9 oz cup of unsweetened applesauce and 1/4 tsp baking powder for the 2 eggs, and heavy cream and water for the milk. I used a 16 oz bag of frizen medly berries. The recipe made 17 muffins. This will be my go to muffin recipe!
I liked this recipe so much. I used only Blueberries because that is what I had. I got 17 regular size muffins and they were filled to the top. Delicious! Thank you
When looking for recipes I always look for yours.
Can I use almond milk?
Yes, sure.
I wish this had amounts in grams
I’ve just added them Sue, refresh your page to see them.
I have made these three times now. The second time I used GF flour and my neighbor loved them! I only use non-dairy milk and that has not been a problem. Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
Thanks Sheila, I’m craving fresh berries right now, I can’t wait to make these again.
Pretty good, but it needs a few things. I’d say it needs 1/2 brown sugar, a 1/2-1 tbsp of cinnamon, and 1 tsp ginger. Next time I make this, I’ll add those and see how well they enhance the flavor.
I had high hopes for this recipe due to the reviews, but I found the muffins to be a bit on the bland side. I used blueberries and raspberries and followed the directions to a T. I don’t think I’ll make them again. I’ll go back to my blueberry muffin recipe because this one didn’t work for me!
These turned out amazing! Not too sweet not too much berry! Very fluffy and soft!
This recipe was wonderful! I used extra mixed berries and rhubarb. It made way more that 12 muffins. I made 12 bigger sized and 24 mini muffins. Absolutely delicious, everyone loved them!
It was amazing
Just like cafe bought ones but better!!
Would definitely make again and again and again
Absolutely wonderful