Raspberry Lychee Muffins (One-Bowl)
These raspberry lychee muffins are soft, moist, and only need one bowl to make. The canned lychee juice adds extra flavor to the muffin, and the raspberries add a nice tartness.
This lychee raspberry muffin recipe is quick and easy due to its one-bowl preparation. The dry ingredients (like baking powder and salt) are typically mixed with flour in a separate bowl first. However, in this recipe, you can add them directly to the wet ingredients (e.g. eggs) to simplify the process. So, you can finish preparing the raspberry lychee muffin batter in the time it takes for your oven to preheat.
The flavor of these lychee muffins is inspired by an “Ispahan” macaron cake I tried once that has a rose, lychee, and raspberry flavor. (This particular dessert was made famous by Laduree and Pierre Herme.) When raspberries are in season, these are the perfect snack to bake to take full advantage of the berries’ peak sweetness.
Even if raspberries are out of season or unavailable, this is a great muffin base recipe. Simply swap out the raspberry and lychee for other fruit(s), increase the sugar to 2/3 cup to compensate for the lack of sugar from the lychee juice, and use milk in place of the lychee juice!
Recipe Notes
- Canned Lychee: This recipe uses canned lychee since the lychee is already pitted, and the liquid can add more flavor to the muffins. If you do not have canned lychees, you can find them at an Asian market or online. You can also use canned longan, which has a similar flavor profile.
- Using Fresh Lychee: You can also use fresh lychee for these muffins. You will need to increase the sugar to about 2/3 cup or 133 grams to account for the missing lychee juice. In place of the lychee juice, you can substitute it with milk (any type).
- Fresh Baking Powder: Since this recipe only relies on baking powder as a raising agent, you want to be sure that the one you are using is fresh. That way, the muffins will be fluffy and soft. If you would like to test your baking powder, drop roughly one teaspoon of it into some hot water. If fresh, it will bubble and fizz.
- Baking: Make sure not to overbake the muffins. A cake tester inserted in the muffins as early as 16 minutes into baking should come out with little to no crumbs. Remove the muffins from the oven and baking pan to ensure these are moist raspberry muffins and not dry ones.
Raspberry Lychee Muffins (One-Bowl)
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar 100 grams ** Note 2
- 3/4 cup canned lychee juice 240 mL ** Note 1 & 2 for alternatives
- 1/2 cup oil 100 g
- 2 tsp baking powder **Note 3
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 240 g, or whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup canned lychee cut in half ** Note 2
- 3/4 cup raspberries cut in half
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°. Lightly grease the cups and top of a 12-cup nonstick muffin pan, or line with cupcake liners.
- In a bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until the mixture is smooth and the sugar has dissolved.
- Mix in the lychee juice, oil, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Make sure that there are no lumps of baking powder.
- Add the flour to the mixing bowl and gently fold to combine. A few lumps are okay.
- Add the raspberries and lychee to the batter. Use a spatula to gently fold them into the batter. You can reserve a few raspberry/lychee pieces to add on top later.
- Spoon the batter into the muffin cups. One standard ice cream scoop roughly equals one muffin portion.
- If reserved, top the muffins with the remaining raspberry/lychee pieces.
- Bake the muffins for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs.
- Remove the muffins from the muffin pan and let them cool slightly before serving.
Notes
- Canned Lychee: This recipe uses canned lychee since the lychee is already pitted, and the liquid can add more flavor to the muffins. If you do not have canned lychees, you can find it at an Asian market or online. You can also use canned longan, which has a similar flavor profile.
- Using Fresh Lychee: You can also use fresh lychee for these muffins. You will need to increase the sugar to about 2/3 cup or 133 grams to account for the missing lychee juice. In place of the lychee juice, you can substitute it with milk (any type).
- Fresh Baking Powder: Since this recipe only relies on baking powder as a raising agent, you want to be sure that the one you are using is fresh. That way, the muffins will bake fluffy and soft. If you would like to test your baking powder, drop roughly one teaspoon of it into some hot water. If fresh, it will bubble and fizz.
How to Make Raspberry Lychee Muffins
Preheat the oven to 400°. Lightly grease the cups and top of a 12-cup nonstick muffin pan, or line with cupcake liners.
In a bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until the mixture is smooth and the sugar has dissolved.
Mix in the lychee juice, oil, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Make sure that there are no lumps of baking powder.
Add the flour to the mixing bowl and gently fold to combine. A few lumps are okay.
Add the raspberries and lychee to the batter. Use a spatula to gently fold them into the batter. You can reserve a few raspberry/lychee pieces to add on top later.
Spoon the batter into the muffin cups. One standard ice cream scoop roughly equals one muffin portion.
If reserved, top the muffins with the remaining raspberry/lychee pieces.
Bake the muffins for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs.
Remove the muffins from the muffin pan and let them cool slightly before serving.
