It turns out that raspberries and orange juice are a fun and entirely compatible flavour combination.  When I needed a taste of sunshine last month, these muffins were a perfect pick-me-up.  They are also a lovely addition to a weekend brunch, and are well-suited for Easter and other springtime celebrations.

I wasn’t sure what to call this recipe.  Cupcakes or muffins?  Lightly glazed, these are raspberry almond orange muffins.   If you place a thick dollop of whipped coconut cream accented with pink raspberry frosting on top, they turn into cupcakes!   So gather your ingredients and then prepare yourself for a fête of flavours, starring a raspberry-citrus blend.

Recipe for Raspberry Almond Muffins (or Cupcakes)

Muffin/Cupcake Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour (or 1/2 cup all purpose gluten free flour + 2 teaspoons coconut flour)
• 2/3 cup almond flour
• 1 teaspoon aluminum free baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup oil or melted unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

Orange Glaze Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice
• 1/2 cup icing (powdered) sugar
• 2 drops almond extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C).
2. To make muffin batter, combine flours, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl.  In a separate bowl, beat together honey, oil, brown sugar and eggs until thoroughly combined.
3. Combine wet and dry mixtures and stir until ingredients are incorporated.  Do not overmix.  Stir in orange juice. Gently fold in raspberries.
4. Pour batter into nine greased or lined muffin cups.  Batter should be just slightly below the top of the cups.  Bake for about 15 minutes or until muffins test done.
5. To make glaze, whisk icing sugar, orange juice, and almond extract together.  Spread glaze over tops of cooled muffins.
6. Sprinkle with sliced almonds. If desired, top each muffin with a raspberry.  To make cupcakes, you may keep or omit the glaze and then add coconut whipped cream and raspberry frosting.

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