Cinnamon Muffins Filled With Raspberry Jelly

These cinnamon sugar muffins stuffed with raspberry jelly are the perfect treat for brunch, dessert, or an afternoon snack! Made with 100% whole grains and secret healthy swaps, these lightened-up muffins are a recipe the whole family will love.

No matter the season, weekend brunch is one of my favorite meals. Filling my kitchen with yummy, warm smells of freshly baked goods makes waking up early on the weekend with two little ones so much easier! The warm scents of these cinnamon raspberry muffins are sure to wake everyone up. The smell is almost as good as the taste!

Plus, it’s always fun to get my kids involved in the kitchen and bake together on Sunday mornings. 

These delicious, hearty cinnamon muffins have been a star at my brunch table recently they also make an excellent low sugar dessert.

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The delicious flavor and warmth of the cinnamon make these muffins seem a lot more filling. Plus, by making a few swaps for healthier versions of traditional ingredients, these cinnamon sugar muffins don’t come with any guilt for eating them!

The gooey raspberry preserves ooze out of each muffin when you bite into it, and the cinnamon sugar topping adds an element of decadence without any of the extra fat.

They take about an hour to make (including baking time), and it is so, so worth it! Plus, that shorter baking time means that even busy parents can make this a regular part of their family’s diet.

How to make The Best Cinnamon Muffins

Tools and Equipment You’ll Need

• Cupcake liners
• Muffin Tins
• Mixing Bowls
• Electric Hand Mixer
• Pastry Brush

Recipe Ingredients and Notes

• Flour: I recommend using whole wheat pastry flour for a light and fluffy muffin (while still getting all the goodness of whole grains). For a gluten free option, use gluten free oat flour or Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1:1 Flour.
• Butter: You can substitute this for vegan butter to make these vegan friendly!
• Eggs: You can use flax eggs here to make these vegan friendly
• Applesauce: A great way to cut down on the amount of butter you need while still keeping these muffins rich and satisfying
• Raspberry Preserves: I recommend finding a no-sugar-added preserve at your local store or making your own preserves so you can control the sugar content!
• Sugar: Feel free to cut the sugar in this recipe by half to get a muffin with less than 10 grams of sugar per serving. It will still taste slightly sweet, even if you reduce the sugar!

Step by Step Instructions

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin or line with 12 muffin cups. This recipe doesn’t work quite as well as a loaf, so it’s best to stick to muffin tins. These cinnamon raspberry muffins are perfectly portioned to satisfy though. They’ll be a family favorite in no time.

Step 2: In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, apple sauce, and sugars with a hand mixer until smooth. Then add the eggs, egg whites, and vanilla. Mix to combine.

Step 3: 

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt. 

Stir about one-third of the flour mixture into the butter mixture until incorporated, then stir about one half of the buttermilk into the butter mixture.

Step 4: Continue adding flour mixture and buttermilk until you’ve mixed in all of the flour mixture and buttermilk (so you begin and end with the flour mixture).

Step 5: Spoon about 2 Tbsp of your muffin batter into each cup of the prepared pan.

Step 6: Then put 1 tsp of raspberry preserves in the middle of each cup. It’s okay to be a little generous here, especially if you really love the raspberry taste in these cinnamon sugar muffins. 

Step 7: Top each muffin cup with another 2 Tbsp of batter (by the end of this process, the cups should be nearly full).

Step 8: Melt the butter for the topping in the microwave and mix the melted butter with the cinnamon and sugar. 

Top each muffin with the melted butter mixture before baking, using 1/2 tsp per muffin max.

Step 9: Bake the muffins for 14-17 minutes, or until they’re a pale golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the muffins comes out without any unbaked dough on it. Remove pan from the oven, and let muffins cool for a couple of minutes, or until you can handle them.

What Makes These Cinnamon Muffins Healthy?

• Low Fat: This recipe has only 5g of fat per muffin. This is a treat you can feel good eating! 
• Low Calorie: Each muffin is only 200 calories. That’s half the calories of a traditional muffin!
• Whole Grains: This recipe is made with whole wheat flour! Whole wheat flour has more fiber, iron, protein, and calcium than white flour.

Will Kids Enjoy These Cinnamon Muffins?

These muffins have a wonderful nutty flavor and the cinnamon sugar crumble on top is every kids’ dream! Your kids will love this recipe – and healthy cinnamon raspberry muffins make a great snack, dessert, or breakfast option. 

Since they are healthy and tasty, you and your kids both win!

Recipe FAQs

Top Tips For Making The Best Cinnamon Muffins

• Use an aluminum-free baking powder for a better taste (and a healthier muffin!)
• Try whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour for a lighter, fluffier muffin.
• If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own by adding 2 tsp of white vinegar to your milk of choice, stir and let sit for 10 minutes. This also makes a great vegan option (using a plant based milk!)
• Remove the muffins from the oven when they are just done: insert a toothpick in the center of the muffin – if it comes out clean, they are ready to be taken out!
• This recipe makes 12 large muffins, but you can also make these into 24 mini muffins. Follow the same directions, but cut down the baking time (I’d start checking to see if the mini muffins are done around the 9-minute mark).
• These muffins are higher in sugar and are more of a healthy treat. To turn them into a true breakfast meal, cut the sugar in this recipe by half. You’ll still end up with a slightly sweet muffin that can be eaten every day for breakfast!

Check out these other healthy breakfasts & treats!

• Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
• Dairy Free Blueberry Muffins
• Peach Cupcakes
• Birthday Cake Muffins
• Easy, Healthy, Mini Banana Bundt Cakes
• Lightened Up Red Velvet Cupcakes
• Vegan Carrot Cake
• Healthy Banana Bread
• Vegetarian Breakfast Ideas
• 30 Delicious, Low Sugar Desserts

If you have tried these cinnamon muffins, or any other recipe on my blog, then please rate it and let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious, healthy, family friendly food!

🎥 Watch How to Make It

https://youtu.be/Ef2AR0uQtV0

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5 from 13 votes

Cinnamon Muffins filled with Raspberry Jelly

These cinnamon muffins are the perfect treat for brunch, dessert, or an afternoon snack! Made with 100% whole grains and secret healthy swaps, these lightened-up muffins are a recipe the whole family will love.

Prep Time45 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Baking, Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 large muffins

Calories: 195.5kcal

Author: Anjali Shah

Ingredients

For the muffins:

• ▢ 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• ▢ 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• ▢ 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• ▢ 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 2 large egg whites
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ▢ 2 2/3 cups whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
• ▢ 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• ▢ 1/4 tsp baking soda
• ▢ 1-1.5 tsp ground nutmeg Anjali used 1.5 tsp because she loves the flavor
• ▢ 3/4 tsp salt
• ▢ 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• ▢ 1/4 cup unsweetened raspberry preserves similar to Crofters Organic

For the topping:

• ▢ 2 tsp melted butter
• ▢ 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• ▢ 6 tsp coconut sugar

Instructions

• ▢
  Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin or line with 12 muffin cups.
• ▢
  In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, apple sauce, and sugars with a hand mixer until smooth. Then add the eggs, egg whites, and vanilla, beating to combine.
• ▢
  In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt.
• ▢
  Stir about one-third of the flour mixture into the butter mixture until incorporated, then stir about one half of the butttermilk into the butter mixture.
• ▢
  Continue alternating between the two until you’ve mixed in all of the flour mixture and buttermilk (so you begin and end with the flour mixture).
• ▢
  Spoon about 2 Tbsp of the batter into each cup of the prepared pan. Then put about 1 tsp of raspberry preserves in the middle of each cup, and top each with another 2 Tbsp of batter (by the end of this process, the cups should be nearly full).
• ▢
  Melt the butter for the topping in the microwave and mix the melted butter with the cinnamon and sugar. Top each muffin with the melted butter mixture before baking, using 1/2 tsp per muffin max.
• ▢
  Bake the muffins for 14-17 minutes, or until they’re a pale golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the muffins comes out without any unbaked dough on it. Remove pan from the oven, and let muffins cool for a couple of minutes, or until you can handle them.

Notes

Top Tips For Making The Best Cinnamon Muffins

• Use an aluminum free baking powder for a better taste (and a healthier muffin!)
• Try whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour for a lighter, fluffier muffin.
• If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own by adding 2 tsp of white vinegar to your milk of choice, stir and let sit for 10 minutes. This also makes a great vegan option (using a plant based milk!)
• Remove the muffins from the oven when they are just done: insert a toothpick in the center of the muffin – if it comes out clean, they are ready to be taken out!
• This recipe makes 12 large muffins, but you can also make these into 24 mini muffins. Follow the same directions, but cut down the baking time (I’d start checking to see if the mini muffins are done around the 9 minute mark).
• These muffins are higher in sugar and are more of a healthy treat. To turn them into a true breakfast meal, cut the sugar in this recipe by half. You’ll still end up with a slightly sweet muffin that can be eaten every day for breakfast!

Nutrition

Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 195.5kcal | Carbohydrates: 36.8g | Protein: 5.4g | Fat: 4.9g | Saturated Fat: 2.7g | Sodium: 184.7mg | Fiber: 3.3g | Sugar: 17.2g