master muffins recipe

Master Muffin Recipe

Homemade muffins can be eaten as a sweet breakfast treat or an afternoon snack! Enjoy yours with a pat of butter and you can’t go wrong. Use this base to create any flavor of muffin!

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Muffin Recipe

 Servings: 12 muffins
 Calories: 226kcal

Ingredients

• ½ cup salted butter softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup milk or buttermilk

Instructions

• Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Lightly grease paper liners with nonstick cooking spray.
• In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to cream together butter and sugar until smooth and creamy, about two minutes.
• Beat in eggs until combined, about 20 to 30 seconds. Add in the baking powder, any spices you might be using (for other flavors), salt, and vanilla and mix briefly.
• Add in half of flour, mix with hand mixer until just combined, then add in the milk, stirring to combine. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and add in the remaining flour until just combined.
• Add in any desired add-ins to the batter (chocolate chips, berries, dried fruit, or nuts) and use a rubber spatula to gently fold them in.
• Divide the batter up amongst the 12 muffins. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Let the batter rest while the oven preheats.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 7 minutes. After 7 minutes, do not open the door and reduce the heat in the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for an additional 13-15 minutes. Watch the muffins closely as cooking times may vary depending on your oven.
• Let muffins cool for 5 minutes in the pan before removing them and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

Spices: The most popular spice to add to muffins is ground cinnamon. Use 1/2 to 1 teaspoon total of ground cinnamon, depending on how prominent you want your cinnamon flavor to be. A similar option is to add in pumpkin pie spice.

Extracts: The vanilla extract can be replaced with other flavors of extracts. Popular options include almond extract, lemon extract, and orange extract. 

Streusel Topping: Muffins can be made plain or topped with a crumble or streusel topping. To make a traditional streusel, stir together 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional) in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Use a pastry blender (or two knives) to cut 4 tablespoons cold butter into the flour mixture until it resembles small pebbles or sand. Spoon on top of muffin batter just before baking. 

Add-ins should total 1 cup. Feel free to mix and match with the following options:

• Mini Chocolate Chips
• White Chocolate Chips
• Cinnamon Chips
• Fresh Blueberries
• Dried Cranberries
• Raisins
• Chopped Walnuts
• Chopped Pecans

 

Other Additions: Poppyseed muffins are popular in different flavors and can be added to the batter at the same time as another other add-ins. Use 3 tablespoons of poppyseed total. For Citrus flavors, use citrus extracts and add in up to 2 tablespoons of orange or lemon zest. 

For chocolate muffins, add 1/2 cup cocoa powder in with the sugar. 

For Pistachio Muffins: replace 1/4 cup of the sugar with a 3.4 ounce package of Instant Pistachio Pudding

Nutrition

Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 226kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 49mg | Sodium: 180mg | Potassium: 116mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 292IU | Calcium: 50mg | Iron: 1mg