Muffins are one of the easiest things in the world to bake! What’s even better though is that you can adapt this basic muffin recipe in so many delicious ways. You could never get bored of these goodies!
A fantastic basic muffin recipe with variations.
What are muffins?
Muffins are a type of quick bread. And true to that name, they are quick and easy to make. The texture is somewhere between that of a cake and a bread – not so soft like a cake, but not as firm as bread. In other words, they have the texture of cake, but are as sturdy as bread.
What makes muffins special?
- They are perfect to split in half and enjoy with a nice pat of butter, because they are sturdier than a cupcake.
- Remains moist inside.
- Not chewy like bread.
- Quick and easy to make.
- Can be sweet or savory (limitless potential!).
Why this basic muffin recipe is the best base recipe
- You can make these in under 30 minutes!
- They have the perfect, delicious balance between cupcake and bread.
- Really moist inside, but also sturdy.
- Easy and fast breakfast to make fresh, or ahead of time.
- Can be baked and frozen for later.
- Can be adapted to be dairy-free or vegan.
- This is a great basic muffin recipe with variations that your whole family will love! Lots of flavors with one base recipe.
I’ve been making muffins for as long as I can remember. But my first attempts were pretty flat and boring. The first time I tried making blueberry muffins, I ended up with something green, that was too rubbery.
But the more I practiced, the more tips and tricks I picked up along the way, and I’m going to share all that with you guys today!
How muffins are made
Creaming method
Some recipes online use the “creaming method”, where butter and sugar are mixed until light and fluffy, before adding other ingredients. This method isn’t traditionally used to make muffins. It gives muffins a more cake-like texture.
Melting method (muffin method)
This is the most common way to make muffin recipes. This is actually called “the muffin method”, so no surprise there. You melt the butter to a liquid and mix all the other wet ingredients, and then add that to the dry ingredients for the basic muffin recipe.
This method is much quicker and easier. But there is a risk of over-mixing the muffin batter and making your muffins come out rubbery (because of gluten).
The Stella Parks method
I love Stella! Her method of making muffins is genius, but involves an extra step.
She mixes the flour + other dry ingredients (including sugar) with butter until it’s mealy (has the texture of coarse sand). You can use a food processor or a hand / stand mixer to do this. Then she stirs in the rest of the wet ingredients.
The coating of flour with the fat from butter reduces gluten development when you stir in the wet ingredients. So this reduces the likelihood of rubbery muffins.
But mixing the flour and butter is an extra step. Plus it uses an extra kitchen equipment (mixer) that you don’t need to make perfect muffins.
Here’s the method that I use to make muffins
If I’m only making 1 batch of muffins –
I like the melting method. It’s fuss-free, easy, and I only need to really dirty up 2 bowls – one for dry ingredients, and another for wet ingredients. It’s perfect to make one batch of the basic muffin recipe.
If I’m making multiple batches at once, or making multiple flavors with one big base batch –
For this, I like the Stella Parks method. Whether it’s only one flavor, or I’m making the basic muffin base recipe but adding different flavors, this method is great to prevent the batter from becoming too tough and rubbery.
A good muffin is made when the batter is mixed lightly, but quickly. The more effort and time you put into mixing muffin batter, the more rubbery the texture becomes because of too much gluten development. So if you’re making multiple batches or multiple flavors, you will likely end up mixing the dry ingredients for a longer time, with additional mixing time for when you divide and add flavors to the batter.
Coating the flour with the fat will slow down gluten formation, allowing the batter to withstand some extra mixing time.
In this post I’ll cover both methods of making muffins so you can choose whichever one you like.
- If you’re only making 1 batch of 1 flavor – use the melting method or the muffin method.
- If you’re making a larger batch, or multiple flavors – use the Stella Parks method.
I’ll also be sharing my absolute favorite base recipe for muffins. This recipe makes the most amazing muffins! They’re sturdy and moist, and incredibly delicious. You can heat it up to make it soft and fluffy, or eat it at room temperature for a more substantial muffin.
Plus you can adapt the base recipe to add lots of flavors. Here are some great muffin flavor variations.
- Cinnamon muffins
- Chocolate chip muffins
- Raisin muffins
- Blueberry muffins
- Banana muffins (like banana nut muffins)
- Orange cranberry muffins
- Lemon poppy seed muffins
How to make the basic muffin recipe
Melting method (muffin method) –
This easy method of making muffins involves combining wet ingredients with the dry ingredients. With this method, the following ingredients are classed as wet ingredients.
- Melted butter (or oil, or margarine)
- Sugar (white sugar / brown sugar / honey)
- Eggs
- Flavoring liquids (extracts etc.)
- Milk / buttermilk / sour cream / cream etc.
Sugar is considered a wet ingredient for muffins because sugar is hygroscopic. Meaning, it retains and attracts water, which is why sugar can easily become sticky or clumpy when exposed to air for prolonged periods of time.
Dry ingredients here include,
- Flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Spices
Here are some other additions that can be added to the dry ingredients,
- Chocolate chips
- Fruits (like blueberries, raspberries, raisins, or chopped fruits like apple)
- Dried fruits (like raisins, dates, apricots etc.)
- Nuts
This method of making muffins is easy and straightforward.
- Melt and slightly cool the butter.
- Whisk in sugar, eggs, and other flavorings with the butter.
- Sift and mix dry ingredients well in a separate bowl (flour, baking powder, salt).
- Add other add-ins (chocolate chips, fruits, nuts etc.) and mix to coat.
- Add the wet ingredients, and gently fold in and mix about 10 – 15 times to combine and wet ingredients with the dry ingredients.
- Set aside for 5 minutes to allow the dry ingredients to fully absorb the wet ingredients.
- Add approximately 1/4 cup of the batter into each muffin cup (using a cookie scoop), and bake.
- The muffins are done when a clean toothpick inserted comes out dry, or when the surface of the muffin bounces back when gently pressed.
See? EASY PEASY!
Stella Park’s method –
- Place the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Mix well to combine.
- Add the softened butter (not melted) and use a hand-mixer to mix the butter into the dry ingredients + sugar mix, until you get a mealy crumb mix.
- If you’re only making one flavor, add any add-ins at this stage (fruits, chocolate chips, nuts etc). If making multiple flavors, then see step 5.
- Whisk together all of the other wet ingredients in a bowl (eggs, milk, extracts) and add that to the mealy flour-butter mix. Fold the mix to combine the wet ingredients with the rest of the batter, until just combined and moistened.
- If you’re making multiple flavors, divide the batter into different bowls. Add the desired add-ins to each portion of the batter.
- Use 1/4 cup cookie scoop to fill the muffin cups and bake.
- The muffins are done when a clean toothpick inserted comes out dry, or when the surface of the muffin bounces back when gently pressed.
Tips on how to make muffins at home (basic muffin recipe or any muffin recipe)
- Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature.
- Use a large, separate bowl for the dry ingredients, as you will be mixing the batter in this. It’s obviously easier to mix efficiently in a larger bowl.
- When you add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mix as little as possible. Gently fold the dry and wet ingredients (although the Stella Parks method can withstand a little extra mixing).
- When you have this base recipe down, adapting it for variations is easy.
- Use a regular muffin pan for regular muffins, but you can also use a mini muffin pan or a jumbo muffin pan too. The cooking time will vary depending on the pan you use, of course.
- For a regular muffin pan, I use a little over 1/4 cup of batter (about 5 tbsp).
- Line the muffin pan for easy clean up. IF you don’t want to add muffin liners, you can grease the tin with butter (my preference) or cooking spray to make it non-stick as well.
So there you have it. Two methods of making basic muffins!
It’s such an easy recipe, and perfect for breakfasts. Since you can whip up a batch in less than 30 minutes (including baking time), there’s really no excuse to not make this basic muffin recipe with variations! 🙂
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Basic Muffins Recipe
Ingredients:
Dry Ingredients
- 340 g AP flour 2 ¾ cups
- 1 tbsp baking powder 3 tsp
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
Wet Ingredients
- 150 g butter 10 ½ tbsp, room temperature
- 170 g sugar ¾ cup + 1 ½ tbsp
- 2 eggs
- 180 g sour cream ¾ cup, buttermilk, milk, yogurt, or cream can be substituted
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Toppings (optional)
- Raw sugar and cinnamon
- Extra chocolate chips
Additions
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips for chocolate chip muffins
- 1 cup raisins or dried currants for raisin cinnamon muffins
- Zest from 2 lemons + ⅓ cup poppy seeds lemon poppy seed muffins
Instructions:
Muffin Method
- Preheat oven to 375°F / 190°C.
- Line your muffin pan with cupcake liners, OR butter and flour all of the muffin pan wells.
- Place all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk to mix really well.
- Add any additions if you like, and toss to combine (leave out cinnamon if you’re making lemon muffins, or if you don’t want the taste of cinnamon). Set aside.
- Melt the butter in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stove. Let it cool slightly.
- Add the sugar to the melted, warm butter. Whisk until emulsified. Add the eggs, sour cream and vanilla, and mix until smooth and well-mixed.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
- FOLD to mix wet and dry ingredients. Take care not to over-mix, and make sure there are no dry spots (of dry ingredients) in the batter. It’s OK if the batter is lumpy.
- Set aside for a few minutes.
- Divide the batter between the 11 - 12 muffin tin wells (about 4 ½ - 5 tbsp each). I use a cookie scoop to divide the batter evenly.
- Sprinkle some raw sugar on top. (If you're making chocolate chip muffins, sprinkle extra chocolate chips on top).
- Bake in preheated oven for about 15 - 20 minutes, or until a clean skewer inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let the muffins cool for 5 minutes. Then turn the muffins out onto a cooling rack.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Stella Parks method
- Preheat oven to 375°F / 190°C.
- Line your muffin pan with cupcake liners, OR butter and flour all of the muffin pan wells.
- Place all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the sugar to the bowl as well. Whisk to mix well.
- Add the softened room temperature butter to the dry ingredients, and use a hand mixer to cut the butter into the flour. Mix until the flour mix is mealy (looks like coarse sand), and there are no large clumps of butter remaining.
- If you’re only making one flavor of muffins, add the flavor additions to this mealy mix and toss to combine. If you’re making multiple flavors, you'll be adding those flavors later.
- Mix the rest of the wet ingredients (excluding butter and sugar) in a bowl.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold to combine.
- Do NOT over-mix at this stage (as you might be mixing in more additions later). Evenly divide the batter to flavor it.
- Add your choice of flavoring to each portion of muffin batter (chocolate chips, fruits etc.).
- Using an ice cream scoop, evenly divide the batter between the muffin tin wells (4 ½ - 5 tbsp of batter each).
- Bake in preheated oven for about 15 - 20 minutes, or until a clean skewer inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let them cool for 5 minutes. Then turn the muffins out onto a cooling rack.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition Information:
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
Taylor says
Love this base recipe! Your instructions are spot on. I’ve made several batches now and I’m constantly switching it up with different additions.
Doris Huddleston says
I’m so tired of being disappointed in store bought muffins, so your recipe is just what I needed. Thanks!
Ben says
will try this one when I´m in baking mood again 😉