I love basic recipes that can be modified in a variety of ways.
This basic muffin recipe is a great example.
Homemade muffins are one of the quickest and easiest things on earth to bake.
You just stir together a few basic ingredients, scoop the batter into a muffin pan and bake.
Fresh baked muffins are great for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner.
They can elevate a simple meal into something special.
This basic muffin recipe creates muffins that are especially moist, sweet, and tender.
It comes from one of my favorite magazines for simple home cooking - Martha Stewart's Everyday Food.
This basic muffin recipe calls for more butter and sugar and an extra egg which makes the muffins moist, rich and sweet. so they're not exactly Weight Watchers Friendly! Sometimes you gotta splurge a little!!
If you prefer muffins with fewer calories and less fat, check out these light & Luscious Muffin Recipe.
You can create a variety of muffins - plain muffins, blueberry muffins, bran muffins, chocolate chip muffins, cranberry orange muffins - by making a few simple substitutions to the basic muffin recipe. The options are endless.
Basic Muffin Recipe
Ingredients
¾ cup unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
½ cup whole milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Additions, if desired (see variations below)
Nonstick Cooking Spray
2 tablespoons sanding sugar (large crystal granulated sugar that adds sparkly sweetness), if desired
Directions
Place one oven rack in the lower third of your oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray the cups of a standard 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. Alternatively butter and flour the muffin cups, tapping out the excess flour, our line the muffin cups with paper liners. Set the muffin pan aside.
In a small bowl (affiliate link), whisk together the butter, eggs, milk and vanilla and then set it aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients. Pour the butter mixture into the well. With a rubber spatula (affiliate link), gently stir the ingredients together just until the batter is moistened. Don't overmix. Stir in any additions you are using, such as fruit, nut, or chocolate chips.
Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pan cups with an ice cream scoop (affiliate link) if you have one or a large spoon if you don't. Fill each muffin cup about two-thirds full. Sprinkle sanding sugar evenly over the muffin batter, if desired. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and place the muffin pan on a wire rack. Loosen the muffins and tip them on their sides to cool in the pan so they don't get soggy. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Corn Muffins - Reduce flour to 1 cup and add ¾ cup yellow cornmeal with the other dry ingredients.
Bran Raisin Muffins - Reduce flour to 1 ½ cups and add 1 cup bran and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon to the dry ingredients. Replace butter with ¾ cup vegetable oil. Gently stir ¾ cup raisins into the batter.
Chocolate Chip Muffin - Gently stir 1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips into the muffin batter.
Blueberry Muffin - Gently stir 1 ½ cups fresh or frozen blueberries into the muffin batter.
Cranberry Orange Muffins - Stir 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest into the liquid ingredients. Gently stir 1 ½ cups chopped cranberries into the muffin batter.
Cherry Pecan Muffins - Gently stir ¾ cup chopped pecans and ¾ cup dried cherries into the muffin batter.
Apple Cinnamon Muffins - Stir ½ teaspoon cinnamon into the dry ingredients. Gently stir 1 cup chopped and peeled apple into the muffin batter.
Banana Muffins - Omit the milk. Reduce butter to ½ cup. Stir 1 cup mashed banana (2 medium) into the liquid ingredients until well combined then proceed with the recipe.
Muffin Making Hints & Tips
- Give your flour a good whisk to fluff it up before scooping it or gently spoon it into the dry measuring cup and then level the cup with the flat side of a knife or spatula handle.
- Stir the liquid and dry ingredients together gently. Overmixing will cause your muffins to be tough.
Helpful Tools
The right tools can make all the difference in the kitchen. When baking muffins, two pieces of equipment can make life so much easier - a high quality heavy duty muffin pan and an ice cream scoop (affiliate link).
This High Quality Heavy Duty Muffin Pan is a keeper
This Trigger Ice Cream Scoop makes portioning out muffin batter quick and easy.
*PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT Weight Watchers Zero Points fruits and vegetables using the WW Recipe Builder.
More Great Easy Muffin Recipes
7 Healthy Blueberry Muffin Recipes - a collection from my files and from around the web
Banana Mocha Macadamia Nut Muffins - a great breakfast muffin for banana and coffee lovers
Banana Nut Muffins - simple, moist and delicious
Bran Muffins - a collection of recipes from my files and from the web
Healthy Apple Pecan Muffins - with whole wheat flour, applesauce, apples and cinnamon
Easy Muffin Recipes - a great collection of easy muffin recipes that all begin with one master recipe
Healthy Company Muffins - full of wholesome ingredients including oats, apples and carrots
Irish Soda Bread Muffins - soda bread flavors in a simple muffin
Pumpkin Muffins - spicy and not too sweet with raisins and nuts
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