Homemade Basic Muffin Recipe (with 7 Variations)
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With more than a million page views and 175 comments, our soft and tender Homemade Basic Muffin Recipe is super easy and delicious! It’s one of the most popular recipes on my website for a reason and our family’s favorite way to jazz up any meal!
Our family’s favorite muffin recipe always makes our meal feel special. This Basic Muffin is soft and tender and can be flavored according to your tastes so everyone in your family thinks so too. You may want to double it so there are a few left for breakfast tomorrow.
My family has always loved muffins and any time that I thought that I just needed to add something special to a simple meal it always came down to this Basic Muffin Recipe.
The photos featured here are my Lemon Poppy Seed version.
Even after working all day, if I had some soup on the stove I could whip up this Basic Muffin in a jiffy. They took the soup to a whole new level.
These muffins are so versatile. You don’t have to do a thing to them but here are a few variations that I make to these homemade muffins that make people think my recipe box is just full of muffin recipes:
Basic muffin ingredients
The thing we love about this recipe is the uncomplicated ingredients that you probably already have. If you need substitutions, see our “Basic Baking” article for help with techniques, ingredients, and supplies.
- Egg. Grade A large is what we recommend
- Milk. Any variety will do
- Vegetable oil. Or any neutral flavor oil
- Vanilla extract
- Sugar. White granulated sugar. Substitutions work well in the recipe as well.
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
How to make muffins from scratch
- Preheat the oven and line a muffin pan with muffin papers or grease the pan well.
- Combine Egg, Milk, and vegetable oil in a small bowl.
- In a separate bowl combine baking powder, flour, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Blend only until combined.
- Spoon batter into each muffin paper until 2/3 full and bake.
Tips for the perfect baked muffin
- I mix the wet ingredients together separately from the dry ingredients before combining them. This assures that our ingredients are well mixed which will prevent over-mixing if they’re all combined together. Over-mixed muffins can be tough or rubbery.
- Baking powder can lose its potency. Replace it every 6 months or test it by putting 1/4 cup of boiling water into a bowl and adding about 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder. If it bubbles, it’s still good.
- Turn the muffin pan in the oven halfway through baking. Even the best ovens can heat inconsistently. Turning them will ensure even baking.
- If you feel your batter is to thick to scoop, add a little extra milk. See the video to see how thick my batter is.
- This muffin can be served warm. We remove them from the muffin tin after removing them from the oven and let them cool on a baking rack.
“Made muffins with my 3 year old after finding this recipe and can I just say WOW! Easy to follow, delishious, and even my picky little one ate 2! We made snickerdoodle muffins and they were divine! Thank you for sharing this.”
Brittany
Basic muffin variations
- Lemon Poppy Seed – Exchange vanilla extract for 1 teaspoon of lemon extract and add 1 teaspoon of poppy seeds.
- Snickerdoodle – Add 1 or 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and sprinkle turbinado sugar over the top before baking.
- Lemon Blueberry – Exchange vanilla extract for 1 teaspoon of lemon extract and add 1/2 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries.
- Almond – Exchange vanilla extract for 1 teaspoon of almond extract and top with shaved almonds.
- Morning Glory – Add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 cup raisins, and 1/4 cup of walnuts. Sprinkle oats over the top if desired.
- Cinnamon Raisin – Add 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/3 cup raisins.
- Apple Pie – Add 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 cup chopped apples. Sprinkle top with turbinado sugar.
- Chocolate Chip – Add 1/2 cup chocolate chips
As you can see, these homemade muffins have so many options and they bake up so quickly. It makes the perfect recipe to introduce baking to the kiddos too.
In no time at all, they can dig into their works of muffin art! My favorite is just a plain muffin, hot from the oven and drizzled with honey. I’m salivating just thinking about them!
Pin these yummy homemade muffins
Whew, We knew we loved a great muffin recipe! That’s not even all of them and my brain has a few more waiting to be created!
If you like this recipe, we would appreciate your comment and a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review!
Homemade Basic Muffin Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 egg beaten
- 1/2 cup milk any variety will do
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 cup flour all-purpose
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 °F. Line a muffin pan with muffin papers or grease the pan well.
- Combine Egg, Milk and vegetable oil and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl combine baking powder, flour, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Blend only until combined.
- Spoon batter into each muffin paper until 2/3 full. Bake for 16-20 minutes.
- Store in an airtight bag or container.
Video
Notes
- We mix the wet ingredients together and the dry ingredients together before combining them. This assures that our ingredients are well mixed which will prevent over-mixing if they’re all combined together. Over-mixed muffins can be tough or rubbery.
- Baking powder can lose its potency. Replace it every 6 months or test it by putting 1/4 cup of boiling water into a bowl and add about 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder. If it bubbles, it’s still good.
- Turn the muffin pan in the oven half-way through baking. Even the best ovens can heat inconsistently. Turning them will assure even baking.
- This muffin can be served warm. We remove them from the muffin tin after removing them from the oven and let them cool on a baking rack.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
This recipe was calculated using the exact brands and measurements I used to make this recipe. If you are following a strict diet please note changing anything will cause the nutritional info to change. My calculations are intended as a guide only.
As amazing as these muffins are, here are some of our most popular!
Did you enjoy this recipe? Don’t forget to pin it for later and follow me on Pinterest for more delicious recipes like this one!
As you can see, there’s nothing basic about this basic muffin recipe. It’s just waiting to be reinvented in your kitchen!
These quick and easy muffins also make a yummy breakfast treat the next morning, Just store them in an airtight bag or container if you have any leftovers!
Can you think of a couple of homemade muffin varieties that you would put on your table? I’d love it if you shared it in the comments below!
Thanks for sharing your recipe. I’ve finally made a muffin I enjoyed and am excited to try the variations too.
Thank you so much, Angelina! I hope you’ll stop back and let me know your favorite variation or ones you make yourself.
I plan to bake these tomorrow. For future reference, have you tried to make the batter the night before then back the next morning? This would help with time frame I have to cook breakfast for my husband before he goes to work.
I don’t advise that Mary. You can mix the dry ingredients together and then add the wet before you bake them. Baking relies on chemical reactions of your ingredients to rise and by premixing you’ll lose the benefits of that reaction,
I’ve made these twice and they turned out delicious! If just the basic version tastes this good, I’m excited to try the variations next time.
Thank you so much, Hazel! They are so versatile and I hope you’ll let me know if you come up with a combo we haven’t listed.
Love love love this recipe. Get so many compliments. Sometimes add nuts or chocolate!!
Thank you so much Karen for taking the time to comment! It’s so versatile and love that it works for you. We make this one all the time.
I selected your recipe because it said that you have 7 variations, but I can’t find any. Am I blind?
They’re listed in the post under “Basic Muffins Variations”.
Great basic recipe perfect for modifications! I made these muffins for the first time last night, and they were delicious for breakfast today. I love muffins with a little fruit so I added dried cranberries and sprinkled sugar on top before baking.
Thank you, Jasmine! You’re right that they’re perfect for making your own and your variation sounds delish!
It is a great basic recipe. I baked it for 16 minutes.it came out very moist. If you do plan to add any toppings or drizzles, you can increase the sugar a tad bit. I tried with chocolate chunks, apple, almond and strawberry and cream cheese. They all came our amazing.
Thank you so much! I had the lemon poppyseed version this weekend.
blueberry and choc. chip?? going to try it
That sounds delicious! Stop back and let me know what you think, Bonnie!
Good recipe, I’ve made crumbled apple and cinnamon muffins! It was delicious
That’s one of our favorite combinations, Vania! Thank you.
I made the plain muffin variation – delicious!! Amazing with butter
I’m so glad that you enjoyed it! Thank you.
This recipe tastes great! I made two of the variations- lemon poppy seed and snickerdoodle. If you prefer your lemon poppy seed muffins more lemony, I would recommend adding a little more extract and maybe some lemon zest. The snickerdoodle ones just came out of the oven so I haven’t tried those yet. They do look more moist than my first batch. I will say these muffins are a little on the dryer side, which I don’t mind, but if you want a fluffier muffin with less crumble I’m sure you could add more milk. I also may have over cooked the first batch a touch, which could have contributed to the dryness. If the second batch is more moist I will chalk the dryness up to user error. Overall I really enjoy this recipe and will keep using it with different variations!
I am so glad you are enjoying this recipe, Lauren and that you are experimenting with different flavors. They sound wonderful and I love that you are making them your own.
I made the apple pie recipe twice the second time I put my apple cobbler topping on it. 10/10 with the cobbler topping.
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 large egg
Mix flour, sugar, cinnamon and egg in seperate bowl until it looks like coarse ground meal. I covered the top of the muffins with the topping and still had a good bit left for probably 2-3 batches total.
My picky husband and his work crew loved it.
Thank you for sharing, Whitney! That sounds amazing!
I made the recipe EXACTLY as written. These were quick, easy and delicious! I weighed my flour to make sure I had correct amount.
Thank you so much, Kimberley! It’s definitely one of our favorites.
I made loaves instead of muffins, and I found the batter very thick. I had to add additional milk, maybe a teaspoon or so just to get all the dry mixed together. The flavor was fine, but it was very dry and crumbly. I made both chocolate chip and cinnamon with an addition of a powdered sugar glaze to the cinnamon. I plan to try again with an addition of softened butter, a quarter cup, and see if that changes anything for the better.again, great taste, just way too dry. I gave 4 stars because it is good, but seems incomplete.
I’ve never made this into a loaf. The batter is thick and I believe that it could be dry by cooking it as a loaf. I appreciate your comment. It helps all of us learn.
These were absolutely perfect! We had them for a family brunch, and everyone loved them!
Thanks, Laura!
These were so easy to make and loved heating them up throughout the week!! Sooo scrumptious!
Thank you so much, Laura. This is one of our favorite recipes.
Glad I read the review as I was able to hold back some of the baking powder before I mixed it in all the way. If one person complains it might be them, but if several do you have a problem. In my world it’s extra to make more dirty dishes and as I made a double batch to make it worth my time and effort would have been a massive waste of ingredients.As I was putting in my 4th tsp of baking power I hesitated and started reading. So, I added in about half a cup of sour cream, one more tsp of vanilla, half a cup of brown sugar, a touch more oil, mixed in coconut,and topped with coarse sugar on top before baking. Possibly was able to held back one tsp of baking powder. Fingers crossed they turn out. Next time I won’t rush in and make the first recipe that pops up for quick muffins, as this took way too much time.
I’ve never made this recipe with the alternative ingredients and ratios that you indicated you made so can’t attest to the results you got.
@Barbara, why change half the ingredients and then give the recipe a bad review? You didn’t make the recipe above so reviewing it isn’t fair.
It’s like looking for a recipe for a roast chicken, using sausages instead, and then complaining that it didn’t taste like a roast chicken.
I tried the basic muffin recipe. They turned out fantastic.
Thank you, Andrea! They’re one of our favorites too!
I made these at work this morning, for the participants in our adult day health services facility. I chose to flavor with lemon extract, and used frozen wild blueberries. I needed 12 good sized muffins, so a did X 1.5 recipe (but with 2 medium eggs). I like to add some whole grain, so I subbed in a 1/2 cup of King Arthur White Whole Wheat flour for 1/2 cup of all-purpose. I did add a splash of OJ to help moisten (as whole wheat absorbs more) These baked up beautifully and I got 12 nicely sized muffins for breakfast. Thank you for this recipe! I am looking forward to trying other flavor combos.
Thank you, HollyRae for your tips! The participants in your adult day health facility are blessed to have such a caring individual to provide them with homemade bakery.
Delicious and easy to make
I’m glad you enjoyed them Betty! They’re my go-to with any meal too.