This basic muffin recipe is simple yet soft and
buttery. The simple muffin base is easy to make and it can be flavored
with a variety of mix-ins. You’ll be sinking your teeth into buttery,
soft muffins in no time! Muffins fall into the “quick bread” category
and are essentially flavored pancake batter that’s baked in muffin tins.
This recipe is so quick and easy, you could do it with your eyes closed!
Not really, but you know what I’m trying to get at here. You need two
bowls, a whisk, and a spatula. That’s it!
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ cup granulated sugar
1 cup skim milk, or your preferred milk/milk alternative
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg
¼ cup canola or vegetable oil
Cooking spray
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place muffin liners in a muffin tin and
spray with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, add the
flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine.
In another bowl, add the
sugar, milk, vanilla, egg, and oil. Whisk to combine.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir until just
combined; batter should be lumpy. Do not over mix.
Fill the muffin liners 3/4 of the way up.
Add your favorite muffin
flavors/additions (fruit, nuts, chocolate chips, oats, etc.).
Take a toothpick and push the additional ingredients down into the
batter and swirl them around a little.
Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Variations to try
You can mix in different extract flavors, your favorite fruit, nuts, even
savory options. The possibilities are endless with this base recipe, but
here are a few to get you started:
Blueberry Muffins – Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
Stir in 3/4 cup to 1 cup of fresh blueberries. Raspberries and diced
strawberries also work well.
Cranberry Orange Muffins – Replace 1/4 cup of the milk
with orange juice. Stir in 1 tablespoon of orange zest. And fold in 3/4
cup to 1 cup of fresh cranberries.
Apple Cinnamon Muffins – Use brown sugar instead of
white sugar. Add 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Fold in 3/4 cup to 1 cup
of diced apples. Any tart baking apple works great!
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins – Replace 1/4 cup of the milk
with fresh lemon juice. Stir in the zest of 1 lemon. And stir in 1
teaspoon of poppy seeds.
Chocolate Chip Muffins – Add 1 teaspoon vanilla
extract. Stir in 3/4 cup to 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips. Coarsely
chopped baking chocolate will work great also.
