You're going to love this basic muffin recipe because it's so variable. While this recipe uses chocolate chips and raisins, anything from fruit to veggies (think carrot, zucchini) can be used.
Muffins are one of the easiest treats to make with a few dry ingredients in one bowl and wet in another. After combining, stir in the add ins, fill the paper cups and into the oven they go. Baking doesn't get much more simple or inviting.
Be sure to check out the Best of All Strawberry Muffins, the Crumb Topped Orange Date Muffins, as well as the Easy PBJ Muffin, Blueberry Crumb Muffins with it's Brown Sugar Almond Crumb topping and the over the top Double Chocolate Truffled Muffins.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- The recipe is perfectly balanced
- You can sub in anything you want.
- It's super easy.
- Just substitute any add in's you desire.
- It can be made in a variety of sizes and baking times are included for all of them
- You probably have the ingredients in your pantry
Ingredients for Basic Muffin Mix
All photos read left to right.
Back Row: granulated sugar, all-purpose flour, milk. Middle Row: salt, baking powder, vanilla, eggs. Front Row: softened butter.
Ingredients for Chocolate Chip Raisin Muffins
Left to Right: raisins and chocolate chips
See the recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions
10 to 12 ounces of fruit, nuts, chocolate chips or a combination of almost anything can be added to the basic muffin mix. Fruit such as blueberries and cranberries are best added frozen so they don't discolor the batter and turn it gray. A teaspoon or two of spices can be added as can the zest of one orange, two lemons or a couple of limes are great additions.
Top with crumbs, sanding or Swedish Pearl sugar.
The combinations are endless.
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1. Place the sugar and butter in a mixing bowl.
Step 2. Cream on medium until light and completely combined.
Step 3. Add one egg and beat until combined. In reality, the mixture will curdle. This usually happens and will be fixed later. Add the second egg and mix well. More curdling will probably occur..
Step 4. Add the flour and milk alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Add ⅓ of the flour and mix on low. The batter will come together at this point.
Step 5. Add the vanilla to the milk. Add half of the milk to the batter and beat on low. When completely mixed, add ½ of the remaining flour and mix on low.
Step 6. Next add the remaining milk, blending well. Last, add the rest of the flour and mix to get a smooth batter, scraping down several times.
Step 7. In the meantime, soak the raisins in really hot water to plump them. After soaking, squeeze all the water out of them and set aside.
Step 8. Add the chocolate chips and plumped raisins to the batter. Mix well, scraping several times to make sure the add ins are evenly distributed.
Step 9. Line 8 Texas size muffin cups with paper liners. (I used Texas muffin cups.) Fill the cups ¾ full. Bake as directed. Sprinkle with sanding sugar if desired.
Storage
These store for a couple of days well covered.
They can also be frozen before baking. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and bake as called for adding a few minutes.
Last, they can be baked and frozen, well wrapped, for several months. Thaw at room temperature. Heat for 10 minutes at 350°F for just baked muffins.
Expert Tips
By portioning out the muffins in their paper liners and refrigerating overnight before baking, they take on a more professional look. The crowns are taller and they have that "just bought from a bakery" look.
Chilling the muffin batter overnight allows the starches in the flour to absorb more moisture from the eggs and liquids. This results in the starches swelling allowing more gluten to form, improving the consistency of the batter allowing for higher crowns, and a more moist tender, taller muffin. This will improve any muffin recipe, not just this one.
Other Recipes You'll Love
If you love this Perfectly Easy Basic MuffinMix or any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating in the recipe card and let me know how it went the in 📝 comments below. I appreciate each of you being here!
A Perfectly Easy Basic Muffin Mix
Ingredients
Basic Muffin Mix
- 1 cup sugar (200 grams or 7 ounces)
- 1 stick unsalted butter room temperature (114 grams or 4 ounces)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (280 grams or 10 ounces)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup milk whole or 2%
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Chocolate Chip Raisin Muffins
- 6 ounces chocolate chips (170 grams)
- 4 ounces raisins (114 grams)
Sugar Nutmeg Mix
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (50 grams)
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg or to taste
Instructions
Basic Muffins
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line muffin tins of your choice with paper liners. Set aside.
- Cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Scrape down and add the eggs one at a time. Beat until light and completely combined. The mixture may curdle but will be corrected when the flour is added.
- In the meantime, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix together.
- Add the vanilla to the milk.
- Add the flour and milk alternately, starting with ⅓ of the flour mixture, then ½ cup milk, ½ of the remaining flour and the rest of the milk. Last add the remaining flour.
- Add 10 to 12 ounces (280 to 340 grams) of any add ins you want. Mix in on low, scraping often to make sure they are evenly distributed.
- Fill the cups ¾ full. Sprinkle the tops liberally with the sugar/nutmeg mix. (See below).
Chocolate Chip Raisin Muffins
- When starting to gather ingredients, soak the raisins in the hotest water available. When ready to use squeeze all the water from them.
- Add the chocolate chips and raisins when the batter is finished. Scrape often to make sure the add ins are evenly distributed.
Sugar Nutmeg Mix
- Combine the sugar and nutmeg.
Baking Times
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Regular size muffins – Bake 23 to 25 minutes – makes about 15 muffins
- Texas size muffins - 25 to 28 minutes - makes 8 muffins
- Mini size muffins – bake 15 to 18 minutes – makes about 40
Notes
Nutrition
Barbara says
I am curious about the refrigerating overnight method, which I would prefer, but do the number of hours in the refrigerator affect it, and the baking powder? Do I need to make the recipe late in the evening, around 9 PM and bake by 7 or 8 AM? I would prefer making the recipe at about 3 PM, but would the unbaked muffins be in the refrigerator too long and the baking powder be affected, if they weren't baked until 7 or 8 AM?
Helen S Fletcher says
Hi Barbara, as long as you are using double acting baking powder, which is what most of them are today, the muffins will be fine whenever you make them. The baking powder acts first when it comes in contact with liquid and the second time when it interacts with heat. So they will rise in the oven.
Barbara says
Thank you so much for your quick reply. I will be making them this afternoon, before our family arrives and we will be having them for breakfast tomorrow!!!
Helen S Fletcher says
Happy to help. Happy Thanksgiving.
BEVERLY MURPHY says
No mention of sugar/ nutmeg mix for topping in the recipe.
Helen S Fletcher says
Sorry - I assumed readers would mix this on their own -like cinnamon sugar. It is in the recipe now.
Cathi says
I typically use King Arthur All-Purpose flour. Each cup of the flour is 120 grams. However, in this recipe it calls for 280 grams (2 cups). Using the King Arthur Flour, 2 cups would be 240 grams. Should I use 280 grams or 240 grams? What flour do you use in this recipe? Thank you for your great site and ideas!
Helen S Fletcher says
Hi Cathi, the easiest answer is to USE WHATEVER MEASUREMENTS THE RECIPE STATES. Professionals, of which I am one, generally use 140 grams per cup. KA drives me nuts because they use the sifted weight of flours, not the unsifted weights. They are different weights. Please see my article, The Frustrating Facts about Measuring Flour. Everyone agrees that 1 cup of sugar weighs 200 grams. However, depending upon how the flour gets into the cup there are different weights. KA is the lowest at 120 grams and the highest I have seen is 150 grams. Hope this helps.
Helen S Fletcher says
One other thing Cathi, it doesn't make much of a difference whatever flour is used. There are minor differences in the protein counts but generally don't make a difference. The one place is can is bread flour but even then great breads can be made with most any flour. I generally use Pillsbury or Gold Medal because they are the easiest to obtain and what I feel most home bakers use.
Eileen Murphy says
This recipe promised a lot and certainly delivered. I needed a dozen jumbo sized. A simple bit of math and viola! Than you Helen for another great recipe and lesson.
Helen S Fletcher says
You're very welcome Eileen. Happy it worked out for you. This is the glory of base recipes.
Jennylyn E. Cullog says
Thanks ma'am for your recipe it inspire to bake an experimental cookery in my thesis writing hope it will inspire to others.
Helen S Fletcher says
Hello Jennylyn - so happy the recipe was of interest and useful to you.
Catherine says
I cannot wait to try this one!
Thank you
Helen S Fletcher says
Hi Catherine, you are becoming quite the muffin maker!
Gayle S says
great tip about refrigerating overnight - also makes the morning less stressful. Thanks!
Toni says
Thank-you for providing baking times for all muffin sizes. Love the blog. Your efforts to educate the home baker is so appreciated!
Helen S Fletcher says
Hi Toni, my goal is to be as helpful as I can.
Doug Garr says
This was a surprisingly poorly written recipe. There is no indication when to put the first egg in the bowl. Except for the photo of the ingredients there is no amount given for the vanilla extract. I sort of guessed. And of course, since the recipe doesn't tell you when to put the salt and extract in the bowl, I assumed at the end, I should put it in. Helen, I love your baking philosophy, and I'm a rank beginner, but you've got to be more careful than this.
Helen S Fletcher says
Hi Doug, you are right - I did leave the vanilla out and for this I apologize. However, Instruction 2 on the recipe card, said to add the eggs one at a time. Instruction #3 said to combine the flour, baking powder and salt. I added another instruction that has the vanilla being added to the milk. The photos are a guide but the recipe card is what should be followed when making a recipe and there I just left the vanilla out. No excuse for sure. This is new format for me and I appreciate you bringing this to my attention.
Brian Sharitz says
Doug I'm definitely no chef but always read the entire receipt all the way through at least once before you even begin to prep your ingredients.
I to learned this the hard way making bagels, I added the baking soda to my dough instead of my poaching water.
Helen S Fletcher says
Hi Brian, Love your comment about the baking soda. Hope it didn't alter your bagels.
Denise Hammons says
I have been using your old, base muffin recipe for years, but will definitely give these a try!
Helen S Fletcher says
Hi Denise - Trust you'll enjoy this one also.
SallyBR says
I just love this type of post, which is a full lesson in baking! and inspire you to be daring and come up with new flavors
I am still away from home, but intend to make a batch to donate as soon as I arrive back - refrigerating the batter overnight!
Helen S Fletcher says
Hi Sally, Basic anything makes life so much easier. Enjoy your time away.
Terry says
What does the overnight stay in the fridge actually do? Would this work for other muffin recipes? I think this is a great tip!! Thank you!
Helen S Fletcher says
Chilling the muffin batter overnight allows the starches in the flour to absorb more moisture from the eggs and liquids. This results in the starches swelling allowing more gluten to form, improving the consistency of the batter allowing for higher crowns, and a more moist tender, taller muffin. This will improve any muffin recipe, not just this one.
Thanks for asking, I am adding this to the recipe for clarification.
Terry says
Thanks so much Helen! I learn so much from you!!!
Helen S Fletcher says
You're very welcome Terry. Thanks for the kind words.
Lynette Pruett says
Thanks for the Top Tip about refrigerating the prepared batter in the muffin tins overnight before baking to achieve a more professional look, Helen! I’m definitely going to try that.
Helen S Fletcher says
Hi Lynette - good to hear from you. It does make a difference so do try it. Happy New Year!
Terry says
Can these be made with bread flour for a highest dome on the finished product?
Helen S Fletcher says
Hi Terry - no idea I didn't use bread flour. I don't think they would be as tender.