Muffin roll-call

January 13, 2019 2:32 AM

You know those threads at Christmastime about the best cookie recipes? Now for muffins.

Hit me with your best and most beloved muffin recipes, please! As with the cookie threads, I know how to google muffin recipes / ideas but would love to hear about actual muffins you personally make and love. Assume I have no go-to recipes on file and am looking to make this a kind of hobby.

Muffin tips and tricks also welcome. I have a KitchenAid, a standard pantry, and a new early morning work situation that means breakfast will be desk-muffins for the near future. I am allergic to nuts, so probably no muffins where nuts are the star but happy to omit / substitute. THANK YOU, star bakers!

posted by athirstforsalt to Food & Drink (17 answers total)

Cooks Illustrated, from the book The Best Recipe. That muffin recipe takes the addition of citrus, or jam, or a tiny tiny bit of lavender, like a champ. Other variations have also been wonderful.
posted by bilabial at 2:41 AM on January 13, 2019 [1 favorite]

Please enjoy my favorite muffin of all time, the Buttermilk Spice Muffin from Mimi's Cafe.
posted by Hermione Granger at 3:17 AM on January 13, 2019 [3 favorites]

These are so delicious. The lemon zest is key
posted by lomes at 3:24 AM on January 13, 2019 [1 favorite]

I make these every Christmas morning but that’s not to say that they couldn’t be made all the time - I mostly don’t because I’ll eat them in one go if left to my own devices. I mix the dry ingredients as per the recipe the night before and then just add the wet in the morning while the oven heats up.

The crunchy sugar topping is important - they’re not quite the same when I run out/tried different sugars.
posted by halcyonday at 4:34 AM on January 13, 2019

I make the blueberry muffins lomes links above every weekend. They are fantastic. My modifications: reduce sugar by about 40% (I kept reducing slightly every week till I got to a level we liked, we prefer less sweet); use mostly or all whole wheat flour; lemon is definitely really good but also fine to skip.
I also love these apple muffins: https://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/whole-wheat-apple-muffins/
posted by john_snow at 5:38 AM on January 13, 2019 [1 favorite]

Orange cranberry muffins. The recipe calls for nuts, but I once substituted chocolate chips because a friend is allergic, and now I never make them any other way. I keep jars of cranberries in the freezer so I can make them all year. They’re vegan, but my omnivore friends love them.
posted by FencingGal at 6:05 AM on January 13, 2019 [3 favorites]

Tried and tried to incorporate link and it just. won't. Look up the Butter Tart Muffin recipe from Chatelaine. But you really need to use real maple syrup. As with any muffin, mix less than you think you need to. Enjoy!
posted by kate4914 at 9:25 AM on January 13, 2019 [1 favorite]

I make muffins all the time, using Mark Bittman's basic recipe. I use whole wheat flour, bran, apricots, walnuts and half a can of pumpkin. I don't eat dairy, so I substitute cider or OJ for milk, neutral oil for butter.

If you use a mixer, you will likely overmix the batter.
Sugar has an effect on tenderness and texture, so change it carefully.
posted by theora55 at 9:35 AM on January 13, 2019

These Ina Garten strawberry muffins are way, way better than the pallid photo would suggest. Adding the sugar last gives them an excellent texture. They are some of the best muffins I've ever made.
posted by purpleclover at 9:37 AM on January 13, 2019 [2 favorites]

If you're open to a vegan muffin, I took a batch of these to work and no one had any idea they were vegan. They vanished.
Vegan blueberry lemon muffins. I made an alteration or two: I steeped two bags of Lady Grey tea in my vanilla almond milk before using and added the used tea of one bag itself into the batter. I also didn't have canola oil on hand; I used a mix of Earth Balance/coconut oil, and boosted the milk by a 1/4 cup to account for the loss of moisture my substitute made. The resulting muffins were perfection. I made them mini! That way you can eat, like, nine and feel reasonable.
posted by missmary6 at 9:45 AM on January 13, 2019 [2 favorites]

Second FencingGal’s suggestion of the Orange Cran vegan muffins, although I don’t use nuts or chocolate chips but add 2-4 Tbsp poppy seeds instead.

Another favourite is this bran muffin recipe. They’re more on the fluffy side than dense side, which I prefer. I make it vegan by putting 1 tsp apple cider vinegar in 1 cup nondairy milk for 10 mins to replace the buttermilk, and using 1 Tbsp flax in 3 Tbsp water (also for 10 mins) to replace the egg.
posted by Paper rabies at 1:10 PM on January 13, 2019

I absolutely love The Tightwad Gazette's basic muffin recipe. I've made dozens of varieties of muffins with this Mad Libs-esque recipe. Sweet, tart, savory, decadent, basic, all of it. I wish I could give you specifics, but I never wrote down anything as I played with the ingredients.
posted by The Almighty Mommy Goddess at 2:48 PM on January 13, 2019

I regularly make the "sweeter" variant of this corn muffin recipe, but add about 1/3 cup of minced carrots (I run them through the food processor so they're really small) and top with ground cinnamon - so good. They also work well if you add a small can of pumpkin and top with pumpkin pie spice.
posted by Mchelly at 4:25 PM on January 13, 2019 [1 favorite]

Nutmeg Donut Muffins will help you win friends and influence people.
posted by ananci at 5:17 PM on January 13, 2019 [1 favorite]

I like this Banana Muffin recipe from Allrecipes.com. Based on other commenters' suggestions, I add 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp nutmeg. I have not tried playing with the amount of sugar or type of flour, but I am going to eventually.
posted by radioamy at 8:51 PM on January 13, 2019

When I first got my food processor I made this Morning Glory Muffin recipe and it was delicious! It only makes 6 muffins, I think because they want you to be able to mix the whole thing in the food processor. If you wanted to make more muffins, I would just use the food processor to shred the carrots and do everything else by hand in a bowl or two. I can't see any reason why you actually need machine strength for it.
posted by radioamy at 8:56 PM on January 13, 2019

Really yummy carrot muffin recipe. I make them without the walnuts and coconut, but with the nutmeg and cloves. Airy, moist, delicious. They literally melt in your mouth.
posted by yawper at 7:56 PM on January 14, 2019