Muffins are a favorite breakfast item for many and a quick grab and go item to enjoy on the run, Learning how to make muffins means you can cut the cost of the bakery runs to grab breakfast goodies for the office or treats for the kids class party. Muffins are a quick bread, baked in individual portions. They can be baked in mini muffin size or full size in a paper liner like a cupcake. Muffins can contain sweet additions like chocolate chips or can be a breadlike item such as cornbread muffins. Most fruits can be added to a homemade muffin.
Almost any quick bread recipe can be used to make muffins - just reduce the baking time to 20 minutes. Its important to mix muffins gently, only stirring until the batter is combined. If you overmix the muffin batter, you could develop the gluten in the flour and toughen the muffins. Once you've mastered a basic muffin recipe, it's easy to vary it to make blueberry muffins, pecan muffins, or even bacon muffins.
Step 1: What You Need to Make Muffins
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 cup melted butter
Step 2: How to Make Muffins
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Grease the muffin pans, or line with paper cupcake liners.
- Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a bowl.
- Add the egg, milk, and butter, to the flour mixture, stirring lightly to combine. Don not over mix as this will develop gluten and toughen the muffins
- Spoon the muffin batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each cup about 2/3 full.
- Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
Step 3: Muffin Variations
- Blueberry Muffins: Increase sugar to 1/2 cup, and use 1/4 cup of the flour to coat 1 cup of blueberries. Stir the berries into the mix right before baking.
- Pecan Muffins: Increase sugar to 1/4 cup, add 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 cup chopped pecans to the batter. After filling the cups, before baking, top the muffins with a mix of sugar, cinnamon, and chopped nuts as desired.
- Whole Wheat Raisin Muffins: replace 1 cup of the flour with 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour, and add 1/2 cup of raisins.
- Bacon Muffins: Add 3 strips bacon, fried crisp and crumbled, to the batter.
References
Fast Facts
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Fact:
Make double batches and freeze for later use
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Fact:
Plan breakfast muffins in place of expensive cereals
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Fact:
Basic muffin mix can be made in advance and stored for easy preparation
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Fact:
For easy muffins use a prepared baking mix like Bisquick or Jiffy Baking Mix
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Fact:
Use applesauce in place of oil to reduce the fat in muffins
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Fact:
Use a sifter to sprinkle powdered sugar over muffin tops for extra sweetness
