17 Muffin Recipes to Channel Your Inner Morning Person
You might not have the ingredients or time to cobble together a layer cake on a random Tuesday morning. But you know what you can bake practically anywhere, anytime? Muffins. Only a handful of our best muffin recipes go so far as to ask you to soften butter. Most rely on a few pantry staples (flour, sugar, baking powder), can be made entirely in one bowl, and are highly flexible. Want to make a batch of BA’s Best Blueberry Muffins but don’t have fresh blueberries? Use frozen (Pro tip: Don’t thaw them first). Have a vendetta against blueberries? Sub in chocolate chips.
The only thing you really need to bake muffins is a muffin tin (actually, that’s not true: Pour the batter into a square baking dish and you’ve got a shareable muffin cake). Still, it’s worth owning a good muffin pan—not just for bready pastries but for cupcakes and egg muffins too. Skip the liners, though: Direct contact with the pan (nonstick, please) ensures even browning and perfectly domed muffin tops.
Like scones and many other quick breads, muffins are a great beginner baking project. Bake a dozen on Sunday morning and you’ve got breakfast settled for the week ahead—unless you choose to share, which would hypothetically be the generous thing to do.
Alex Lau1/17BA's Best Blueberry Muffins
There’s a reason we call this blueberry muffin recipe the best. Whole wheat flour adds nuttiness, lemon juice and zest brighten the blueberry flavor, and two extra egg yolks boost the richness of the batter. But the real secret to these bakery-style muffins is the freshly-grated nutmeg—it helps all the other flavors shine.
Photograph by Isa Zapata. Food Styling by Susan Ottaviano. Prop Styling by Maeve Sheridan and Molly Longwell2/17Fully Loaded Carrot Muffins
Applesauce keeps these spiced muffins moist and tender, but the recipe’s real selling point is the mix-ins. These muffins are fully-loaded with grated carrots, golden raisins, toasted nuts (we like walnuts or pecans here), and an assortment of seeds. Feel free to add any other mix-ins you please—chocolate chips would be nice.
Photo by Emma Fishman, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Sophie Strangio3/17Strawberry Doughnut Muffins
Filled with strawberry jam and rolled in freeze-dried strawberry sugar, these pretty-in-pink strawberry muffins are an absolute Barbie dream. If you need a quick dessert, they can easily pass for cupcakes.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Pearl Jones, Prop Styling by Stephanie De Luca4/17Brown-Butter Banana Nut Muffins
With mashed bananas, toasted nuts, and chocolate chips, these classic banana muffins have all the trappings of our best banana bread in a fun, portable package. If you want to go all out, stuff them with cream cheese or peanut butter. No matter how you spin them, these are the best muffins for on-the-go breakfasts.
Photograph by Guang Xu5/17Anytime Orange Muffins
Inspired by the orange-cranberry muffins from Costco, these jumbo muffins are a breeze to bake. Made with freshly-squeezed orange juice, zest, and a splash of vanilla extract, they taste like a classic Creamsicle.
Photo by Alex Lau, Styling by Sue Li6/17Quinoa-Banana Muffins
Test kitchen director Chris Morocco went on a mission to develop a healthy muffin recipe that actually tasted good. The result: These nutty, whole-grain, quinoa-banana muffins, which we’d happily eat for breakfast every morning.
Photo by Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott7/17Apple-Honey-Pecan Muffins
If you think pumpkin muffins have a monopoly on the fall baking scene, allow us to introduce you to these apple-honey-pecan muffins. Olive oil and buttermilk keep them moist for days.
Photographs by Jenny Huang, food styling by Sue Li, prop styling by Sophie Strangio8/17Blueberry Spelt Muffins
Spelt flour gives these fresh blueberry muffins a nutty dimension—similar to a classic bran muffin, but way, way better. The zest of a lemon brightens the batter.
Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Molly Baz, Prop Styling by Emily Eisen9/17Extra-Corny Cornbread Muffins
These extra-corny cornbread muffins use both cornmeal and fresh corn kernels—all the better to use up your farmers market haul. No sour cream on hand? Sub in Greek yogurt. For ultra-charming, bite-size corn muffins, bake them in a mini muffin tin.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Pearl Jones, prop styling by Stephanie De Luca10/17Triple Pumpkin Crumb Muffins
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Susan Ottaviano, Prop Styling by Stephanie De Luca12/17Blueberry Muffin Cake
What happens if you bake blueberry muffin batter in a cake pan? You get a blueberry muffin cake, sure to be the star of any brunch spread.
Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Sue Li13/17Butternut Squash, Coconut, and Ginger Muffins
Think zucchini bread, but instead of grated summer squash, it’s grated butternut squash. The orange gourd lends texture and delicate sweetness to these autumnal muffins. (Psst: We have a feeling this double-chocolate zucchini bread would make great zucchini muffins.)
Alex Lau15/17Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins with Oat Crumble
If you can find wild blueberries in the freezer aisle at the grocery store, use them in this gluten-free blueberry muffin recipe. The tiny, wild berries are sweeter and more concentrated in flavor than the standard variety. Not a blueberry person? Swap the berries for chocolate to make chocolate chip muffins.
Matt Duckor16/17Dirt Bombs
The recipe for these donut-like cinnamon muffins comes from Bantam Bread in Bantam, Connecticut, where they have somewhat of a cult following. Luckily, they’re extremely easy to make: Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl; add an egg; alternate adding the remaining wet and dry ingredients. Bake. Devour.
Zach DeSart17/17Gluten-Free Raspberry-Ginger Muffins
You can use fresh or frozen raspberries in this gluten-free muffin recipe. Actually, you can use any type of berry: Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, or even cranberries would all work well here. We call for gluten-free all-purpose flour, such as King Arthur Measure for Measure Flour, so everyone at the table can enjoy these homemade muffins.