This is my ultimate muffin recipe—starting with a thick and creamy muffin batter, your choice of additions, and two topping options. Customize it with your favorite mix-ins and flavor combinations for endless possibilities like blueberry muffins, lemon poppy seed muffins, and apple cinnamon muffins.
I originally published this recipe in 2017 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, helpful success tips, and additional flavors.
This is my staple muffin recipe, to which I fold in a variety of additions and flavors. I’ve relied on it since 2014 when I developed and originally published my best blueberry muffins. I was so pleased with the taste and texture that I kept experimenting with new flavors—and over time, I’ve realized the possibilities are actually endless.
In fact, I love this mix-and-match ultimate muffin recipe so much that I’m including it in my new cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101! (Including an exclusive-to-the-book birthday cake flavor.)
Can one muffin batter truly make infinite muffin flavors? We haven’t reached the limit yet…
Why This Should Be Your Go-To Muffin Recipe, Too:
- Batter produces soft, fluffy, tall bakery-style muffins
- Endlessly customizable for infinite muffin varieties
- Includes baking instructions for all sizes of muffins—makes 12 standard muffins, 6 jumbo muffins, or 36–40 mini muffins
- Make the crumb topping or simply sprinkle coarse sugar on top for a sparkly crunch
One reader, Karen, commented: “These were the best muffins I’ve ever made. No more store-bought! I can hardly wait to try a new batch every week. This is going to be fun! ★★★★★“
Another reader, Stacey, commented: “Made these tonight in a jumbo muffin tin, and added chocolate chips. Very tender muffin, but still a perfect base for more substantial mix-ins like chocolate. Domed beautifully! Will be making these a LOT going forward! ★★★★★“
Here are 10 of my muffin recipes that I’ve published using this base muffin batter:
- Cranberry Cardamom Spice Muffins
- Blackberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Peach Muffins
- Apple Cinnamon Muffins (pictured)
- Lemon Blueberry Muffins
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (pictured)
- Blueberry Muffins (pictured)
- Strawberry Cheesecake Muffins (pictured)
- Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Crumb Cake Muffins
Today I’m also sharing White Chocolate Raspberry and Chocolate Chip Crumb. Details for making each are in the recipe Notes below!
Ingredients for the Muffin Batter
- Flour: Stick with all-purpose flour. The flour gives the muffins structure and keeps the batter nice and thick so the add-ins (chocolate chips, berries, nuts, etc.) stay suspended.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: For maximum rise, we’re using both leaveners here.
- Salt, Cinnamon, & Vanilla Extract: The flavor enhancers. The cinnamon is optional—leave it out if it doesn’t work well with the other flavors. For example, I use it when I make apple or chocolate chip muffins, but skip it when I make lemon muffins.
- Butter: We’re creaming the butter to make these fluffy, springy muffins, so make sure to use proper room-temperature butter here. If you’re a beginner baker or if you need a refresher, I also have a helpful video tutorial on how to cream butter and sugar.
- Sugar: A mix of granulated sugar and brown sugar sweetens these muffins.
- Eggs: Eggs add moisture and richness, and bind everything together.
- Sour Cream: Sour cream helps keep the muffins tender, soft, and extra moist. If needed, you can use plain Greek yogurt instead.
- Milk: Milk lightens up the crumb. I usually use whole milk, but you can use low-fat or nondairy milk if you prefer.
Expect a creamy, thick batter:
Fold in your additions, such as apples, chocolate chips, nuts, berries, etc. If making something like lemon poppy seed muffins, add the lemon zest and juice when you add the milk, and mix the poppy seeds in with the dry ingredients. I have these details in the recipe Notes below.
This is the chocolate chip muffin batter:
Muffin Topping Options
Before baking, decide if you want to top the muffins. Here are my 2 recommendations:
- Coarse Sugar: Simple, yet bakery-style beautiful! Coarse sugar gives the muffins a sparkly crunch.
- Crumb Topping: A classic choice, my brown sugar cinnamon crumb topping works with a variety of muffin flavors. I have the recipe for you below. If desired, you can use another crumb-like topping such as the easy brown sugar pecan streusel I use on this blueberry muffins version or this lemon crumb topping I use on my lemon blueberry muffins.
Here I’m topping the chocolate chip muffin variety with the crumb topping:
The Trick to Tall Muffin Tops
I’ve been using this muffin trick for years and SWEAR by it. Nearly all of the muffin recipes you see on my website and in my cookbooks also use it.
Make sure your muffin batter is thick (this one is). Fill your muffin cups/liners with the batter all the way to the top. Bake the muffins for just 5 minutes at a high temperature. Reduce the temperature for the remaining bake time. This burst of hot air lifts the muffins straight up, creating a solid dome. The rest of the time at a lower baking temperature cooks the center of the muffin.
Optional Finishing Touches
If you want even more ways to jazz up your muffins, try finishing them with a topping:
- Vanilla icing
- Lemon icing: you can find the recipe with my lemon poppy seed muffins. This is also fantastic on the muffin varieties that have berries.
- Orange icing: you can find the recipe with my cranberry orange muffins.
- Maple icing: what we use to top maple brown sugar cookies.
- Brown butter icing: what we use to top pistachio cookies.
- Salted caramel sauce: this is so good on the apple cinnamon muffins!
Even More Muffin Flavors
- Cinnamon Pecan Muffins: ultimate muffin batter + 3/4 cup (100g) chopped pecans + 3/4 cup (135g) cinnamon chips. Add the crumb topping.
- White Chocolate Nectarine: ultimate muffin batter + 1 and 1/4 cups (about 230g) peeled finely chopped nectarine + 1/2 cup (90g) white chocolate chips. Add the crumb topping or try the pecan streusel topping from the blueberry muffins.
- Pear Spice Muffins: ultimate muffin batter + 1 and 1/4 cups (about 230g) peeled finely chopped pear + 1/4 teaspoon each ground nutmeg and allspice
- Banana Nut Muffins: ultimate muffin batter + 3/4 cup (170g) mashed banana + leave out sour cream + 1 cup (130g) chopped walnuts.
- Ginger Peach Muffins: ultimate muffin batter + 1 and 1/4 cups (about 230g) peeled finely chopped peaches + 2 Tablespoons freshly grated ginger. Add the crumb topping or try the pecan streusel topping from the blueberry muffins.
- Pineapple Coconut Muffins: ultimate muffin batter + 1 cup (100g) sweetened shredded coconut + 1 cup (225g) finely chopped pineapple (fresh or canned, drained)
- Cranberry Apple Muffins: ultimate muffin batter + 1 cup (about 120g) peeled chopped apple + 1 cup (120g) fresh or frozen cranberries (do not thaw).
P.S. Looking for a chocolate muffin base? Use the batter from these double chocolate muffins.
Print
Ultimate Muffin Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12-14 muffins
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Use this base muffin recipe to make any flavor of muffin you can dream up! They’re easy, delicious, and freezer friendly. See Notes section below the recipe for my 5 favorite flavor variations, plus baking instructions for jumbo and mini muffins.
Ingredients
Optional Crumb Topping
- 1/3 cup (67g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 Tablespoons (56g) unsalted butter, melted
- 2/3 cup (83g) all-purpose flour
Muffin Batter
- 1 and 3/4 cups (219g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional, depending on your add-ins)*
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (120g) sour cream or plain yogurt, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (60ml) milk (any kind), at room temperature
- add-ins of your choice (see Notes)*
- optional if not using crumb topping: 2 Tablespoons coarse sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- Make the crumb topping, if using: In a medium bowl, mix the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon. Stir in the melted butter. Using a fork, gently work in the flour just enough to combine. Do not overmix; the mixture should have large crumbles. Set topping aside or refrigerate until ready to use.
- Make the muffins: In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon (if using) together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute, then turn up to high speed until the mixture is combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and beat on low speed until just about combined. Add the milk and continue to beat on low speed until combined. Fold in your chosen add-ins. (See flavors/details in the Notes below.) The batter should be thick.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them all the way to the top. Sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar or spoon on the crumb topping and lightly press the crumbles so they stick to the batter.
- Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425°F (218°C); then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 15–18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 22–23 minutes, give or take. Allow the muffins to cool for 10 minutes in the muffin pan set on a cooling rack, then transfer the muffins from the pan to the rack to cool completely.
- Store muffins covered tightly at room temperature for up to 5 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- White Chocolate Raspberry Muffins: Omit the optional cinnamon. Fold 1 cup (125g) raspberries + 3/4 cup (135g) white chocolate chips into the batter as instructed in step 5. Sprinkle muffins with coarse sugar before baking as instructed in step 6.
- Apple Cinnamon Muffins: Keep the optional cinnamon in the base recipe, and add another 1/2 teaspoon with the dry ingredients in step 2. Fold 1 and 1/2 cups (180g) peeled chopped apples into the batter as instructed in step 5. Sprinkle muffins with crumb topping before baking as instructed in step 6.
- Blueberry Muffins: Mix the optional 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon with the dry ingredients in step 2. Fold 1 and 1/2 cups (210g) fresh or frozen blueberries into the batter as instructed in step 5. (If using frozen berries, do not thaw.) Sprinkle muffins with coarse sugar or crumb topping before baking as instructed in step 6.
- Chocolate Chip Muffins: Mix the optional 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon with the dry ingredients in step 2. Fold 1 and 1/2 cups (270g) semi-sweet chocolate chips into the batter as instructed in step 5. Sprinkle muffins with coarse sugar or crumb topping before baking as instructed in step 6.
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins: Omit the optional cinnamon. Mix 2 Tablespoons poppy seeds with the dry ingredients in step 2. Add 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons fresh lemon zest and 3 Tablespoons (45ml) fresh lemon juice when you add the milk. Sprinkle muffins with coarse sugar before baking as instructed in step 6. If desired, top cooled muffins with lemon icing.
- Freezing Instructions: Place muffins in an airtight freezer container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature, or warm up in the microwave if desired.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-count Muffin Pan | Muffin Liners | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Coarse Sparkling Sugar | Cooling Rack
- Jumbo Muffins: 425°F for 5 minutes, then reduce to 350°F for 22–25 minutes for a total of 27–30. Makes about 6.
- Mini Muffins: 350°F for 12–14 minutes (no initial higher oven temperature). Makes about 36–40.
- Chocolate Muffins: If you’re looking for a chocolate base muffin recipe, use this recipe for double chocolate muffins.
Share Your Muffin Masterpiece!
I love hearing from readers who have used this muffin recipe to make up their own varieties. Here are a few:
- Meg’s version: “Today this master muffin recipe is going to make us some tropical muffins with mango and coconut milk. I assume these will be a major hit as usual, your recipes always are in this house. ★★★★★“
- Helen’s version: “After looking on the internet for awhile I could not find an almond poppy seed muffin recipe to my liking!… So I decided to use your master muffin recipe, and they turned out amazing!!! I omitted the cinnamon, added a teaspoon of vanilla and almond extract, and 3 tablespoons of poppy seeds and topped it with sanding sugar… Oh my they were heaven! ★★★★★“
- Jackie‘s version: “Just made these with pear and spices. Came out so nice, fluffy, crispy. Love this recipe! Will definitely use it again. I did add about 3/4 cup walnuts as I really like nuts in muffins. ★★★★★“
- Lorri‘s version: “Outstanding is all I can say! This basic recipe will be my go-to basic muffin recipe going forward! I made blueberry orange and kept the cinnamon in! ★★★★★“
- Lana‘s version: “You’ve done it again! Wow! I baked a white chocolate nectarine version with fresh nectarines tonight! Fantastic! I’m excited to try other versions as the seasons change. ★★★★★“
Reader Comments and Reviews
Sally pointed this recipe out to me and I just did 2 batches, one using crumbled speculoos and the other using dark chocolate chunks. They were AMAZING! Incredible crunchy outside and moist and soft on the inside! I will be making oreo ones next!
The only 2 mistakes I made were not putting more sugar for the dark chocolate ones and using healthy yogurt with stuff added to it that made the yogurt, thus the batter a bit more runny than it should’ve been, so in the end it didn’t rise all the way. But overall an amazing recipe!
Also I really truly appreciate the metric measurements as only a handful of USA-based/imperial system user bakers actually care to convert their ingredients into metric, despite the inconsistencies of scooping and leveling dry ingredients. Which is unfortunate as most of the mouth watering recipes are usually from that part of the world!
Hi Sally
I have just finished making your blueberry and lemon muffins, using the master muffin mix.
I followed your recipe to the letter and I have never been so happy with the results.
Thank you also for putting the actual weight measurements on all your recipes. As I live in Australia, I know that our cup and tablespoon are a bit different to that of the States.
I love your site and hope to bake many more recipes from it.
Warmest regards
Julie
Wow! Super Yum! I made the recipe with fresh blueberries. Absolutely delicious. Cake-y, tender, subtle taste allows the berry flavor to shine through. Not overly sweet. Tried with streusel topping ( cinnamon complemented taste) without any topping (great) and with lemon glaze (fantastic). Such a winner, I can’t wait to try her other recipes
The muffins were really good… after I made a second batch. 425 degrees is WAY TOO HIGH. My muffins ended up burnt on the outside and raw on the inside. I had to remake them but lowered the temperature down to about 325 degrees. They were perfect that way. I would recommend that for anyone making this recipe.
425 is the temp only for the first 5 minutes. The recipe says to bake for the rest of the time at 350. All the muffin recipes on this site say that, just FYI.
we took these muffins as mini muffins to a Girl Scout meeting and the girls (5-8) couldn’t stop eating them, which is high praise! We made a batch with some plain, blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, and blackberry and didn’t bring any home.
Perfect recipe! I did the cranberry apple muffins with the suggested crumb topping, they were excellent! My husband commented multiple times that they were bakery quality. They had such a nice crown to them! I’ve decided to purchase those elegant paper liners to help them rise a little more straight up next time. Being as those have taller sides than traditional liners, it will help keep the topping more contained when removing the muffins from the baking pan as well. This is my new go-to recipe, very easy and straight forward with moist, delicious results. Thinking about the mixed berry next! Thanks for sharing!!
I made it with GF flour and they still came out great! Did a blueberry batch and an espresso chocolate chip. Our family of 4 devoured them in minutes! Will be bookmarking this page.
I don’t usually bake muffins, well I don’t usually bake, but I gave these muffins a go because I had cream cheese icing left over from a banana cake. Well, I am now hooked and can’t wait to try the other combinations, everyone loved them. Glad I picked this recipe first, these are awesome! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for sharing this recipe, I make plane muffins, for my son school class, they love it, and I should continue trying another recipes.
Oh my goodness, these are to die for. Thank you for sharing. I made this recipe with frozen raspberries and white chocolate chips. Everyone loved them.
Can I use just strawberries for this recipe? Instead of the mixed berries. That’s all I have.
Absolutely!
Husband requested muffins for breakfast, didn’t have time to go shopping. Used this master muffin recipe and added what I had in the pantry – Sliced almonds and maraschino cherries, ran a knife through both to make more manageable sizes. I decreased the sugar by a bit because the cherries are so sweet. They tuned out amazing!!!!
I made the Cranberry Orange muffins this morning. They were awesome! Thanks for all the hints to make them so delicious. I’ll definitely be making these again as well as other versions.
So much fun to make .Easy to follow recipes We try these again
First time making muffins ever… (blueberry)
😀
They were such a hit!
Thank you for this perfect recipe!
Made this muffin (forgot to add the milk) and it still came out moist and delicious. Now I’m just imagining how even more moist and delicious it will be with the milk. I did the apple Cinnamon, I didn’t add the nuts but I did add the oats. Definitely making again and the suggestions.
Today, this recipe forever changed my mindset about muffins. I don’t really like them, but my husband does, so I made them for him. I had to use granulated sugar as I didn’t have any brown, and I used fresh frozen cranberries. They turned out perfect — well-risen, light and fluffy, with just the right amount of sweetness to offset the tartness of the cranberries. We ate them fresh out of the oven for lunch, with apple slices and cheese. Yums. We both had two and absolutely loved them. Thank you so much for posting.
Excellent recipe. I think the sour cream makes all the difference. I may have slightly over mixed. I had a few small tunnels, but the rise and texture were still very good. I made the blueberry and apple cinnamon. Both got really good reviews from the snowbirds in our RV Park. Thank you!
Hi, Sally! I just made the Lemon Poppyseed version yesterday and absolutely LOVED them. Regarding the lemon glaze (or any glaze for the matter), I always have an issue with it soaking into the muffin and it leaving a translucent sheen instead of it setting thick and white on top like you see in your pictures or in a bakery. I wait until the muffins are cool and I follow the glaze recipe to a T. What could I be missing?
I’m so happy you loved them, Noel! For a thicker glaze you can either add more sugar or cut the liquid/lemon juice depending on how much you need.
I had leftover coconut milk and sour cream after making your coconut cake recipe (which was a hit!) so I decided to make these. I used coconut milk, white sugar instead of brown, substituted 1/2 tsp of vanilla with coconut flavor, added shredded coconut and drained crushed pineapple. They turned out delicious! Love your recipes.
Thank you! We adjusted this by making our favorite almond poppy instead of lemon. Just used almond extract instead of lemon juice. Thanks for another perfect recipe!
Sorry if you addressed this anywhere above—is it possible to multiply and mix the dry ingredients and keep them on hand, not unlike a box of baking mix? That would be AWESOME! Thanks for all your hard work!
Hi Sonja! You can definitely prep and store the dry ingredients in advance, but I wouldn’t multiply the batches because one may miscalculate and add the wrong ratio of dry to wet ingredients.
Hello, I’m not one who provides replies, but I just cannot help myself. I MUST. I am 75 years whatever & by myself. I enjoy baking but am far from being any good at it. But this recipe makes me look (and feel) like a pro. I made the apple, cinnamon, sweet dried cranberry with oat topping. I Have Died & Gone Too Heaven. Delicious. Wonderful texture, and the height (O.M.G.). Never had any of my muffins ‘EVER’ get this high. What wonderful flavor. (Yes, I ate too many) I am sooo happy and will continue to make this recipe over and over till death do us part. Thank you Ms Sally.
Hi, I tried this recipe with dark chocolate chips, nutmeg and LOTS of cinnamon.
It was delicious!!!
Hi can I substitute the butter with vegetable oil of canola oil? Would that affect the taste?
I don’t recommend oil in this recipe.
Thank you. I made the White Chocolate Raspberry muffins and they are delicious!!! Husband loves them too which is great as he is a tad bit picky!
I love every recipe you post and use them any chance i get. Today this master muffin recipe is going to make us some tropical muffins with mango and coconut milk.
I assume these will be a major hit as usual, your recipes always are in this house. Thank you for sharing
Hi Sally! A master muffin mix recipe is exactly what I was looking for! Perfect for the person who wants to make some many different flavors (me). I made these and divided the batter into four bowls so that I could make 3 muffins of 4 different flavor combos that I came up with. I used your recipe as my guide, but I swapped out a lot of ingredients to try and make a lower calorie muffin. I’m impressed so far. I would love to blog my new healthier muffin recipe and would love to link readers to your site to give you credit for getting me started on the recipe.
Ok Sally, I rarely post comments, but I gotta letcha know this is an AMAZING recipe! I made some adaptations for high altitude (I used the King Arthur Flour link that you posted in response to another guest’s high altitude question). I live in the mountains of Arizona, yes…Arizona has mountains! (we are moderately high altitude, about 5,367 feet high) So back to high altitude adjustments, in case anyone wants to know…I added 1/2 cup extra flour, 1 extra egg, and 1 Tbsp less sugar (I used granulated sugar instead of brown). I also cooked for 5 minutes at 425, then reduced the heat to 400 and cooked for 5 more minutes, then reduced the heat to 375 and cooked for 5-7 minutes. It may seem complicated, but the extra effort REALLY paid off. In all my years of baking I’ve never produced such BEAUTIFUL delicious muffins. Using other recipes, I’ve made delicious muffins, but they’ve rarely been beautiful, they usually spill-out wide and super flat. On occasion I even had to trim the edges off so they wouldn’t look totally ridiculous. Using your recipe, I made 75 muffins (that’s 6 batches of the master muffin mix) which included Blueberry with Streusel, Lemon with Streusel, Raspberry White Chocolate Chip, Cinnamon Sugar Nutella Stuffed, Banana Cheesecake stuffed, and Banana Chocolate Chip. Lest you think I am a total pig…I made all those beautiful, high tops, golden brown, scrumptious muffins for a family reunion next week. I packaged them individually in little cellophane bags and put a cute little scalloped label on each to make them look even more gourmet. They are sitting in my freezer waiting to drop jaws at the reunion. Thanks for redeeming my muffin makin’ skills with this awesome recipe and the high altitude link! (Little side note…my high altitude adjusted muffins did turn out a little more dense, but I like ’em that way, it makes for a heartier breakfast!)
Hi Andrea! I wonder if the muffins were underbaked. If you’d like, you can coat the frozen blueberries in flour next time. That will definitely help.