What? You want a muffin recipe that looks and tastes like it’s fresh from a bakery? And it needs to be tender and moist inside with a slightly crunchy high dome top?
Well, I’ve got your back.
This is all that plus you can freeze the batter, then pop them straight into the oven. Minutes later you have fresh hot muffins.
You can use this basic muffin recipe to make any flavor of muffin you like such as traditional blueberry or get all crazy and make something like fig-raspberry-lavender. It’s totally up to you!
I’m a muffin girl. Wait, that sounds strange. I am totally a muffin girl. Still weird. Hmmm.
Yo, I love muffins!
Better? Oh, I give up. You get the point anyways, right? I really really really love breakfast muffins.
I’ve known for quite some time that you can make ahead and freeze cooked muffins. They thaw out nicely and taste great still. It can be a real time saver.
But there is something about a fresh, hot from the oven muffin that makes me even more happy. You get the sweet muffins baking smell in the air, that can wake up any sleepy teen. And since making muffins from scratch in the mornings takes some time and energy, it brings the feeling that you put a lot of love into breakfast for your family.
MY PERFECT BASIC MUFFIN RECIPE
When trying to figure out a perfectly freezer friendly muffin recipe, I researched recipes found in old fashioned cookbooks, newer cookbooks and even searched online. I researched about what makes a good muffin. And what kind of muffin batters can go from freezer to oven. I tested and tested and tested some more.
Who knew making the worlds perfect muffin would be so hard? These were my requirements for making the best muffin recipe ever.
- Needed these easy muffins to be moist and delicious with great flavor.
- I wanted to be able to add whatever ingredients like blueberries to make blueberry muffins or chocolate for chocolate muffins. Basically a perfect basic muffin recipe with variations.
- These muffins could go from the freezer to oven for fresh baked muffins but also able to be baked ahead and frozen too.
- Wanted these homemade muffins to have a high dome top, so they look like they came from a bakery.
And after recreating a recipe over and over again about 4 times, I finally had it. The best ever muffin recipe. And here it is in this blog post… in all its glory for you to make. I hope you enjoy it too!!
CAN THIS BASIC MUFFIN RECIPE BATTER BE FROZEN?
Yes! Muffin batter is great to freeze. The raw batter can be frozen in muffin liners and then baked fresh on the day you want your muffins. It’s so versatile!
WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO FREEZE MUFFINS?
There are three different ways you can freeze muffins:
1- You can bake the muffins and put them into freezer-safe bags so they are ready to grab and go.
2- You can scoop raw batter either into silicone liners, or onto a cookie sheet. Then freeze. After they are frozen you can transfer them to a gallon sized freezer bag to save space. You can cook from frozen by popping them into muffin liners and bake.
3- Make a batch of muffin batter and pour into a freezer bag. Freeze and thaw when you are ready to bake up a larger batch.
I love fresh baked muffins the most so I like freezing my dough raw.
But a lot of people love to freeze the muffins already cooked and ready. That way their kids can just grab a muffin out of a bag when they want. They defrost quickly and can even be popped into the microwave for 10-15 seconds for a deliciously warm treat. Just make sure to get all the air out of the bag so they don’t get freezer burn.
By the way, I have a few other make ahead and freeze muffin recipes you might like. I especially love my Easy Bran Muffins and these freezer friendly Double Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins. And if you love old fashioned recipes I have my Great Grandmothers recipe for popovers in a muffin tin. It’s fun to see vintage recipes.
Basic Muffin Recipe (with Variations!)
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 ¼ cups butter softened
- 2 whole eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup greek yogurt or sour cream
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using a whisk is a fast method of sifting so really get some air into it.
- In another bowl, whisk together yogurt and milk until smooth. Then add eggs and vanilla and whisk until smooth.
- In a stand mixer, fitted with paddle attachment cream butter and sugar on medium speed until light pale colored and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl often.
- Add 1/3 milk mixture, mix on low until just combined. I usually just pulse it for a few seconds. You do not want to overmix this or you'll end up with tough muffins. Add 1/3 dry ingredient mixture, mix on low until combined. Then repeat! 1/3 liquid mix, combine, add 1/3 dry mix, combine, repeat. Lastly gently fold in any other flavors (see ideas below).
Make it NOW:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Divide the batter into 24 muffin liners or into lightly greased muffin pan. Sprinkle sugar on top if desired. Bake in preheated oven 15 – 17 minutes until golden and tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for 9-10 minutes, then serve.
Make it a Freezer Meal:
- Option #1 – Bake all muffins, allow to cool completely (at least one hour). Indiviually wrap in plastic wrap (optional for extra air protection) and place into freezer safe gallon bag. Freeze. To Reheat: Cook in microwave until warmed through, or thaw on counter a few hours.
- Option #2 - On a parchment lined cookie sheet use a ¼ cup sized cookie scoop and scoop balls on it or into silicone cups. Flash freeze until hard. Once frozen remove from freezer and place into freezer safe bag. Seal bag, removing as much air as possible and freeze. To Cook from Frozen: Transfer frozen batter balls to a lightly greased muffin pan or place into liners. Without thawing, bake for 30-35 minutes until golden and tester inserted comes out clean. Let cool in pan on a wire rick for 9-10 minutes, then serve.
- Option #3 – Place muffin batter in gallon sized freezer bag. Press flat and freeze. To use thaw in refrigerator overnight, cut a corner off bag and pipe into muffin pan. Bake as directed in make it now above.
Muffin Flavor Ideas
- Blueberries, Strawberries, Peaches or other fresh fruits: Add 1 cup (250 mL) fresh or frozen fruit. If using frozen fruit, it needs to be thawed, rinsed and dried for best results.
- Almond Poppy Seed: Add 1/2 tsp almond extract to liquid mixture in step 2 and 1/4 cup poppy seeds to dry mixture in step 1. Top each muffin batter with 1/2 tsp granulated sugar or sliced almonds for a delicious gourmet look.
- Chocolate Chocolate Chip: Add 1/4 cup cocoa powder to dry mix in step 1. Add 1 tbsp additional milk to wet mix in step 2. Then fold 2 cups chocolate chips into the batter.
- Banana Pecan: Gently fold in 1 cup mashed bananas and 1/2 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped to batter.
- Apple Cinnamon: Add 2 cups finely chopped fresh apples, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and dash of nutmeg
- Fig Raspberry Lavender: Gently fold in 2 cups diced fresh or dried figs, 2 cups fresh raspberries and 2 tsp dried lavender buds to batter.
Nutrition
Loved this recipe?
Make sure to follow on Instagram @happymoneysaver and on Pinterest @happymoneysaver for more money savin' recipes!
OTHER FREEZER BREAKFAST RECIPES
If you’re a make ahead and freeze breakfast fan, I’ve got a few other fantastic ones you may like too.
- Gluten Free Breakfast Sandwiches
- Freezer Breakfast Casserole
- Breakfast Bowl
- Breakfast Sandwiches
- Best Bran Muffins
- Freezer Pancakes
- Freezer Breakfast Recipes
- Breakfast Sausage Patties
I can’t wait for you to try out this recipe! Please leave a comment below and share what kinds of filling you come up with! And please share your pics on Instagram tagging me @happymoneysaver!
About Karrie
Food is my love language. But so is saving money. So I like to combine the two a lot and make thrifty make ahead and freeze meals to save time. Because life is busy, and freezer meals can come to the rescue for all of us. And yes, they actually CAN taste good. Read more...
Comments & Reviews
Marianne says
Can I store these at room temperature ?
Myrriah says
My kids loved these!! Did a bit of variations for the mix in. I froze some balled mix and the baked muffins. My kids were so excited to have warm muffins in the morning. Onto making our second batch to freeze.
Miranda says
We’ll see. I just made up the batter and it is so sticky that it’s pulling my spatula apart.
Jennifer says
Im curious to see if you have ever tried adding oats to this recipe? Im trying to find ways to sneak protein into my kid’s diets and usually do oat muffin recipes but this one looks delicious.
Happy-Money-Saver says
I haven’t tried it yet but I don’t see why not!
Laurie Bleazard Boren says
These are the best muffin recipe. They were flakey, fluffy, delicious and moist. We tried chocolate chip and blueberry. We are going to try doing banana chocolate chip the next time. Thanks for a great recipe. I told my kids they are better than Costco muffins they wanted me to buy and cheaper.
Leah says
Hi! I’m really looking forward to trying out this recipe. I don’t typically keep sour cream on hand, but DO keep buttermilk. Do you have any thoughts about using it instead? Thanks!!!
Karrie says
I’m not sure about using buttermilk, my thoughts are that it *might* work, but you’d have to test it to see!
ML says
For anyone still reading this, I tried with buttermilk and it worked just fine.
Susan says
We made these today and had to “taste test” the recipe to insure we liked it before I would make and freeze. We made the chocolate chocolate chip version and WOW! Everyone LOVED them, including the super picky grandson. We are already thinking of flavors we want to do, including a coconut macadamia nut version. Thanks for the recipe!
Jennifer says
Oh my this recipe is AMAZING! We’ve made blueberry, chocolate chip banana and lemon poppyseed AKA Black Dot muffins. I froze batter in muffin papers once as an experiment and it was incredable how perfectly they baked from frozen!
Karrie says
So glad you liked this basic muffin recipe too!!! I tested and tested to make sure and get it right! 🙂
Anne Ruzicka says
Can you just make the batter, keep it in the fridge for a few days and bake as needed? Thanks!
Karrie says
Hi, I haven’t tested it being in the fridge for a few days and then baking, so if you do, let me know if it still bakes up nicely!
Grace says
These muffins are the best ones I’ve ever tried. I made a bunch up and froze them and they were still moist after thawing. So so so good. Thanks for this recipe!
Lisa Faltersack says
if I wanted to reduce the sugar could I ? Would coconut sugar do OK in this recipe?
Karrie says
Sure, feel free to try those and see how they work! 🙂 Let us know.
ambra aders says
I can’t find the cooking temperature on the recipe? Am I looking in the wrong place? These looked so good we made the batter but we are scratching our heads as to that one part. If we are being dimwits, I apologize but we can’t find it anywhere on the page! 🙂
TIY
Ambra
Karrie says
Hi Ambra, bake them at 400 degrees! I updated the post. Thanks for letting me know…