Moist, Soft, and Simple Plain Muffins
This basic muffin recipe is as good as it gets! Made with just two bowls, a whisk, and a spatula they are the ultimate easy bake. They are thick, soft, and perfectly moist on the inside with sky high dreamy rounded tops that make them totally bakery-worthy. Delicious on their own with a cup of coffee or a bit of butter, these plain muffins also make the perfect base for you favorite add-ins. You’ll keep coming back to this easy muffin recipe over and over!
You know how I know these muffins are good? Because I tested them 5 times to make sure they are perfect!
I’m working on adding a bunch of muffin recipes to the site here, like these bakery style lemon muffins, so I needed to make sure that this base recipe I work off is, first and foremost, amazeballs.
As a professional baker, I knew I would have to play around with the ratios for this recipe to make it exactly what I wanted. A thick, yet soft and moist muffin that wasn’t too dense. I also REALLY wanted them to have high rounded tops like you would find in a specialty bakery, like these carrot cake muffins.
I tested a couple butter only versions, but they were too dense and looked more like a cupcake. I then added oil to make the crumb softer- which helped, but it was still missing some moisture.
Then I added greek yogurt to the recipe and used some baking tips which I share below and now I can confidently say this plain and simple basic muffin recipe, is actually anything but!
They came out exactly how I was imagining them- soft and fluffy on the inside, not too sweet, and with a thicker harder crust. Plus look at them! Those muffin tops make me swoon!
This basic vanilla muffin recipe is good enough to enjoy on it’s own, but can handle any kind of add-ins you want to throw in. I used this base to also make these triple lemon muffins.
The best part is that it takes less than 10 minutes to put the recipe together and about 20 mins of baking time.
Which means you could be eating these in just 30 minutes! What are we waiting for, lets goooooo!
Ingredients that make these amazing
These have all the regular baking ingredients like flour, sugar, baking powder, etc.
What makes them both soft and moist is the winning trifecta of baking with 3 specific ingredients—> butter, vegetable oil, and full fat greek yogurt.
Butter gives the muffins the flavor, while oil creates a soft crumb. The greek yogurt makes sure that the moisture levels are where they are supposed to be.
When used on their own they can only do so much, but put these 3 together and it’s- ahh chef’s kiss!There is also milk in this recipe too, it’s there to add more liquid and make sure that the crust turns a nice golden color.
Tips for bakery style muffins
To make sure your muffins come out rivaling those of a bakery, make sure you do these few things:
Fill up all the way– Make sure to fill the muffin tin allll the way up. No 3/4 business happening over here like you would see in cupcake recipes. To create that domed top and that huge fall off on a muffin, you need to fill it all the way up so that the batter rises over the rim.
Bake on two temperatures – Bake the muffins for 7 minutes on 425°F first and then lower the oven to 350° to continue baking. The initial high heat will create that rounded top and then the lower heat will finish cooking the inside of the muffin.
Let it rest- Let the muffin batter rest for 10-20 minutes before filling in the muffin tin. This gives the flour time to absorb the liquid ingredients which creates a thicker batter. A thicker batter has a more even rise and a more rounded top.
Follow these tips and everyone will think you were a professional pastry chef in another life!
How to make
Absolutely do not use a stand mixer for this recipe. It will over mix the batter and you will be stuck with dense muffins. All you need are two medium size bowls, a whisk and spatula.
These are made using the classic muffin method.
This just means mixing the dry ingredients in one bowl, and the wet ingredients in the other.
Then you pour the dry ingredients into the wet, and gently (!!!!) fold the batter till it’s just combined. Scoop the thick and lumpy batter with an ice cream scoop into muffin liners and bake!
This is the way all muffins are made which is why there is a method named for it.
Different baked goods have different mixing methods which are helpful to know because once you know the method, all you need is the recipe list, and you can confidently continue baking without reading the instructions.
Remember to scroll down to the recipe card for exact measurements and the method.
Pouring dry into wet
Yes, these things matter! You want to pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients because that way there’s no wondering if you have any left over flour on the bottom of the bowl which could lead to over mixing. It’s just the easier way to combine the two together with out mixing too much.
Which leads me to….
Over Mixing
Over mixing is actually super easy to do when baking muffins because you’re doing the exact opposite of how you usually mix cake or cupcake batter.
You want to mix very lightly and gently until the streaks of flour are gone, BUT the batter is still super lumpy. We are not going for a smooth batter here. Maybe 5-6 mixes and thats it.
We want all the lumps!
If your muffins come out very dense then you sadly over mixed.
Yield
You’ll get 12 muffins from this recipe. Remember to fill to the top!
Adding things like chocolate chips, blueberries, or nuts will increase the batter’s volume, which might yield a few extra muffins.
Add-ins and Toppings
Some of my go to add ins for these muffins are:
- Chocolate chips
- frozen fruit (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries,)
- Lemon zest and poppy seeds
- Any kinds of nuts
Add these into the batter after you pour the dry ingredients into the wet. I use about 1/2 cup-3/4 cup.
For toppings I like to sprinkle coarse sugar over the tops before baking for an extra crunchy and sweet crust.
Storing and freezing
Store the muffins in a zip top bag with as much air squeezed out as possible or in and airtight container. They are best eaten on the first couple days.
They freeze well so follow the same rule above with the ziptop bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
Moist, Soft, and Simple Plain Muffins
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour, 360g
- 1 cup white sugar, 200g
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil, or other neutral oil
- 1/2 cup whole milk, can sub for other milk
- 1/2 cup greek yogurt
- 3 eggs, large
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup toppings (see note), optional
Equipment
- 1 whisk
- 1 Spatula
- 2 Medium Sized Bowls
- 12 Muffin liners
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a muffin tin with 12 liners.
- Take out 2 medium sized bowls. In one bowl, add the 3 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 3 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp kosher salt. Mix lightly with a whisk.
- In the second bowl, add the 4 tbsp butter and microwave for 30 seconds at a time until fully melted. Then add in the 1/2 cup oil, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup greek yogurt, 3 eggs, and 1 tbsp vanilla extract. Mix well with the whisk.
- All at once, add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Add in the toppings here too if using. Using a large spatula, lightly and gently fold in the flour taking care not to over mix or mix too hard. You want the flour to JUST mix in till there are no mare large streaks. The batter will be lumpy.
- Using an ice cream scoop for best accuracy, scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin. Add more toppings on top (coarse sugar or additional mix-ins).
- Bake for 7 minutes on 425, then lower the temperature to 350°F and continue to bake for another 13 minutes.
- Take the muffins out and let them cool for 5-10 minutes in the tin, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
Notes
- Chocolate Chips
- Frozen berries
- Lemon zest and poppyseed
