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 dreamy craggly 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, 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 tested a couple butter only versions, but they were too dense. 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 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 they peel off really nicely from the muffin liners- something my other attempts didn’t do!
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. 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. See the recipe card below for the ingredient list and method.
What makes them both soft and moist is the winning trifecta of baking with 3 types of fat—> 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!
How to make these muffins
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.
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.
Domed tops
Theres a baking trick to get bakery style muffins with that perfect round domed top. It’s starting off on a high temperature of 425°F for the first few minutes, and then finishing the baking at a lower temperature of 350°F for the rest of the bake time.
The high heat creates the initial roundness and the lower heat bakes the centers of the muffins.
Yield
Filling the muffin liners 3/4 of the way, this recipe makes 12 muffins. If you want to fill them to the top, (which you totally can!) you’ll end up with about 11 muffins instead.
Thats the only reason I suggest filling 3/4 of the way– to get more muffins.
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.
Debunking some muffin myths
Theres some muffin baking “rules” out there that I always see and I am sure you have heard about.
I want to address them because I have never found them to be true as a professionally trained baker.
1- Melted butter will scramble your eggs if not cooled– Honestly this is just ridiculous, especially if you are using a small amount of butter and a microwave. It may be true if you are cooking something over the stove top, like custards for example.
If you are melting just a bit in the microwave and then adding multiple eggs to it, theres no way this will happen.
So go ahead, be a rebel and DONT cool your butter before adding the eggs.
2- Filling only 3/4 of the way full – For muffins you actually want to fill to the top, especially if you are first baking on a high heat like this recipe. The high heat is what creates the rounded tops, and if you want them to be high, then you gotta fill all the way up.
Don’t worry about they overflowing- this caution is really more for cupcakes because they are only baked on one temperature.
Now you have all the tools needed to make the perfect base muffin recipe, I can’t wait to hear how you like them!
Moist, Soft, and Simple Plain Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil, or other neutral oil
- 1/4 cup whole milk, can sub for other milk
- 1/4 cup greek yogurt
- 2 eggs, large
- 2 tsp 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 2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/4 tsp kosher salt. Mix lightly with a whisk.
- In the second bowl, add the 4tbsp butter and microwave for 30 seconds at a time until fully melted. Then add in the 1/2 cup oil, 1/4 cup milk, 1/4 cup greek yogurt, 2 eggs, and 2 tsp vanilla extract. Mix well with the spatula.
- 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 6 minutes on 425, then lower the temperature to 350°F and continue to bake for another 14 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
