Quick and Easy Blueberry Muffins

My sister Regina sent me this blueberry muffin recipe a few years ago and I just made them today. I was looking for a blueberry muffin recipe that uses oil instead of butter and that's what this one uses. She said out of all the blueberry muffin recipes she's tried, this one is her favorite and the only one she makes now. She's made it with both fresh and frozen blueberries and said it comes out better with fresh ones. I used fresh blueberries and the muffins were delicious! They were also very easy to make. I made a double recipe so I can freeze them for easy weekday breakfasts. Mine took about 16 minutes to bake.

Quick and Easy Blueberry Muffins

Recipe courtesy Inspired Taste Blog

 

This easy blueberry muffin recipe is our most popular for a reason! It’s quick to make and yields muffins with a moist, tender center bursting with blueberries and a perfectly golden-brown top.

 

When measuring the flour for these muffins, either weigh it or use the “spoon and level” method: Fluff the flour, spoon it into the measuring cup, and level off the top with a flat edge.

 

1½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled

¾ cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for muffin tops

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

1/3 cup vegetable or olive oil

1 large egg

1/3 cup milk or non-dairy milk, use more as needed

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

6 to 8 ounces fresh or frozen blueberries, generous 1 cup

Preheat the oven to 400°. Line muffin cups with paper liners.

 

Lightly grease or spray the tops of the muffin tin with oil to prevent the tops from sticking. High-quality nonstick pans may not require this.

 

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

 

Choose a measuring jug that holds at least 1 cup. Add the oil to the jug, and then crack in the egg. Pour in enough milk to reach the 1-cup line on the jug (this should be about 1/3 cup of milk). Add the vanilla extract and whisk until everything is combined.

 

Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir gently until the batter comes together. Be careful not to overmix! The batter will be thick, see tips below.

 

Gently fold in the blueberries.

 

Divide the batter between muffin cups. Sprinkle a little sugar on top of each muffin.

 

Bake muffins 15 to 20 minutes or until tops are no longer wet and a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out with crumbs, not wet batter. Transfer to a cooling rack.

To store, place them in a plastic bag, seal, and store at room temperature for up to 3 days. To freeze, wrap them tightly in aluminum foil or place them in freezer bags. Freeze for up to 3 months.

 

Makes 12 standard size muffins.

 

NOTES:

Frozen blueberries: Add frozen blueberries while frozen, do not thaw.

Measuring your flour: Fluff the flour in its container, then gently scoop it into your measuring cup until slightly mounded. Level off the top with a knife for accurate measuring. For even more accuracy, use a scale and measure the flour by weight (in grams).

For mini muffins, the baking time will be less — keep an eye on them while they bake and expect them to take 9 to 11 minutes.

Batter thickness: The batter should be thick and “scoopable” — not runny and not dry or extra thick like dough. If the batter is too runny, add flour, a tablespoon at a time until correct consistency. If the batter is dry or too thick, add milk, a tablespoon at a time until the proper consistency.

Recipe inspired by Allrecipes blueberry muffins.

Fresh Peach Muffins with a Pecan Crumb Topping

A few days ago my sister Maria was talking about a peach muffin recipe that my niece Emma gave her. I had a few peaches in my fridge and wanted to give it a try so today I made it and they were so good! I didn't have pecans so I used walnuts, but pecans would definitely taste better. I would even omit the nuts in the crumb topping and it would still be good, or omit the crumb topping all together.

This recipe does require you to soften the butter, and you have to let the cut up peaches and sugar sit for 1 hour before making the batter, so you do have to plan ahead a little bit. I used 1.5 big peaches for this recipe.

The recipe is easy to make and I will definitely be making this one again!

Fresh Peach Muffins with a Pecan Crumb Topping

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse

 

MUFFINS:

2 cups finely chopped fresh or frozen peaches

1¼ cups sugar, divided

½ cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature

2 eggs

1½ cups milk

3½ cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

 

PECAN CRUMB TOPPING:

½ cup flour

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup ground pecans

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces

 

 

Preheat the oven to 400°. Lightly Grease 24 (2 3/4-inch by 1 3/8-inch) muffin cups.

 

Place the peaches in a bowl and cover with ½ cup of the sugar. Mix thoroughly. Allow the peaches to sit for 1 hour.

 

Using an electric mixer, fitted with a paddle, cream the butter and remaining ¾ cup of sugar until smooth and pale in color, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. In a mixing bowl, combine 3½ cups of the flour, baking powder, and salt. Remove the bowl from the mixer and alternately fold in the milk and flour mixture, being careful not to over mix. Fold in the peaches. Spoon ¼ cup of the filling into each prepared muffin cup.

 

In a small bowl, combine ½ cup flour, brown sugar, pecans, and cinnamon. Mix well. Add the butter. Using your hands, mix until the mixture resembles coarse crumb-like mixture. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the crumb mixture over each muffin cup.

 

Place in the oven and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with butter.

 

Yield: 24 muffins.

Giada's Nonna's Lemon Almond Ricotta Muffins

My sister Maria shares some great muffin recipes with me, and this Lemon Almond Ricotta Muffin one is no exception. I actually had saved this recipe myself before she told me that she makes them, but I hadn't tried them until recently. I love almond and lemon flavored baked goods, so I think these are amazing. I always keep a few fresh muffins out and individually wrap and freeze most of them to enjoy other days. Give them a try!

Nonna's Lemon Almond Ricotta Muffins

Recipe courtesy Giada de Laurentiis

 

These muffins are perfectly light and fluffy, with subtle flavors from almond and lemon. They make the house smell amazing, and it’s such a great bite with morning coffee.

 

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar or more as needed for sprinkling

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 Tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (from 2 lemons)

1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese

1 large egg

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

½ teaspoon almond extract

1/3 cup thinly sliced almonds

 

Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. Preheat the oven to 350°. 

 

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat 1 cup sugar, butter, and lemon zest in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the ricotta. Beat in the egg, lemon juice, and almond extract. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended (the batter will be thick and fluffy). 

 

Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle the almonds and then the remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar over the muffins. Bake until the muffins just become pale golden on top, about 20 minutes.

 

Cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 

Yield: 12 muffins.

Cinnamon Banana Bread Muffins

I wanted to share another muffin recipe from my sister Maria. This is a very simple banana muffin recipe that requires no mixer and uses ingredients I always have. One of my sons is very picky about food and does not like anything in his muffins, like blueberries or chocolate chips. My mom made these muffins for him a few times and he loved them. I've made them twice and even though they are plain, they are really good. I haven't put the cinnamon-sugar topping on them, but I'm sure that would make them taste even better!

Cinnamon Banana Bread Muffins

Recipe courtesy “Together as Family” Website

Cinnamon Banana Bread Muffins taste like banana bread in muffin form! They are perfectly light and moist, loaded with banana flavor, and bake up beautifully each time. Topped in butter and a sweet cinnamon crumble for the ultimate snack. All you need is one bowl and no mixer needed!

MUFFINS:

2/3 cup granulated sugar

½ cup vegetable or canola oil

2 large eggs

2/3 cup mashed banana (about 2 small bananas)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

CINNAMON & SUGAR TOPPING:

3 Tablespoons butter, melted

¼ cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 375°. Spray bottoms only of 12 regular-size muffin cups with cooking spray, or you can also use liners.

In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, oil, and eggs and stir with wire whisk. Add in bananas and vanilla; whisk until combined. 

Add in flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and stir together until just combined.

Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Each muffin cup will be almost to the top, about ¾ full.

Bake 17 to 21 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and muffins are high and rounded on top. The tops of the muffins should not look wet (that means they're not fully cooked).

Remove muffins from pan to a cooling rack. 

For the cinnamon & sugar topping: Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Put melted butter in a separate small bowl. Dip muffin tops into melted butter and then into cinnamon-sugar.

Serve warm or let cool completely.

Yield: 12 muffins.

Blueberry Muffins

I love muffins, and blueberry muffins are my absolute favorite. Add in some lemon zest and I'm in heaven. I have been craving blueberry muffins the past few days but I haven't made them in so long that I couldn't remember which recipe I like the best, so yesterday I asked my sister Maria what recipe she is using these days. She bakes a lot and muffins are one of her specialties. She sent me an easy Blueberry Muffin recipe that has simple ingredients and doesn't require using a mixer. Since we are in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic and avoiding going anywhere that is not completely necessary, I haven't been to Costco or the grocery store in a while. I've been using Peapod but they've been out of frozen blueberries. Last night my husband had to make a quick trip to the grocery store to get some bread and a few other things we were running low on, and picked up a small package of blueberries - just enough for this recipe. I'm glad I got the chance to try this recipe today. Not only was it super easy to make, but these muffins are incredibly delicious and they were exactly what I was craving!

Blueberry Muffins

Recipe courtesy “Beneath the Crust” Blog

1¾ cup flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon salt

6 Tablespoons butter (¾ stick)

½ cup milk

1 egg

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel (I never measure — just grab a lemon & zest rigorously. No way you’ll ever get too much zest from just one lemon) or 2 Tablespoons lemon juice

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (if frozen, don’t thaw)
 

Preheat oven to 400°. Prep your muffin tin, either greasing each cup or lining with paper muffin cups.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter until the mixture is pebbly with some larger chunks of butter the size of torn bread chunks. Not working the butter in too finely is key for making these more crumbly and scone-like. (I prefer to cut the butter into small cubes, dump it in, then use my hands to smoosh it into the flour mixture, but two knives, a pastry cutter, or even a stand mixer would work just fine).

In a liquid measuring cup, measure out the milk. Add the egg, lemon zest, and vanilla. Blend well (I use a fork).

Add milk mixture to dry ingredients. Mix (using a wooden spoon, sturdy spatula, or stand mixer) just until the flour is moistened.*

Stir in blueberries. Gently.

Dollop batter into muffin tin using two spoons. The batter will be stiff and should fill each cup about ½ to ¾ full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until fragrant and a delicious golden brown. Enjoy!

Yield: 12 muffins.

NOTE: *I find muffins do better without over mixing. A little bit of flour mixture at the bottom of the bowl is okay. The blueberries help bring everything together, and you can just distribute the leftover sugar mixture as you’re filling your muffin tin. It incorporates into the muffins just fine.

Fresh out of the oven!

Updated photos from August 2021:

Baking Pans Review

I started this review of baking pans several years ago and never posted it. I just sent my sister some of my older review posts and want to send her this one as well, so here it is!

Now that I reviewed my favorite Mixing Bowls, Measuring Cups & Spoons and Spatulas to bake with, it's time to talk baking pans. I have a lot of the Williams-Sonoma Goldtouch baking pans and love them. I will admit, I absolutely hate anything that is gold colored...except these! I also usually do not like nonstick kitchen items, but I find them easier to use when baking. I just don't cut baked goods while they are still in the pans to avoid scratching them.

Over the past several years, I started collecting my own bakeware so by the time I got married we didn't need any baking pans. These pans are expensive, so I used my Discover card reward points to get Williams-Sonoma gift cards and used those when I saw this bakeware on sale. They oftentimes go on sale for 20% off, and you can also find some of these items in the outlet stores. Williams-Sonoma also gives a generous 15% military discounts (in stores only).

Sheet Pans
The Half Sheet Pans are my biggest ones and the ones that gets used the most because I use them for cookies. I bought four of these so I can bake a lot of cookies at once. There are Cookie Sheets, but I did not buy those because I prefer to have sides on my pans when baking cookies. There is also now a Three-Quarter Sheet Pan that is larger than the ones I have, but I do not have these and am not sure if I would need them. I find the Half Sheet Pans to be big enough for my cookie baking. When I want to use a smaller pan, I have two Jelly Roll Pans. Sometimes I will use these for pizza, or when making french fries or anything else that does not require the larger pans. I recently purchased the Quarter-Sheet Pan Set of 2, which fits perfectly into the Breville Smart Oven Pro that we received as a wedding gift.

Muffin Pans
I don't bake muffins too often these days, but when I do I have two of each of the 12-Well Muffin Pans and 24-Well Mini Muffin Pans. I also recently purchased two of the 6-Well Muffin Pans to use in the Breville Smart Oven.

Cake Pans
Cake pans come in all shapes and sizes. I have two 9" Round Cake Pans, two 8" Square Cake Pans (perfect for baking brownies), and a 9"x13" Rectangular Cake Pan.

Loaf Pans
I also have two 1-Pound Loaf Pans, and a Set of 4 Mini Loaf Pans.

Shortcake Pans
Although this is no longer available, I also have two Shortcake Pans. These were the first Goldtouch pans that I bought and using them prompted me to buy a bunch more! The little indent in the top makes them great for shortcake and other similar recipes (like the extra batter for Mary Ann Cake with Mascarpone and Berries).

Cooling Rack
This is the only Goldtouch item that I don't particularly like, the Cooling Racks. I bought three of them to go with my half sheet pans to use when baking cookies. While they store well in those pans (and were intended to be used in them), they have scratched them up. They also tear up my kitchen towels when drying them. Recently I bought some of the Steel Cooling Racks, and I like those a lot more.

There are several other Goldtouch pans available, but that is the collection I have. I love baking with these pans. Below are a few other pans that I enjoy baking with from various other brands and stores.

Springform Pan
I have always loved baking cheesecakes, and the Kaiser La Forme Springform Pans are great. I have both the 9" and the 10" since some of my cheesecake recipes use different amounts of batter, and I found out the hard way that the 9" was too small for one of the recipes I make a lot! I also sometimes make more than one cheesecake for a party, so it has been helpful for me to have two pans. I also have a Set of 4 Kaiser La Forme Mini Springform Pans, and honestly have no idea why I bought them, since I have yet to use them! It seemed like a good idea at the time since cheesecake is so rich to make smaller ones and possibly freeze some, but I haven't had a chance to try it out yet.

Bundt Pans
I went through a phase of baking bundt cakes so I have a few different Bundt Pans - a heart shape one that is really pretty and (obviously) great for Valentine's Day and an Anniversary one that is great for any type of bundt cake. My sister Lisa also has the Heritage pan which I also always liked but do not have myself.

Angel Food Cake Pan
A few years ago I purchased two Angel Food Cake Pans that are really great for my Aunt Paulette's pound cake recipe and a coffee cake recipe that my family makes. I've also used them to make Chiffon Cake.

Madeleine Pan
I have two Madeleine Pans that I used once to make a delicious Honey Madeleine recipe and just never got around to making them again. These pans are small (take up little room to store) and very easy to clean.

Mary Ann Cake Pan / Charlotte Cake Pan
I don't know how I came across this pan, and I've only used it for one recipe that I've made a few times, but it was so delicious. This Mary Ann Cake Pan could definitely be used for other recipes. I also have a Charlotte Cake Pan that is very similar. These pans are great for making a cake that you can put a custard or other type of topping on, or fruit. They are very pretty and would also look nice with no topping on the cake.

Pizza Pans
After I got married, I purchased a bunch of pizza pans in various sizes that I thought were the same as the ones my mom has. It turns out they are not (even though they were from the same website she ordered hers from and had the same product number). They are a lot more thin and flimsy than hers are and I don't like them at all. So I recently tested out three 14-inch pizza pans - OXO Nonstick, USA Pan Nonstick, and Nordic Ware Traditional. I made three pizzas at the same time and baked each separately for the same amount of time so I could really compare the pans. The pizza completely stuck to the Nordic Ware pan, even after oiling the pan like I always do. The USA Pan worked fine, but I didn't like the nonstick coating on it. It just had a weird feel to me that I could not get used to. I liked the OXO pan the most and ended up returning the other two. The OXO pan is nice and heavy and seems like really good quality. It is pretty similar to all the Williams-Sonoma Goldtouch pans that I am used to using. I also purchased three more of the OXO pizza pans so now when I want to make pizza for my family I have a few nice pans to use!

Well, after re-reading this review that I wrote several years ago and updating it a bit, I realize how much I miss baking and wish I had more time to spend in the kitchen. Luckily, when I can get around to it, I have lots of great pans that are just waiting to be used!

Sour Cream Chip Muffins

It's been a long time since I've posted a recipe on here...a really long time. I had twin boys four months ago and haven't cooked or baked anything in a while, until today! My sister Maria recently made this Sour Cream Chip Muffin Recipe and sent a few of them to me. To be honest, I don't usually like chocolate chips in muffins (even though I love chocolate), so I wasn't expecting to like them that much. I usually prefer blueberry muffins. But, these were amazing! I've been wanting more ever since! She sent me the recipe and I had a short window of time today to make them. Luckily, this recipe is very simple - you don't even need a mixer for it. The only change to the original recipe I made is that I used mini chocolate chips and used less. I doubled the recipe so I could use all of my 16-ounce container of sour cream, and I'll individually wrap and freeze most of the two dozen muffins that I made so I can take them out of the freezer whenever I want one! If you love muffins or baking for others that do, give this recipe a try.

Sour Cream Chip Muffins

Recipe courtesy “Taste of Home” Website

1½ cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

¾ teaspoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

5 Tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
 

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Combine the egg, sour cream, butter and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

Yield: 1 dozen.