If you ever wished that your strawberry rhubarb muffins had more rhubarb and less strawberry, this rhubarb muffin recipe is for you! I came up with this variation because I was tired of the strawberry-rhubarb pairing. I wanted a muffin where the rhubarb shines!

This recipe for these rhubarb sour cream muffins is almost identical to the honey blueberry muffins I mentioned earlier, but with a few key differences:

1. I reduced the all-purpose flour by 60 grams (½ cup) in the batter and replaced it with the same portion of ground almonds, adding 50 grams (½ cup)
2. I used sour cream instead of buttermilk. Both are acidic ingredients commonly used in baking, but remember that cultured buttermilk has virtually no fat, while sour cream has 14 %, so sour cream leads to a rich, more tender muffin. I added 125 mL (½ cup) of sour cream, but you can use 80 mL (⅓ cup) of buttermilk if you prefer
3. I used slightly more fruit, by weight, to ensure there was enough rhubarb in almost every bite without making the batter too wet. If you want to make strawberry rhubarb muffins, replace half the weight of rhubarb with strawberries, and you can follow this recipe for strawberry rhubarb muffins with streusel topping

What You Need To Make Muffins With Rhubarb

This recipe is based on my formula for the best fruit muffins. Here's what you need to make muffins with rhubarb:

• flour mixed with ground almond to reduce the gluten protein in the recipe making a slightly denser, but also more tender muffin
• large eggs—don't use small eggs as the muffins may end up dry
• sugar—sometimes I use a little less, and other times, I may substitute a portion of sugar for liquid sugar, like honey
• butter—I prefer baking with butter, but if you must make a baking substitution here, use 80 mL (⅓ cup) of canola oil, for example. You could use up to 125 mL (½ cup) oil, but this might lead to a more delicate muffin. It all depends on what you are going for!
• sour cream—you could use buttermilk, but sour cream adds so much flavour and richness to the muffin batter. I'm obsessed!
• leavening—both baking powder and baking soda are the chemical leaveners I add to this muffin recipe. You need the baking soda in this recipe because these muffins have sour cream, an acidic ingredient in the recipe. The baking soda helps neutralize the acid so that the baking powder can do its job
• rhubarb—we are working with chopped rhubarb, fresh or frozen, but you can use a mix of strawberries and rhubarb to make these strawberry rhubarb muffins with streusel topping. Remember, too much fruit can lead to muffins that are wet, hard to eat, that may collapse when they cool, and that lack structure, falling apart easily.
• cinnamon—sometimes I add a little cinnamon to the streusel, sometimes I don't. It's optional and up to you, but I find the cinnamon is a nice touch!

Tip: Read about baking soda versus baking powder if you aren't sure what the difference is between them!

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

How To Make Rhubarb Streusel Muffins

For these sour cream muffins, we are using a two-bowl method, but with a twist: working the butter into the dry ingredients before adding the wet ingredients to create a tender muffin and prevent gluten from forming. Here's how you make these rhubarb streusel muffins:

Step 1—Make the streusel topping by first combining the flour, sugar, cinnamon (if using), and salt (image 1) until evenly mixed (image 2) before adding the melted butter (image 3). Stir until the mixture clumps and looks like wet sand (image 4)

Note: You can make the streusel without cinnamon or with a different spice (or blend of spices like pumpkin pie spices or apple pie spice blend). The colour of the streusel will be different depending on whether or not you add the spies to it.

Step 2—Set the streusel aside while you make the muffin batter, starting by whisking together the dry ingredients, including the sugar (image 5), before adding the chopped butter (image 6). Use your hands to work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles cornmeal (image 7).

Note: Not only have we reduced the all-purpose flour in the dry ingredients, but we also work the butter into the flour to reduce the gluten formation. Both these tricks create a lighter muffin.

Step 3—Whisk the eggs and wet ingredients separately (image 8) and then pour it over the bowl of dry ingredients and butter (image 9), then stir everything together with your whisk to make a thick batter (image 10).

Step 4—Toss the rhubarb pieces in a small amount of flour (less than a tablespoon is enough) to coat them all (image 11). The flour will anchor the pieces in the muffin batter (image 12).

Step 5—I prefer to bake my muffins in either paper or silicone liners in a regular muffin pan. Since this recipe only makes 8, I split the batter between two 6-cup pans using a large muffin scoop, topping each muffin with a generous amount of streusel, pressing it into the top gently to anchor it (image 13). Bake until puffed, golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean (image 14).

Making Muffins Less Tough

To bake cakes and muffins that are more tender:

• Use a flour (or blend of flours) with a lower protein content, like cake flour or a combination of all-purpose with cornstarch (a common baking substitution) or ground nuts. In this case, I opted for the latter combination with ground almonds to create a light, tasty muffin.
• Work the fat into the flour before adding the liquids. This way, you reduce the likelihood that gluten will form when the flour is combined with the wet ingredients. Remember, gluten is a network of proteins that assembles into a structure with water that is elastic and strong, and gluten is what makes baked goods tougher.

These two tricks contribute to making these muffins light, moist, and slightly dense (in a good way!).

Muffin Baking Tips For Big Muffins

The secret to bigger muffins is simple: scoop more batter per muffin cup! So while you could easily make 10 or even 12 regular or small-sized muffins with the recipe below, this time, I opted to divide the batter between 8 muffin cups to yield big, bakery-style muffins with impressive muffin tops. 

I tested if the muffins would bake more evenly, leaving a few empty muffin cups in each pan. I baked a batch of 8 big muffins split between two pans. One may assume less muffins per pan would allow for more air circulation and for the pan to heat up more evenly underneath and faster, I noticed no difference whether I filled a 6-cup pan with the batter for six muffins or 4, except that with less muffins in the pan, they were easier to unmould because it was less likely for the tops to bake into each other, fusing the edges of the tops.

Some fill empty muffin cups with water, but I don't think this is necessary either. The water would slow the heating of the muffin cups and perhaps even out the heat, but I haven't noticed any significant difference with water. That being said, if you have a preferred method for evenly baking muffins, I'm all ears! Let me know in the comments!

These big rhubarb muffins with sour cream and streusel are perfect, if you ask me: super moist, super flavourful, with a lovely texture that isn't too heavy, nor too light. This recipe yields hefty bakery-style muffins, but feel free to divide the batter to make more "smaller" muffins and just reduce the baking time accordingly. A smaller rhubarb muffin would take about 20 minutes to bake through at such a high temperature, so you'll need to keep an eye on them.

Remember, regardless of the size of the muffins you are baking, make sure to check that they are done baking before taking the pan out of the oven. Nobody likes a gummy, under-baked muffin.

More Rhubarb Recipes

You have to take advantage of the local rhubarb when it's in season. Here are some of my favourite rhubarb recipes:

If you tried this recipe for the best rhubarb muffins (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Rhubarb Muffins with Sour Cream and Streusel Topping

This easy recipe for rhubarb muffins is made with sour cream and has a sweet streusel crumbled on top for the perfect spring-summer muffin. These big rhubarb muffins are tender, moist, and have a cake-like texture that is perfect. 

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 43 minutes minutes

Servings 8 big muffins

Calories 431kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Muffin pan
• OXO balloon whisk
• 3-¼ oz scoop
• Cake tester

Ingredients

For the streusel topping

• 20 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 20 grams ground almonds
• 20 grams granulated sugar or brown sugar
• 5 mL ground cinnamon optional
• 1 pinch Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 20 grams unsalted butter melted

For the muffin batter

• 200 grams granulated sugar
• 190 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 50 grams ground almonds
• 2.5 mL baking soda
• 2.5 mL baking powder
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 115 grams unsalted butter room temperature, cut into small pieces
• 125 mL sour cream (14% fat)
• 2 large egg(s)
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 225 grams fresh rhubarb washed and trimmed, and cut into ½-inch pieces, or you can use frozen! OR use half rhubarb, half chopped strawberries
• 8 grams bleached all-purpose flour

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 425 ºF (220 °C). Line two muffin pans with 8 to 10 muffin paper liners being sure to space them out between the two pans to allow better air flow.

Make the streusel topping

• In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, ground almond, sugar, salt, and cinnamon (if using).
• Add the melted butter and stir it in with a fork until the mixture forms a crumble.
• Cover and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.

Make the muffin batter

• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, ground almond, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• Add the softened butter and work it in with your hands, rubbing it in until the mixture resembles coarse sand.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla.
• Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir it in (takes about 20 stirs to get the batter mixed).
• When the batter is ready, in a medium bowl, toss the rhubarb with the 8 grams (1 tbsp) of flour. Stir so that the the fruit pieces are evenly coated with flour.
• Fold them into the batter gently with a wooden spoon or spatula to evenly distribute them.
• Divide the batter between 8 to 10 paper-lined wells of two muffin pans. If you want big muffins, you'll need 8, if you want regular-sized muffins, you'll need 10. Sprinkle with streusel.
• Bake at 425°F (220 °C) for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven to 350 °F (175 °C) to continue baking the muffins until the edges are golden brown and the texture is set. Use a cake tester inserted into the middle of a muffin to check if the muffins are baked. If you are baking 8 muffins, it will take an additional 10–15 minutes to bake them completely, if not more.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• The cinnamon in the streusel is optional. Sometimes I use it, sometimes I don't. You can also replace it with pumpkin pie spices, apple pie spice blend, or any warm spices. Cardamom could also work really nicely!
• Sour cream can be replaced with Greek yogurt (preferably with 9 or 10 % fat to mimic the fat content of full-fat sour cream).
• Take time to pile on the streusel and press it gently into the batter to cover the surface of the muffin
• Different baking methods yield different muffin tops:
  • For a “regular” muffin top: bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes.
  • For a “domed” muffin top: bake at 425°F for 10 minutes, then drop the temperature setting to 350°F for the last 10 to 15 minutes.
  • For a “puffy” muffin top: refrigerate the batter overnight, then scoop it into 8 to 10 muffin paper-lined wells of a muffin pan, sprinkle with streusel topping, and bake them at 350°F for about 30 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 431kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 85mg | Sodium: 244mg | Potassium: 175mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 607IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 90mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Rhubarb Muffins With Sour Cream And Streusel appeared first on The Bake School.

These savoury cornbread muffins are excellent, if I may say so myself. Seriously though, they are moist, full of corn flavour, cheddar cheese and spicy hits of red chilli. Plus they are easy.

Savoury muffins are a staple in my house. They make fun snacks and can serve as breakfast or even a side dish at dinner, instead of a bread bun! If you like savoury muffins, be sure to check out these pizza muffins and these olive muffins.

What's in them

I like to make cornbread muffins with a combination of cornmeal (polenta) and all-purpose flour. This way, the flour provides a little extra structure for the cornbread so that they are less prone to crumbling or falling apart.

• buttermilk (1 % fat)—providing acidity for the baking soda to react, but also tenderness and moisture so the muffins aren't dry
• butter—either unsalted or salted butter will work here and these muffins can handle the extra salt that salted butter will provide
• eggs—use large eggs. Small or medium eggs may lead to a dryer muffin.
• honey—I like to add honey to cornbread to add a little sweetness
• bleached all-purpose flour—unbleached should also work here. The flour holds the muffins together better, improving texture
• fine cornmeal—don't use cornmeal that is too coarse or gritty because the texture will be crunchier
• chemical leaveners, both baking powder and baking soda. Read up on baking powder versus baking soda if you aren't sure about the difference.
• salt to enhance the flavour but also because these are savoury muffins! I use Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt, which is less salty than table salt. You may use less salt if using regular table salt
• jalapeño peppers, green or red, or red chilli peppers
• shredded cheddar cheese or an equivalent, like Monterey Jack. I've also done a combination of cheddar and parmesan to add more flavour.

See recipe card for quantities.

Substitutions

There are a few places in this savoury muffin recipe where you can make some substitutions:

• buttermilk—to replace the buttermilk, use the same volume of milk, adding in 15 mL (1 tablespoon) of vinegar (white or cider vinegar), or you can dilute some full-fat sour cream or plain unsweetened yogurt with milk. Replace cup-for-cup
• butter—I prefer the taste of butter, but you can replace it with the same amount of canola oil or mild olive oil, cup-for-cup
• jalapeño peppers—if you can't find jalapeños, use another hot pepper, like serrano peppers or red chilli peppers. Remember the spicier the pepper, the spicier the muffin will be! You could also replace the fresh jalapeño with dried red pepper flakes. Use less though! Another option could be to use pickled jalapeño peppers (sold in cans or jars). Just drain them and pat dry before using.
• cheddar cheese—I have made these muffins with aged cheddar, mild cheddar (like marble cheddar), and even a combination of parmesan and cheddar to add more flavour. You can use Monterey jack or even shredded smoked gouda would be great!

Tricks for making moist cornbread

Use buttermilk, which makes cornbread more moist and tender, and adds a subtle tangy flavour. The acidity of buttermilk can reduce the browning of your cornbread, leading to pale-looking muffins. I like mine to have golden brown edges, so I added a little baking soda to increase the browning on the edges of these cornbread muffins. The cheese also contributes to browning and tenderness.

Types of cheese

The cheese you add to these spicy cornbread muffins is a matter of personal preference and feel free to use whatever you have on hand. I opted for cheddar cheese, but sometimes I use a combination of cheeses, like cheddar which melts well, and parmesan, which adds a lot of salty flavour.

Monterey Jack or pepper jack would be perfect in these muffins too, but where I live, it's not as common to find either of these cheeses, unfortunately.

Special equipment

• Muffin pans: for regular muffins, you can't get away without a muffin pan. And if you can, please invest in two 6-cup muffin pans (like this Wilton pan on Amazon) or one bigger 12-cup muffin pan (like these Wilton pans on Amazon). This way you will be ready to make full batches of most recipes, which can yield anywhere from 8 to 12 muffins, depending on how much batter you scoop per cup. 
• Paper liners, parchment liners, silicone liners: we can debate over which is better for muffins, but personally, I like disposable paper liners (like these on Amazon that you would use for cupcakes too). For lower-fat muffins or muffins with less sugar, these can stick to paper liners. In this case, use parchment liners (Amazon) or silicone liners (Amazon). Savoury muffins, for example, work best baked in either of these.
• Large cookie scoops: Some call them "dishers" and they are the most reliable scoops I've found on Amazon. They can handle firm doughs without breaking because the release mechanism is separate from the handle! This gives you a better, firm grip on the handle, without the risk of breaking the leaver. The handles are different colours according to the size. 
• Cake tester and/or instant-read thermometer: if you bake a lot, you can probably gently poke muffins with your fingertip and instinctively know when they are done baking. The rest of us have to use a cake tester or thermometer to check if the muffins are done baking.

How to make cheesy cornbread muffins

For most muffins, you use the two-bowl mixing method, meaning the wet ingredients are stirred in one bowl and the dry ingredients are stirred in another bowl, then the two components are mixed together. It's the easiest way to make batter, and a very similar process to cake mix recipes.

Combine the wet ingredients in a medium bowl or a large measuring cup with a pouring spout

Use a whisk to break up the eggs to make sure the buttermilk mixture is well-mixed.

Prepare the jalapeños by seeding and dicing two of them to incorporate in the batter, slicing the other two into thin rounds for garnishing.

Use a Danish dough whisk to whisk the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Mix the shredded cheese and diced jalapeños with the dry ingredients.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and the cooled melted butter.

Stir to form a thick batter.

Scoop the muffin batter into greased muffin pans. I like to use a large disher for this task.

Garnished cornbread muffins before baking.

Bake the buttermilk cornbread muffins in a 350 °F until golden brown and set.

Variations

These buttermilk cornbread muffins are very versatile. If you don't like cheese and jalapeño, don't add them. You can instead incorporate and feature other flavours and ingredients:

• Salty-sweet—incorporate diced Bell pepper and goat cheese
• Corn—incorporate corn kernels (either cut off of leftover BBQ corn on the cob, canned, or defrosted corn, being sure to blot away and remove as much moisture as possible before incorporating)
• Bacon or chorizo—add chopped cooked bacon or chorizo or even cooked sausage

What to serve these with

I love to eat these muffins smeared with butter and drizzled in honey for a salty-sweet snack. They also make a great side dish to serve with chilli or stews in the fall and winter months.

You can also serve these buttermilk cornbread muffins with grilled meats and BBQ in the summertime.

Storage

You can store these cornbread muffins for 1–2 days in an airtight container. Savoury muffins are more prone to drying out because they don't have the sugar in them to retain/absorb moisture. For this reason, I prefer to freeze them when they are freshly baked and cooled.

Remember to fully cool the muffins to room temperature (for 3–4 hours) before transferring them to an airtight container or freezer bag for long-term storage (1–2 months). To defrost one muffin, simply microwave for 30 seconds from frozen. This works well and makes a fluffy, hot muffin that's as good as when they were freshly baked, if not better!

Other savoury baking recipes to try

If you like savoury baking, try these pizza muffins, cheesy cheddar biscuits or savoury olive muffins.

Frequently asked questions

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Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread Muffins

Spicy jalapeño cheddar cornbread muffins make a great snack but also make a great option if you are looking for what to serve with chilli 

Course Snack

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 10

Calories 244kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Muffin pan
• 3-¼ oz scoop
• OXO balloon whisk
• Box grater

Ingredients

• 250 mL buttermilk (1 % fat) room temperature
• 2 large egg(s) room temperature
• 40 grams honey
• 125 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 160 grams fine cornmeal
• 10 mL baking powder
• 1.25 mL baking soda
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 2 jalapeño peppers finely chopped
• 120 grams shredded cheddar cheese plus extra for garnishing
• 57 grams unsalted butter melted
• 1 jalapeño peppers cut into little rings for garnish

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (175 °C) and grease a 12-cup muffin pan. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl with a spout (or large liquid cup measurer), whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, and honey. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder/soda, and salt.
• Add the diced jalapeño peppers and the shredded cheese to the bowl with the dry ingredient and stir them together.
• Pour the wet ingredients and the melted butter into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir (or whisk) them together til the batter is smooth.
• Divide the batter among the greased muffin pans and top with a sprinkling of grated cheese and a ring or two of hot pepper.
• Bake for about 20 minutes.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!

Nutrition

Calories: 244kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 60mg | Sodium: 258mg | Potassium: 268mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 481IU | Vitamin C: 19mg | Calcium: 169mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread Muffins appeared first on The Bake School.

Red currants are definitely more common in European countries than in North America. The season is short and currants hit the market stands in July. Currants are tart and can vary in colour: there are white currants, red currants, and even black currants (known as cassis in French).

You can add currants to jams (like this strawberry and red currant jam), muffins (like in the red currant muffin recipe below), and even cakes (like in this simple blackcurrant cake). If you'd like to see more ideas, read about baking with fresh currants.

Ingredients to Make Vanilla Muffins with Red Currants

The red currants season is short and will inevitably require a special trip to your local market to get your hands on some. But otherwise, you will need mostly pantry and fridge staples:

• butter, preferably unsalted though salted butter will also work. You will omit the salt in the muffin batter if you choose to bake with salted butter.
• granulated sugar—brown sugar could work but choose light brown sugar to avoid overpowering
• large eggs—don't use smaller eggs because your batter may be too dry and the muffins won't be tender
• milk—using full-fat milk (3.25 % fat) will give the muffins a soft, tender texture
• vanilla extract is added to enhance the flavour in the batter—feel free to use store-bought or homemade vanilla extract!
• all-purpose flour (or half all-purpose and half whole wheat flour) is needed to bind all the ingredients together and give the muffins more structure
• leavening agents—baking powder is used, without baking soda since the muffins are made with plain milk Read up on baking soda vs baking powder if you are unsure about the difference between them
• salt is really important to bring out the sweet vanilla flavour which can get lost. Don't skip it. I like to use Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt, but table salt will work, though the muffins will be saltier and you may want to halve the salt in that case.
• fresh red currants–fresh red currant berries are stripped and separated from the stems and branches. Make sure to rinse them and blot them dry with a clean towel or paper towel.
• sliced almonds

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Fresh Currants Versus Dried Currants

Red currants (or white/black currants) are not the same as dried currants and if you dried a bunch of red currants, you would not have dried currants like what you buy in stores. Dried currants come from small grapes known as Corinthian grapes (raisins de Corinthe in French). And these tiny grapes are dried to form what is called dried currants, just like regular grapes are dried into raisins.

Dried currants are used in recipes for light fruitcake and homemade mincemeat for mincemeat tarts.

Substitutions and Variations

• Butter: if you'd prefer to make these muffins without butter, you can replace it with 125 mL (½ cup) of canola oil, mixing the oil with the liquids.
• Sugar: you can make these muffins with white sugar or light brown sugar.
• Nuts: I topped the muffins with sliced almonds, but you could also top them with chopped pecans or walnuts. You could also sneak in a little almond extract in the batter!
• Nut-free: if you want to make these muffins without nuts, omit the sliced almonds in the topping or replace them with the same amount of pumpkin seeds.
• Berries: these muffins will work with wild blueberries as well if you prefer. Replace them cup-for-cup
• Orange: if you'd like orange-flavoured red currant muffins, incorporate the zest of an orange in the muffin batter.
• White chocolate: berries and white chocolate make such a great pairing! Feel free to add 125–250 mL (½–1 cup) of white chocolate chips to the batter when you fold in the fruit.

How to Make Muffins With Red Currants

The mixing method I used for this muffin recipe is the reversed creaming method. All the dry ingredients and the sugar are whisked together, then the softened butter is worked into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles sand. At that point, you add the wet ingredients (which are already mixed together before adding them to the dry mixture).

I prefer this method over the muffin method or the two-bowl method for two reasons:

1. I like to bake my muffins with butter, but incorporating the melted butter with the cold wet ingredients makes it clump and then it doesn't incorporate evenly into the muffin batter in the end.
2. You could first incorporate wet and dry ingredients, then stir in the melted butter into the muffin batter, but for this, I find that adds too many steps and it can be hard to incorporate a liquid fat properly in an already mixed batter, which leads to more mixing, which isn't ideal!
3. I don't want to use any small electric appliance for muffins, so the creaming method is out: muffins should be easy! 

This is the easiest way I've found to bake muffins with butter and to incorporate the butter easily. This method works great! Try it!

Step 1: start by making the crumble topping by creaming the butter and sugar together (image 1) before adding the flour (image 2). I find it easier to mix the topping by hand with my fingertips until the mixture forms a crumbly sugar cookie dough (image 3). Set aside for later.

Note: this sweet crumble topping will melt onto the tops of the muffins as they bake, creating a delicious crunchy muffin top that we all love!

Step 2: Whisk together the wet ingredients (milk, eggs, and vanilla) (image 4). In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (image 5) before adding in the cubed butter (image 6) and working it in until the mixture resembles coarse sand (image 7).

Step 3: Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients (image 8), then mix it in to form a thick batter (image 9). I like to use a Danish dough whisk for muffin batters.

Step 4: Coat the red currants in flour (image 10) before folding them into the thick vanilla muffin batter (image 11).

Step 5: Use a disher to scoop the muffin batter (image 12) into paper-lined muffin pans (image 13).

Step 6: Top each muffin with a generous amount of the sugar crumble topping and sliced almonds (image 14) then bake them on the middle rack until puffed and golden (image 15).

Tip: Use a cake tester to check that the muffins are baked in the middle before taking them out of the oven.

Fruit Muffin FAQs

Other Fruit Muffins to Try

If you need more fruit muffin inspiration, try these honey blueberry muffins, rhubarb muffins, or these plum coffee cake muffins. And if it's not summer, my go-to recipe is for these date bran muffins, which are my all-time favourite muffin, even if it's not really cool.

If you tried this recipe for the best red currant muffins (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Red Currant Muffins

Homemade red currant muffins made with fresh red currants. The berries are nice and tart, which makes a lovely flavor contrast to these sweet, buttery muffins. These muffins have a lovely light texture. 

Course Snack

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 316kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Muffin pan
• Danish dough whisk
• 3-¼ oz scoop
• Cake tester

Ingredients

Sugar paste

• 42 grams unsalted butter
• 50 grams granulated sugar
• 40 grams bleached all-purpose flour

Red currant muffins

• 250 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 250 grams granulated sugar
• 10 mL baking powder
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 115 grams unsalted butter room temperature, cut into rough chunks
• 125 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat)
• 2 large egg(s)
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 250 grams red currants tossed in 1 tablespoon of flour to evenly coat the berries
• 15 grams sliced almonds

Metric - US

Instructions

Sugar paste

• In a small bowl, using a wooden spoon, combine the butter, sugar, and flour until it forms a thick paste. Set aside.

Red currant muffins

• Preheat the oven to 375 °F (190 °C). Prepare two 6-cup muffin pans by lining each well with a paper liner. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together all the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
• Add the butter to the bowl with the dry ingredients and work it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, and vanilla, then pour that mixture over the dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon just to combine.
• Gently fold in the red currants.
• Divide the batter between the 12 muffin cups.
• Top each muffin with sliced almonds and chunks of the sugar paste. Bake them for 25 to 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
• Cool on a wire rack.

Video

Notes

• Fresh red currants have to be stripped and separated from the stems and branches. It's a pain and I haven't figured out an efficient way of doing it, honestly, beyond just plucking the berries off the stems.
• Substitutions and variations:
  • This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
  • Butter: if you'd prefer to make these muffins without butter, you can replace it with 125 mL (½ cup) of canola oil, mixing the oil with the liquids.
  • Sugar: you can make these muffins with white sugar or light brown sugar.
  • Nut-free: if you want to make these muffins without nuts, omit the sliced almonds in the topping or replace them with the same amount of pumpkin seeds.
  • Berries: these muffins will work with wild blueberries as well if you prefer. Replace them cup-for-cup
  • Orange: if you'd like orange-flavoured red currant muffins, incorporate the zest of an orange in the muffin batter.
  • White chocolate: berries and white chocolate make such a great pairing! Feel free to add 125–250 mL (½–1 cup) of white chocolate chips to the batter when you fold in the fruit.
• Storage: I suggest freezing the muffins once they've cooled down completely to room temperature. They freeze really well! Freeze them in the muffin trays or on a sheet pan until frozen solid, then transfer them to a freezer bag to store for up to 2 months.
• Defrosting: I prefer to defrost individual muffins in the microwave—it takes about 30 seconds (more or less depending on your microwave)

Nutrition

Calories: 316kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 57mg | Sodium: 117mg | Potassium: 207mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 393IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 71mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Red Currant Muffins appeared first on The Bake School.

Cranberries go well with citrus fruit, especially in orange-flavoured and lemon-flavoured baked goods. This moist orange cranberry bundt cake is the inspiration for these lemon muffins with cranberries folded into the batter before baking.

For this muffin recipe, we are using the reverse creaming method, which is a popular mixing method in baking to make moist cakes and muffins.

What you need to make lemon muffins

The beauty of muffin recipes is that they require just a few ingredients and you probably have most on hand. Here's what you need to make these cranberry lemon muffins:

• Flour—all-purpose is ideal, or you can try a mixture of whole wheat and all-purpose, but this will affect the texture a little.
• Sugar—granulated sugar preferably because the flavour of brown sugar will interfere with the delicate taste of lemon in these muffins
• Leavening agents—specifically both chemical leaveners, baking powder and baking soda
• Salt—fine kosher salt like Diamond Crystal is what I use. If you use a different salt that has more or less sodium per gram, you will likely have to adjust the quantities so the muffins aren't overly salty or under-salted
• Butter—either salted or unsalted will work, though if your salted butter has a lot of salt in it, you may have to adjust the salt in the recipe
• Eggs—use large eggs preferably because smaller eggs may lead to dryer muffins
• Sour cream, preferably full-fat (14 % fat) otherwise the muffins may be dry
• Vanilla extract to enhance the sweetness and the flavour of the muffins
• Lemon juice and lemon zest to add as much lemon flavour as possible
• Cranberries—fresh or frozen will work here. If using frozen, incorporate them into the batter when still frozen. Dried cranberries also work!
• Icing sugar—to make the glaze

See recipe card for quantities.

Tip: read about baking soda versus baking powder if you aren't sure what the difference is between them!

Substitutions and variations

• Cranberries—fresh or frozen will work here. If using frozen, incorporate them into the batter when still frozen. Dried cranberries also work!
• Sour cream—full-fat greek yogurt can also work in this recipe
• Chocolate—add white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate to the muffin batter

Key steps to make cranberry lemon muffins

The zest is combined with the sugar.

Rub the zest into the sugar to draw out the lemon oil and other flavour compounds. This is the secret to making flavourful lemon baked goods!

For the reverse creaming method, the dry ingredients, sugar and butter are worked together to form a coarse crumbly mixture.

The mixture of liquids are added to the bowl of dry ingredients.

The wet and dry ingredients are combined with a wooden spoon.

The batter will be quite thick!

Add fresh or frozen cranberries to the lemon muffin batter.

Stir them in with a wooden spoon, just until they are evenly dispersed.

Pans, muffin liners, and special tools

I baked these muffins in two 6-cup muffin pans. You can also use one 12-cup pan if you have it! Makes it faster and easier to get all the muffins in and out of the oven at once.

For this recipe, regular paper liners work great (same as for cupcakes), or you can also opt to use silicone liners. I don't recommend parchment liners because the muffins won't stick to the parchment liners, which will fall right off.

If you would prefer to bake without any liners, I recommend using cooking spray to grease the wells of your muffin pans.

For scooping the muffin batter, I recommend using two spoons or a large disher.

Adding lemon flavour to muffins with a glaze

A great way to add lemon flavour to a lemon muffin or cake is to glaze it after baking. Even a simple powdered sugar glaze made from lemon juice can have a huge impact on the flavour of the muffin, bringing that acidity that the lemon zest lacks. This works especially well on muffin tops. Of course, the unglazed stump won't have that lemony hit, but the glaze still helps bring out the flavour.

You can also brush the surface of cakes with a lemon simple syrup, which again, will help bring some of that acidity to a layer cake.

This muffin recipe makes a thick batter, which helps contribute to the dome of the muffin top, which rises up instead of spreading out as they bake. That's how you make the best muffins!

Storage

You can store these moist lemon muffins for 3–4 days in an airtight container, but I prefer to freeze them.

Remember to fully cool the muffins to room temperature (for 3–4 hours) before transferring them to an airtight container or freezer bag for long-term storage (1–2 months). Freeze the muffins before glazing for the best results. Then ice them before serving.

Serving suggestions

Serve these glazed lemon muffins plain or you can also make some homemade lemon curd to enjoy with them!

Other muffin recipes to try

If you like to bake muffins on Sunday to have during the week, here are some other muffin recipes to try:

Frequently asked questions

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Cranberry Lemon Muffins

This easy recipe for cranberry lemon muffins is made with sour cream and has a lemon glaze on top to boost the lemon flavour. These cranberry muffins are tender, moist, and have a cake-like texture that is perfect. 

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 23 minutes minutes

Total Time 43 minutes minutes

Servings 10 muffins

Calories 339kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Muffin pan
• OXO balloon whisk
• 3-¼ oz scoop
• Cake tester

Ingredients

For the muffin batter

• 200 grams granulated sugar
• 30 mL finely grated lemon zest
• 250 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 2.5 mL baking soda
• 2.5 mL baking powder
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 115 grams unsalted butter room temperature, cut into small pieces
• 125 mL sour cream (14% fat)
• 30 mL fresh lemon juice
• 2 large egg(s)
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 100 grams fresh cranberries or frozen

For the lemon glaze

• 125 grams icing sugar
• 30 mL fresh lemon juice

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 425 °F (220 °C). Line two 6-cup muffin pans with 10 muffin paper liners being sure to space them out between the two pans to allow better air flow.

Make the muffin batter

• In a large bowl, combine the granulated sugar and lemon zest. Using your fingertips, rub the ingredients together. This will help bring out the oils in the zest, adding more flavour.
• Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• Add the cubes of softened butter and work it in with your hands, rubbing it in until the mixture resembles coarse sand.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, lemon juice, eggs, and vanilla.
• Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir it in (takes about 20 stirs to get the batter mixed).
• Fold the cranberries into the batter gently with a wooden spoon or spatula to evenly distribute them.
• Divide the batter between the 10 paper-lined wells of the two muffin pans.
• Bake at 425°F for 8 minutes, then drop the temperature to 350 ºF and continue baking until a cake tester inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean to check if the muffins are baked. This takes about 15 minutes more and the edges start to turn golden.
• Let cool slightly in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the glaze

• Whisk together the ingredients of the glaze and drizzle the tops of the muffins with it. The glaze should be very thick so that it doesn't all run off. Make sure the muffins have cooled down fully before glazing or the heat will cause the glaze to run off.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• For a “puffy” muffin top: refrigerate the batter overnight, then scoop the batter into 8 to 10 muffin paper-lined wells of a muffin pan, sprinkle with streusel topping, and bake them at 350 °F for about 30 minutes.
• For a more fluffy, caky muffin, you can increase the sour cream in the recipe, from 125 mL (½ cup) to 170 mL (⅔ cup) but the muffin top won't be as tall.

Nutrition

Calories: 339kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 64mg | Sodium: 190mg | Potassium: 92mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 33g | Vitamin A: 413IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 37mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Cranberry Lemon Muffins appeared first on The Bake School.

You can take any banana bread recipe and turn it into muffin, baking the batter in muffin pans instead of a loaf cake pan. One banana bread loaf cake will yield about to 12 muffins.

For this gluten-free recipe, we are making banana muffins with oat flour instead of all-purpose. Remember that you can buy oat flour but you can also make it by grinding rolled oats (large flake oats) into a flour in the food processor. This works quite well! You will find more information about this below. And if you’d rather make cookies with your bananas, try these banana oatmeal cookies loaded with toasted nuts and chocolate chips.

Making banana muffins with oats

Ingredients and formula

Banana muffins are made from the same ingredients and follow the same formula as basic banana bread: 115 grams (½ cup) fat (either butter or oil) + 200 grams (1 cup) sugar + 2 large eggs + 2 or 3 mashed bananas + (190–250 grams) 1-½–2 cups all-purpose flour + 1–2 teaspoon chemical leavener + ½ teaspoon salt.

These banana muffins follow that same formula, but with a few changes:

1. For the fat, we are using softened butter because the flavour of butter is better than the flavour of a neutral oil, which doesn't lend any flavour at all. Unsalted or salted works here.
2. For the sugar, we are using dark brown sugar instead of white sugar. Dark brown sugar gives these muffins a richer flavour and a more tender texture.
3. For the flour, we are using oat flour instead of all-purpose flour, which makes these muffins gluten-free and also gives them a very tender, melt-in-your-mouth quality.
4. For the chemical leavener, we are using baking powder because we aren't dealing with any overly acidic baking ingredients here. Sure, ripe bananas are a little acidic, but nowhere near as acidic as sour cream or buttermilk, for example. Baking soda would lead to a lot of browning and a different flavour, while baking powder wouldn't have as much of an impact on flavour or appearance.

How to make oat flour from oats

The recipe for these banana muffins with oats is based on this banana bread without baking soda. The all-purpose flour was simply replaced with oat flour, weight for weight. Oat flour makes these gluten-free banana muffins very tender with a moist crumb.

You can buy oat flour at health food stores and some bulk bin stores. But if you can't find it, you can easily make it in a food processor from oats.

Remember that the conversion from weight to volume or grams to cups for oat flour isn't the same as for oats. This baking conversions chart will help you convert volumes to weights or vice versa.

This recipe calls for 250 grams (2 cups) of oat flour, but 2 cups of large oats only weighs 190 grams. You will actually need to process 2-⅔ cups (250 grams) of large flake oats (or perhaps a little more just to be safe) to get the right volume/weight of oat flour for this recipe.

To make oat flour, I recommend using old-fashioned oats or large flake oats. Do not use minute oats or steel-cut oats. These will yield a different texture and also have a different capacity to absorb water. Minute oats and steel-cut oats are not good baking substitutions in this recipe.

Mixing method for muffins

The muffins are made using the reverse creaming mixing method, which I prefer for fruit muffins. For this method, the dry ingredients, leaveners, salt, and sugar are mixed together in a big bowl, and then the butter is worked into that mixture to form a crumbly mixture resembling coarse wet sand. Then you stir in the liquids.

The reverse creaming method is very similar to the traditional two-bowl muffin method, except in the recipe below, the fat is worked into the dry ingredients.

Making the crumble topping

To make the crumble topping, I reserved a portion of that mixture for later, before adding in the liquid ingredients. This method worked well and allows you to make the crumble topping at the same time as the muffins, speeding up the process and dirtying fewer dishes!

Now go forth and make these banana muffins with oats with the easy recipe below!

Storage

Muffins freeze well once baked. Just let them cool completely, then freeze solid on a sheet pan before you transfer them to an airtight freezer bag to store for a couple of months.

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Banana Muffins With Oats

These banana muffins are made with oat flour and oats, which makes a tender muffin that is also gluten-free!

Course Snack

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 351kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• OXO balloon whisk
• GIR spatula
• Muffin pan

Ingredients

• 250 grams oat flour or all-purpose flour
• 200 grams dark brown sugar
• 65 grams rolled oats (or large flake oats)
• 10 mL baking powder
• 5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 5 mL ground cinnamon
• 175 grams unsalted butter cut into cubes and softened at room temperature
• 2 large egg(s) room temperature
• 330 grams mashed banana roughly 3 ripe bananas, approximately 450 grams with peel
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 130 grams pitted dates chopped, or use the same weight of chocolate chips, raisins, chopped nuts, etc.
• 30 mL rolled oats (or large flake oats) more or less because this is a garnish

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375 °F (190 °C). Line two 6-cup muffin pans with paper liners to make 12 muffins. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, oats, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
• Add the butter, and work it into the dry ingredients to form a crumbly mixture that looks a little like coarse, wet sand.
• Scoop out 60 mL (¼ cup) of this mixture and set it aside as a crumble topping for the muffins.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, mashed banana, and vanilla.
• Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, scraping the bottom and sides to incorporate everything.
• Fold in the chopped pitted dates.
• Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pans. Scatter a little of the reserved crumble over each muffin and sprinkle with a few oats.
• Bake for 25–30 minutes, until the edges are a golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Notes

• Make sure the bananas are very ripe (black even).
• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• If you are using frozen bananas for this recipe, please make sure do the following:
  • defrost 4 bananas (instead of 3)
  • peel the bananas and place in a strainer set over a bowl
  • press very gently to squeeze out the liquid
  • place the liquid in a saucepan and boil it down to thicken it, stirring often so that it doesn't burn. Add this banana concentrate to the bananas and proceed with recipe.
• If you want to make a variation on these banana muffins, add any of the following:
  • add 250 mL (1 cup) chocolate chips instead of the chopped dates
  • add 10 mL (2 tsp) ground cardamom
• You can also use a thermometer to check if your cake is done baking and the internal temperature should register around 212 ºF or 100 ºC when it's done.
• If you don't have eggs or are allergic, try this eggless banana bread recipe.
• If you find your banana muffins sink or are gummy, they may be underbaked or the batter was too wet.

Nutrition

Calories: 351kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 59mg | Sodium: 184mg | Potassium: 398mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 424IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 83mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Banana Muffins with Oats (Gluten-Free) appeared first on The Bake School.

Bran muffins don't have the best reputation. It's too bad because date bran muffins are actually a favourite of mine. Served warm with lots of salted butter, there's nothing better!

These muffins are not too sweet and made with Medjool dates, and not raisins, just like I like them. Fresh from the oven, these muffins are tender and airy, but as they cool, they firm up into the perfect muffin to slice in half and slather with an obscenely thick layer of salted butter. I even add a little sprinkling of salt over the thick layer of butter. I don't think it can get any better than this.

These are made with All Bran cereal, just like my mom used to make. If you are a fan of dates, you should also try these date scones! If you would prefer a muffin with wheat bran, check out this recipe for blueberry bran muffins.

What you need to make date muffins

The good thing about making muffins is that you just need a few fridge and pantry staples and you likely won't need to make a trip to the grocery store to make these!

• butter, preferably unsalted butter, but if you have salted, it will work. Just adjust the salt in the recipe accordingly, otherwise, your muffins may be too salty
• granulated sugar is used though either light or dark brown sugar will also work and the flavour will be great!
• maple syrup is used to add more flavour to the muffins
• large eggs, don't use smaller eggs because your batter may be too dry and the muffins won't be tender
• buttermilk is included with the wet ingredients to make sure these muffins are tender but also to add flavour
• vanilla extract is added because otherwise they can be pretty bland and you need the flavour of vanilla to perk them up
• all-purpose flour is needed to bind all the ingredients together and give the muffins structure
• baking soda is the leavening agent used here. Baking soda contributes to the tenderness of these muffins, as well as the rise. Read up on baking soda vs baking powder if you are unsure about the difference between them
• salt is really important to bring out the flavour which can be very bland. Don't skip it. I like to use Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt, but table salt will work, though the muffins will be saltier and you may want to halve the salt in that case
• dried dates—either pitted Medjool dates or regular pitted dates, though I prefer Medjool dates that are so flavourful and more tender and moist.

Substitutions

I really love dates in muffins and all baked goods, really. But not everybody does and that's okay! If you don't like dates, feel free to replace them with other dried fruit or chocolate, like the same volume of:

• raisins
• dried cranberries
• dried apricots, chopped
• chocolate chips

Other substitutions you may want to consider:

• Buttermilk substitution: replace with acidified milk (made by mixing 1–2 % fat milk with white vinegar)
• Granulated sugar: replace with the same weight of brown sugar
• Butter: I used brown butter but you can also just use melted butter if you are short on time. Or replace it with the same volume of neutral oil like canola oil.

Variations

• Nuts—you can't go wrong combining dates and nuts, like chopped walnuts or pecans, which would make a great addition to the muffin batter
• Spices—feel free to add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the dry ingredients

Tip: if you'd prefer to top these muffins with streusel topping, use the streusel topping recipe from this pumpkin muffins recipe! Alternatively, you could also sprinkle the tops of the muffins with cinnamon sugar before baking.

Special equipment

• Muffin pans: for regular muffins, you can't get away without a muffin pan. And if you can, please invest in two 6-cup muffin pans (like this Wilton pan on Amazon) or one bigger 12-cup muffin pan (like these Wilton pans on Amazon). This way you will be ready to make full batches of most recipes, which can yield anywhere from 8 to 12 muffins, depending on how much batter you scoop per cup. 
• Paper liners, parchment liners, silicone liners: we can debate over which is better for muffins, but personally, I like disposable paper liners (like these on Amazon that you would use for cupcakes too). For lower-fat muffins or muffins with less sugar, these can stick to paper liners. In this case, use parchment liners (Amazon) or silicone liners (Amazon). Savoury muffins, for example, work best baked in either of these.
• Large cookie scoops: Some call them "dishers" and they are the most reliable scoops I've found on Amazon. They can handle firm doughs without breaking because the release mechanism is separate from the handle! This gives you a better, firm grip on the handle, without the risk of breaking the leaver. The handles are different colours according to the size. 
• Cake tester and/or instant-read thermometer: if you bake a lot, you can probably gently poke muffins with your fingertip and instinctively know when they are done baking. The rest of us have to use a cake tester or thermometer to check if the muffins are done baking.

How to make them

Muffins are easy to make and this date muffin recipe is no exception! Remember that to make most muffins, you will use the two-bowl mixing method, also called the muffin method, where the wet ingredients are whisked separately from the dry ingredients.

For these muffins, we brown the butter to bring out a more nutty flavour. If you've never done this before, read about how to make brown butter.

Place the butter in a small saucepan to melt it.

Continue to heat the butter until the milk solids brown and the mixture releases a pleasant, nutty aroma.

Transfer the brown butter to a bowl with a pouring spout or a measuring cup to cool down slightly while you prep the rest.

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl (flour, baking soda, and salt).

Prepare the dates by removing the pits and chopping them into smaller pieces on a cutting board.

Toss the chopped dates in a spoonful of the flour mixture.

Whisk the wet ingredients in a glass bowl, starting with the eggs, sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla.

Whisk in the buttermilk.

Add the All Bran cereal to the bowl of wet ingredients. We are using the original cereal, not the flakes.

Stir in the flour mixture

Stir in the cooled brown butter to form a thick batter.

Fold in the floured dates

Grease two muffin pans by brushing with a little canola oil or spraying evenly with cooking spray.

Divide the muffin batter evenly between 12 muffin cups. Use a disher to make sure it's even.

You can garnish the tops of each muffin with a few small pieces of pitted date if you have extra!

Bake until golden brown. This takes about 20–25 minutes at 350 °F.

Storage

You can store these moist bran muffins for 3–4 days in an airtight container, but I prefer to freeze them.

Remember to fully cool the date muffins to room temperature (for 3–4 hours) before transferring them to an airtight container or freezer bag for long-term storage (1–2 months).

Serving suggestions

My favourite way to enjoy bran muffins is slathered in salted butter. Sometimes I even sprinkle coarse sea salt on the butter to give it an extra salty kick to contrast with the sweet dates.

Date muffins are also great served with homemade marmalade, specifically orange marmalade or three-fruit marmalade!

Other muffin recipes to try

Muffins make a great snack and are a lunchbox stable for many. Here are a few other easy recipes to try:

By the way, I am not a complete raisin hater (here's a delicious recipe for the best crispy oatmeal raisin cookies to prove it). Just don't put raisins anywhere near my bran muffin. OK? And if date bran muffins are not your thing (what?), You've got other options, like:

• honey blueberry muffins
• red currant muffins
• plum cardamom coffee cake muffins
• strawberry rhubarb muffins with streusel topping

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Date Bran Muffins with All Bran

Date bran muffins made with All Bran are light and moist fresh from the oven, but they also taste great toasted with salted butter

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 12 muffins

Calories 304kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Muffin pan
• OXO balloon whisk
• 3-¼ oz scoop
• Cake tester

Ingredients

• 115 grams unsalted butter
• 2 large egg(s)
• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 100 grams pure maple syrup
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 315 mL buttermilk (1 % fat) or 300 mL milk + 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 144 grams All-Bran Original cereal
• 250 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 7.5 mL baking soda
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 200 grams Medjool dates about 15 dates, pitted and chopped

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Grease two 6-muffin pans and set aside.
• Put the butter in a small saucepan and heat on high to brown the butter. Transfer to a bowl and let cool.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla extract, buttermilk, sugar, and maple syrup. When the wet ingredients are really well mixed, add in the All-Bran and stir. Set aside.
• In a separate medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt.
• Remove one tablespoon of the flour mixture and add it to a small bowl with the chopped dates. Toss them to coat them in flour and break apart any clumps of dates.
• Add the rest of the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet mixture. Mix everything together to form a thick batter. It's okay if you still see a little flour at this stage.
• Stir in the browned butter and then the floured dates, and stir until the batter is just mixed (don't overwork it!).
• Divide the muffin batter between the two pans. You may garnish the tops with a few extra pieces of chopped pitted dates if you have extra dates.
• Bake for about 22 minutes or until they have puffed and the edges are beginning to brown.
• Let cool in the pan for 5 or so minutes before twisting each of the muffins to release them onto a wire rack to cool. Serve warm with lots of butter and salt.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!

Nutrition

Calories: 304kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 51mg | Sodium: 229mg | Potassium: 325mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 557IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 106mg | Iron: 3mg

Other recipes to bake with dried dates

If you love dates as much as I do, here's a list of other recipes you can bake with dates:

• best date squares (my favourite)
• date scones
• salty sweet date and chorizo loaf cake

The post How to Make Date Bran Muffins with All Bran Cereal appeared first on The Bake School.

I am obsessed with savoury muffins. They make a great snack and also work well as a savoury breakfast option, and the creative possibilities for add-ins and toppings are pretty endless!

Ingredients

Pizza muffins are no-yeast savoury muffin, made just like quick bread with the two bowl mixing method, also called the muffin method. So to make these you will have two bowls for ingredients: one bowl for wet and one for dry.

To make these, you will need the following ingredients:

• Wet ingredients
  • olive oil, but melted butter would also work great! I prefer extra virgin olive oil in this recipe which has a pronounced flavour. Canola oil will also work fine
  • large eggs—don't use smaller eggs because your muffins may end up too dry or dense, but don't use extra large eggs because they could contribute too much moisture and throw off the recipe
  • full-fat sour cream—please do not use low-fat sour cream because the fat is important for creating a moist, tender muffin, but also for storing these and to increase the shelf-life
  • milk, preferably whole milk or 2 % fat milk—again, don't use fat free or low fat milk because we need the fat to help keep these muffins moist and tender
• Dry ingredients
  • all-purpose flour is needed to bind all the ingredients together and give the muffins structure, contributing to the rise as well. If you don't use enough flour, your muffins may spread too much as they bake, and end up flat, but also gummy or wet
  • baking powder and baking soda are important to creating a fluffy texture. You need baking soda to balance out the acidity and baking powder to help these muffins rise tall. Read up on baking soda vs baking powder if you are unsure, which is which
  • granulated sugar, but you only need a tablespoon, which is enough to balance the salt and help improve the texture of the muffins without adding too much sweetness
  • Italian seasonings or a blend of dried oregano, thyme, and basil to bring that classic pizza flavour
  • salt is really important to balance out the flavours and also to make them pop. I like to use Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt, but table salt will work, though the muffins will be saltier and you may want to halve the salt in that case
  • freshly ground black pepper adds a little kick to the muffins and enhances their savoury quality without being spicy.

And since pizza is all about the toppings, you have a ton of options. If any of your toppings are fresh or canned (packed in water or oil), make sure, to blot the toppings with a paper towel to absorb excess moisture which could make the muffins gummy. Here are some toppings to try:

• Pizza muffin topping ideas
  • sliced pepperoni—I sliced pepperoni sticks because it makes smaller, but chunkier pieces, but pizza pepperoni also works! You could also add chunks of ham or cooked sausage
  • chopped mini sweet peppers or Bell pepper, or even green pepper
  • shredded cheese, like shredded pizza mozzarella (not fresh cheese), cheddar cheese, etc.
  • sliced olives, green or black (patted dry)
  • sautéed mushrooms or canned sliced mushrooms (patted dry)
  • pineapple chunks (if you like Hawaiian pizza that rides the line between sweet and savoury)
  • sliced cherry tomatoes (patted dry)

These toppings are actually whisked into the dry ingredients to help evenly distribute them throughout the muffin batter. Extra toppings are sprinkled on top of the muffins before baking to decorate them like a pizza.

Special Tools or Equipment

For this recipe, all you need are two bowls and a whisk to mix the savoury muffin batter. I've been loving the Danish dough whisk for mixing batters for quick breads, muffins, pancakes, and waffles, but you can use whatever whisk you prefer.

To bake the muffins, you will obviously need a 12-cup muffin pan (or two 6-cup muffin pans), and though you could easily spray the pan with baking spray, I prefer to use parchment muffin liners with savoury muffins because they tend to stick and even stick to regular muffin papers. Silicone liners would also work well and are reusable.

I also recommend a large disher (scoop) to portion out the muffin batter evenly between the 12 cups. It makes life easier, though it's not essential for this recipe.

Savoury Muffins That Aren't Dry

A big problem with savoury baking is the obvious lack of sugar. Sugar is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs moisture, leading to a more tender, moist product. Without the sugar, baked goods can appear dry.

This is why you have to compensate with more fat. For this recipe, we are using olive oil, several eggs, and also whole milk and full-fat sour cream. All of these ingredients are there to tenderize and provide moisture.

Storing Savoury Muffins

The other problem with savoury baking is storing savoury baked goods. These have less sugar, which means they dry out more quickly. The fat in this recipe helps to compensate for this and keep the muffins from going stale, but ultimately, your best bet would be to freeze leftover muffins after a day and defrost when you want to eat them.

Other Savoury Baking Recipes

If you are a fan of savoury baking, here are a few more recipes to try:

• Cheese waffles that you can serve with ham topped with maple syrup or with a light salad
• Scones with cheese that make a great sandwich!
• Deep dish quiche with Swiss chard

If you tried this recipe for pizza muffins (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Pizza Muffins

These easy pizza muffins are made with all the classic pizza toppings, so shredded cheese, chopped sweet pepper, tomato, and pepperoni, and flavoured with Italian seasonings. You can serve these as is or with marinara or pizza sauce for dipping!

Course Side

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 368kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Muffin pan
• Parchment liners
• Danish dough whisk
• 3-¼ oz scoop

Ingredients

Dry ingredients

• 375 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 15 mL baking powder
• 15 mL granulated sugar
• 5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 5 mL freshly ground black pepper
• 5 mL Italian seasoning
• 1.25 mL baking soda

Pizza toppings

• 155 grams pepperoni sliced, plus extra for garnishing muffins
• 100 grams shredded cheese like cheddar or pizza mozzarella, plus extra for garnishing
• 188 mL chopped sweet pepper about 5 or 6 mini sweet peppers (or use Bell pepper), plus extra chopped pepper for garnishing

Wet ingredients

• 4 large egg(s)
• 188 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat) or 2 % fat milk
• 188 mL sour cream (14% fat)
• 125 mL extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 cherry tomatoes sliced and patted dry with a paper towel
• marinara sauce optional, for dipping (or pizza sauce)

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190 °C). Line two muffin pans with 12 parchment liners (like these on Amazon). You can use regular muffin papers too, but you would need to spray them lightly with oil baking spray otherwise the muffins will stick to the paper. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, pepper, salt, Italian seasoning, and baking soda. When the dry ingredients are well mixed, whisk in the pepperoni, cheese, and chopped sweet pepper or Bell pepper.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, sour cream, and olive oil until smooth. Pour this mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir with a whisk to combine (about 20–25 stirs—don't over mix!).
• Divide the muffin batter between the prepared pans. Garnish with extra toppings and sliced cherry tomatoes, like a pizza.
• Bake in the preheated oven on the middle rack for 30 to 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• Incorporate your favourite pizza toppings and get creative. For example, make Hawaiian pizza muffins by folding in chopped canned pineapple (drained and patted dry) along with spicy pepperoni or chopped ham

Nutrition

Calories: 368kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 84mg | Sodium: 513mg | Potassium: 316mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 784IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 156mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Pizza Muffins appeared first on The Bake School.

It doesn't feel like winter if there's no gingerbread. The gingerbread could come in the form of gingerbread granola, gingerbread cookie cut-outs, and even muffins like these. I associate gingerbread with fall–winter more than Christmas.

Ingredients for Gingerbread Muffins

You don't need much to tackle most muffin recipes and this recipe is no exception! Here's what you need to make these Christmas muffins:

• Flour—all-purpose is ideal, or you can try a mixture of whole wheat and all-purpose, but this will affect the texture a little.
• Warm spices—use the same spices you may add to gingerbread cutout cookies, such as ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground ginger, and ground nutmeg
• Leavening agents—specifically both chemical leaveners, baking powder and baking soda. Read about baking soda versus baking powder if you aren't sure what the difference is between them!
• Salt—fine kosher salt like Diamond Crystal is what I use. If you use a different salt that has more or less sodium per gram, you will likely have to adjust the quantities so the muffins aren't overly salty or under-salted
• Butter—either salted or unsalted will work, though if your salted butter has a lot of salt in it, you may have to adjust the salt in the recipe
• Sugar—granulated sugar or light brown sugar will work!
• Molasses—use fancy molasses, also called baking molasses or light molasses
• Eggs—use large eggs preferably because smaller eggs may lead to dryer muffins
• Sour cream provides moisture and fat, leading to moist, tender muffins
• Vanilla extract to enhance the sweetness and the flavour of the muffins
• Cranberries—fresh or frozen will work here. If using frozen, incorporate them into the batter when still frozen. Dried cranberries also work!

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

These Christmas muffins are simple to make yet so moist and flavourful because of the specific ingredients. Here are a few careful places you can make substitutions and variations:

• Molasses—use a light baking molasses or black treacle (if in Europe)
• Cranberries—fresh or frozen will work here. If using frozen, incorporate them into the batter when still frozen. Dried cranberries also work!
• Sour cream—full-fat Greek yogurt can also work in this recipe
• Spices—you can replace the mix of spices with pumpkin pie spice mix, gingerbread spice mix, or even apple pie spice mix
• Chocolate—add white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate to the muffin batter. I know this would taste great based on this recipe for ginger cookies with white chocolate. Dark chocolate may also work if you prefer.

How to Make Christmas Muffins

Christmas muffins are easy to make. You don't need any special equipment, just two bowls and a whisk!

Step 1: Start by mixing your wet ingredients together. First melt the butter in the microwave (image 1) or on the stove, then combine it with molasses, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla extract (image 2). Use a whisk to ensure there are no lumps of sour cream. The wet ingredients will be quite fluid. (image 4).

Step 2: Whisk together the wet ingredients in a separate bowl (image 5), then pour the wet ingredients over the dry (image 6). Stir them to create a thick batter (image 7), then add the cranberries (image 8).

Step 3: Fold the cranberries gently into the batter to evenly incorporate them without crushing them (image 9).

Step 4: Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners (image 10), then portion out the batter evenly using a 3-¼ ounce (96 mL) disher (image 11).

Tips for Baking with Cranberries and Other Berries

Though this doesn't happen with this recipe, if your berries sink to the bottom of your muffins, next time toss them in flour to coat them before incorporating in the muffin batter. The flour will help absorb some of their moisture as they bake but will also help anchor them in the batter.

Don't defrost frozen cranberries before using them. They will become very wet and are hard to work with when defrosted, easily crushed when you go to stir them into the thick muffin batter.

If baking with dried cranberries, you may plump them in boiling water to rehydrate them before stirring them into your batter. Drain them well and pat them dry before mixing into the Christmas muffin batter.

Muffin FAQs

More Christmas Baking Recipes

For more baking ideas, check out these festive Christmas baking recipes!

If you tried this gingerbread muffin recipe (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Cranberry Gingerbread Muffins

Learn how to make the best gingerbread muffins with this easy recipe. These Christmas muffins are flavoured with molasses, gingerbread spices, and cranberries for a lovely snack or Christmas breakfast treat.

Course Snack

Cuisine American

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 12 muffins

Calories 289kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Muffin pan
• OXO balloon whisk
• Danish dough whisk
• 3-¼ oz scoop
• Cake tester

Ingredients

• 250 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 150 grams granulated sugar
• 10 mL baking powder
• 5 mL ground cinnamon
• 2.5 mL baking soda
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 2.5 mL ground ginger
• 2.5 mL ground nutmeg
• 1.25 mL ground cloves
• 155 grams unsalted butter
• 125 mL sour cream (14% fat)
• 125 grams Fancy molasses
• 2 large egg(s)
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 180 grams fresh cranberries or frozen

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375℉ (190 ℃). Line a 12-cup muffin pan (or two 6-cup muffin pans) with paper liners (or silicone, or butter and flour to prevent sticking). Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sour cream, molasses, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.
• Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
• Fold the cranberries into the batter. The batter will be thick.
• Divide the Christmas muffin batter among the paper-lined muffin pans.
• Bake until puffed and set. A cake tester inserted into the middle (not through the berries) should come out clean. This takes about 25 minutes.
• Serve warm with salted butter or let cool to store.

Notes

Equipment: I like to use a Danish dough whisk to mix muffin batters. To line the muffin pans, you can use paper liners or silicone. Alternatively, you can butter and flour the muffin cups instead.

Variations:

• Molasses—use a light baking molasses or black treacle (if in Europe).
• Cranberries—fresh or frozen will work here. If using frozen, incorporate them into the batter when still frozen. Dried cranberries also work!
• Sour cream—full-fat Greek yogurt can also work in this recipe.
• Spices—you can replace the mix of spices with pumpkin pie spice mix, gingerbread spice mix, or even apple pie spice mix.
• Chocolate—add white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate to the muffin batter. Dark chocolate may also work if you prefer.
• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!

Storage: You can store these moist muffins for 3–4 days in an airtight container, but I prefer to freeze them when they are freshly baked (cooled completely) to keep them fresh.

Defrosting instructions: If you want to defrost frozen muffins, you have a few options depending on how much time you have: in the fridge overnight, unwrapped to avoid moisture buildup on the surface of the muffin tops; at room temperature for a few hours, unwrapped to avoid moisture buildup on the surface of the muffin tops; in the microwave oven: place the unwrapped muffin on a napkin or a microwave-safe plate. Microwave on HIGH for about 30 seconds for each muffin. The time and results will vary according to the power of your microwave, but this is definitely the fastest method to defrost muffins.

Nutrition

Calories: 289kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 61mg | Sodium: 149mg | Potassium: 303mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 436IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 85mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Cranberry Gingerbread Muffins appeared first on The Bake School.

I'm celebrating back to school with double chocolate zucchini muffins combining both dark chocolate and milk chocolate, whole-wheat flour, and lots of cinnamon.

These muffins have a great muffin top with a lovely crunch to it, which is something I search for in a muffin. If you like a good muffin top, this recipe is for you!

This post was sponsored by Cacao Barry.

This post is sponsored by Cacao Barry.

Ingredients to Make Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

This is a pretty standard muffin recipe that has the added bonus of melted dark chocolate in the batter and grated zucchini, which adds moisture.

• flour—I use a combination of whole wheat and bleached all-purpose flours but you can stick to just all-purpose
• leavening agents—use the chemical leavener baking powder, not to be confused with baking soda. Read about baking powder versus baking soda if you are unsure what the difference is.
• salt—use Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt, which is finer and less salty. If you are using regular table salt, halve the amount so your muffins aren't overly salty
• zucchini—shred it on a regular box grater or use your food processor fitted with the shredding disk
• butter—this recipe was developed with unsalted butter. If using salted butter, you may omit the extra salt
• chocolate—both milk and 70 % dark chocolate. We are using melted dark chocolate in the muffin batter instead of cocoa powder!
• sugar, specifically granulated sugar because it doesn't add any flavour
• eggs—all recipes on this website call for large eggs, which weigh around 56 grams with the shell on. Don't use different egg sizes than this to avoid textual issues.
• vanilla—use pure vanilla extract
• milk—use regular milk (2 % fat) or whole milk (3.25 % fat)
• cinnamon—use ground cinnamon

See recipe card for exact quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

If you know how to make the recipe fit a certain diet, let the reader know here. Don't fake it - only provide guidance on topics you have actual experience with.

• Cinnamon - I love pairing cinnamon with chocolate but if that isn't your thing, skip the cinnamon!
• Flour - if you want to omit the whole wheat flour in the recipe, simply replace it with the same weight of all-purpose
• Zucchini - you could replace the grated zucchini with grated carrot or even grated beet. Both should work, but obviously, they wouldn't be zucchini muffins anymore!
• Chocolate - you will use 2 types of chocolate in this recipe: 70 % dark chocolate, which cannot be easily substituted because it is melted into the batter, and milk chocolate, which you could easily replace with chocolate chips (white, milk, or dark).

Instructions

For this recipe, you will use the two-bowl mixing method, also called the muffin method. The dry ingredients are whisked in one bowl and the wet ingredients are combined in another. Then the two bowls are mixed together to make the muffin batter.

Step 1: Combine the dry ingredients and whisk them together in a small bowl (image 1). Meanwhile, squeeze the grated zucchini in a sieve placed over a bowl to try and remove water (image 2).

Step 2: Combine the butter and the dark chocolate in a bowl (image 3) and heat them over a double boiler to melt them (or in the microwave) until smooth (image 4).

Step 3: To the bowl with the melted chocolate mixture, add the sugar (image 5). Stir it in to combine (image 6), then add the eggs one at a time (image 7). The muffin batter will thicken slightly (image 8).

Step 4: Add the milk to the bowl of wet ingredients (image 9). Stir it in (image 10), then add the dry ingredients (image 11). Stir everything together to form a thick batter (image 12).

Step 5: Stir in the grated zucchini (image 13) and the milk chocolate pieces (image 14). Stir until the add-ins are evenly dispersed (image 15). Use a large scoop to portion out the muffin batter between the paper-lined wells of two muffin pans (image 16).

Step 6: Make sure the batter is evenly distributed between the muffin cups (image 17). Bake the muffins until puffed and slightly cracked. Use a cake tester inserted into the centre to check if the muffins are done baking. If it comes out clean, they are done (image 18)

Hint: Be sure to unmould the muffins from the pan as soon as they have set. Aim to unmould them 5 to 10 minutes after pulling them from the oven. Otherwise, the paper (and the edges of the muffin) may become soggy.

Top Tip

Personally, I like disposable muffin paper liners (like these on Amazon that you would use for cupcakes too). For lower-fat muffins or muffins with less sugar, these tend to stick to paper liners. You would use parchment liners or silicone liners for these. Savoury muffins, for example, work best baked in either of these.

Chocolate Zucchini Muffin FAQs

Other Chocolate Recipes to Try

Who doesn't love chocolate? You can't go wrong baking with different types of chocolate! I put chocolate to good use in lots of fun baking recipes, from a classic chocolate loaf cake to cherry chocolate crumble, vanilla cake with milk chocolate frosting, chocolate drop cookies, popcorn brittle brownies, and even these muffins. There are so many chocolate recipes to try!

If you tried this chocolate zucchini muffin recipe (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

These double chocolate zucchini muffins are a great back-to-school treat. This easy recipe contains shredded zucchini and whole wheat flour for nuttiness. They are made with lots of cinnamon for a twist on the classic chocolate muffin.

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 333kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Muffin pan
• Box grater
• 3-¼ oz scoop
• Cake tester

Ingredients

• 125 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 125 grams whole wheat all-purpose flour
• 10 mL Baking powder
• 15 mL ground cinnamon
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 230 grams zucchini, grated
• 115 grams unsalted butter
• 130 grams dark chocolate (70 % cocoa content)
• 200 grams granulated sugar
• 2 large egg(s)
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 125 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat)
• 88 grams milk chocolate (41 % cocoa content) chopped

Metric - US

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF (175 °C). Line 12 wells of a muffin pan with paper liners and set aside for later.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
• Squeeze the grated zucchini over a strainer and leave it to drain while you work on the rest of the recipe to remove as much water as possible.
• In a saucepan, melt together the butter with the dark chocolate pistoles on medium-low. Take your time and stir often to avoid burning the chocolate or melt the chocolate with the butter in a bowl over a double-boiler. Remove from the heat and transfer the melted mixture to a large bowl.
• Stir in the sugar and the eggs, one at a time, the vanilla, and then the milk. Mix this well so it's smooth and evenly mixed. Pour in the dry ingredients and stir them in gently. Give the shredded zucchini a good final squeeze before adding it to the bowl with the muffin batter. Fold it in. Then fold in the chocolate.
• Using a #12 scoop (like this on Amazon), divide the batter among the 10 muffin cups.
• Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven until a cake tester inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. This takes about 20 to 25 minutes because the muffins are quite large.
• Let the muffins cool about 5 minutes in the pan to set, then transfer them to a cooling rack. 

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• I baked these muffins with Cacao Barry Ocoa (70 % dark chocolate) and Alunga (40 % milk chocolate), which you can find at IGA grocery stores in Quebec, or online at Vanilla Food Company. You can use different brands of chocolate but for the dark chocolate, make sure to stick to good quality chocolate bars with 70 % cocoa mass (as opposed to chocolate chips which contain other fats and more sugar).
• Substitutions/Variations:
  • Cinnamon - I love pairing cinnamon with chocolate but if that isn't your thing, skip the cinnamon!
  • Zucchini - you could replace the grated zucchini with grated carrot or even grated beet. Both should work, but obviously, they wouldn't be zucchini muffins anymore!
  • Flour - if you want to omit the whole wheat flour in the recipe, simply replace it with the same weight of all-purpose.
• For oversized muffins with a good muffin top, use a big #12 scooper, like this one on Amazon, and scoop 10 muffins instead of 12. This will result in a more pronounced muffin top

Nutrition

Calories: 333kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 49mg | Sodium: 122mg | Potassium: 317mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 344IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 86mg | Iron: 3mg

This post is sponsored by Cacao Barry. I was compensated monetarily and with product.

The post Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins appeared first on The Bake School.

There are two main ways to make a bran muffin and to incorporate bran into baked goods:

1. use bran cereal, like these date bran muffins, which are made with All Bran cereal that's in the aisle with the regular cereals. Date bran muffins are my favourite and my mom always made them with All bran, so that's what I still do today. And they are great!
2. use wheat bran, like in the blueberry bran muffins below. You'll find wheat bran in the health food aisle of your grocery store, or at your local scoop shops and bulk bin stores.

You might ask what's the difference between bran cereal and wheat bran, and the difference is rather huge. Wheat bran is the outer layer of the wheat kernel and an excellent source of dietary fibre according to most producers. It's 100 % wheat with nothing added. This is the bran you would want to use if you are making low sugar bran muffins.

On the other hand, bran cereal contains wheat bran, yes, but it also contains a lot of other ingredients, like sugar, fats, preservatives, and more. I love bran cereal and there's nothing wrong with it. I use it to make muffins, I top yogurt breakfast bowls and smoothie bowls with it, and I eat it as a snack. Bran cereal is great, but it's not a suitable substitute for wheat bran without making other changes to your recipe.

If you want a muffin that is made from wheat bran, make this low-sugar blueberry muffin recipe shown below. If you want a muffin made from bran cereal, make these All Bran muffins. If you need a baking substitution for the wheat bran in this recipe, you can try another source of bran, like oat bran, but proceed with caution as I haven't tested any substitutions.

If you can't find crème fraîche, I recommend using full-fat sour cream, but this has more moisture than crème fraîche so you will undoubtedly have to bake the muffins longer and/or adjust with a little extra bran and flour since these muffins are already quite moist.

The key to these low-sugar bran muffins is baking them with lots of fruit which adds sweetness.

While baking a batch of these blueberry bran muffins or honey blueberry muffins, you might notice the blueberries turn green or change colour as they bake, don't panic. It's probably the pH of the batter that changed the colour of the berries, but that has zero impact on the flavour of the berries. The muffins are just as yummy and still safe to eat!

This recipe is from the book Baking with Less Sugar: Recipes for Desserts Using Natural Sweeteners and Little-to-No White Sugar by Joanne Chang, published by Raincoast Books (available on Amazon and Amazon Canada). Be sure to check out my review of Baking with Less Sugar to see the other recipes that I made.

If it's not blueberry season and you want to bake fruit muffins with another fruit, try these strawberry rhubarb muffins with streusel topping.

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Blueberry Bran Muffins

Low sugar blueberry bran muffins are perfect for breakfasts and snacks. These blueberry muffins are loaded with blueberries, not too sweet, and include wheat bran. 

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 245kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Muffin pan
• OXO balloon whisk
• 3-¼ oz scoop
• Cake tester

Ingredients

• 250 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 60 grams wheat bran
• 10 mL baking powder
• 5 mL ground cinnamon
• 2.5 mL baking soda
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 2 large egg(s)
• 180 grams crème fraîche at room temperature
• 125 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat) at room temperature
• 70 grams granulated sugar
• 15 mL pure vanilla extract
• 115 grams unsalted butter melted and at room temperature
• 300 grams fresh blueberries fresh or frozen (roughly 2 cups)

Metric - US

Instructions

• Place a rack in the centre of the oven and preheat to 350 °F (175 °C). Butter and flour a standard 12-cup muffin tin, coat with nonstick cooking spray, or line with paper liners.
• In a large bowl, stir together flour, wheat bran, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, crème fraîche, milk, sugar, and vanilla until well-combined. Slowly pour in the melted butter while whisking.
• Pour the wet ingredient mixture into the dry ingredients and fold gently, using a rubber spatula, just until the ingredients are combined. Gently fold in the blueberries until the fruit is well distributed. The batter may seem lumpy, but don’t try to smooth it out.
• Using an ice cream scoop or a spoon, scoop a heaping ⅔ cup batter into each prepared cup of the muffin tin, filling the cups to the brim (almost overflowing) and making sure the cups are evenly filled. You might think you have too much batter, but you can fill these to overflowing and then you will get nice tops on your muffins. (If you prefer smaller muffins, spoon about ½ cup batter into each cup and decrease the baking time to 25 to 35 minutes. You will get up to 18 smaller muffins.)
• Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until the muffins are entirely golden brown on top and they spring back lightly when you press them in the centre. There’s a lot of fruit in these muffins, so make sure you bake them enough so the insides of the muffins don’t get soggy. Let the muffins cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes, and then remove them from the pan.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• These blueberry bran muffins are made with wheat bran, which should NOT be confused with bran cereals like All-Bran. They aren't the same and cannot be interchanged. If you want to use bran cereal to make muffins, try these All-Bran muffins.
• If making this recipe with frozen blueberries, DO NOT thaw them and make sure they are frozen solid before mixing them into the muffin batter. Otherwise they may bleed into the batter too much.

Nutrition

Calories: 245kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 57mg | Sodium: 167mg | Potassium: 234mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 406IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 83mg | Iron: 2mg

Raincoast Books offered me one copy of this book, plus the opportunity to host a giveaway. As always, please know that I wouldn’t work with a sponsor nor recommend a product if it wasn’t worth it. I tested three recipes from the book before coming to the conclusion that this book is awesome. 

The post Low sugar blueberry bran muffins appeared first on The Bake School.