Homebaked muffins are hard to beat. Unless you add more sugar and call them cupcakes. They are easily portable and have no need for utensils or even a plate in order to enjoy them.
This Mix and Match Muffin recipe has endless possibilities. Talk about versatility! Mix up the dry ingredients and when you add the wet team, toss in whatever fruit, nuts, or flavorings you have on hand. We’ve tried vanilla blueberry and banana chocolate chip (above) with great success. You can even prepare the baking mix ahead of time.
I was inspired by this recipe in Fine Cooking, but have tweaked it to fit the schedule of a busy mom. Who has time to separate eggs when there’s so much to do on any given day? I’ve also healthified it by substituting plain yogurt for the sour cream and a little whole wheat flour for the white.
Mix and Match Muffins
Dry team:
3 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar, brown sugar, or sucanat
Wet team:
1/2 cup oil
1 cup milk
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 eggs
Mixins: 1 teaspoon extract, 1 1/2 cups any combination of fruit*, chopped nuts, chocolate
*Possible fruit to use: mashed bananas, blueberries, finely chopped apples, raspberries, coarsley chopped cranberries
Preheat oven to 350 °. Line muffin tin with papers or spray with nonstick cooking spray. In large mixing bowl, combine, flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. (If preparing as a mix, simply combine all these ingredients in a ziptop bag, label well, mark with the wet ingredients and baking instructions.)
In a separate bowl, combine oil, milk, yogurt, and eggs. Whisk to blend. Add wet ingredients to dry. Fold gently until mostly moistened, but still lumpy. Fold in mix-ins.
For 12 large muffins, fill muffin cups completely, even mounding past their tops. For 18 kid-size muffind, fill almost full. Bake 25 – 35 minutes, depedning on how much you fill them.
A Great Make Ahead
This recipe is great for freezer cooking but also makes a fantastic gift for someone. You are definitely gonna want to mix up several bags of the mix for later use once you taste how yummy these muffins are. Just place all the “dry team” ingredients in a quart or gallon-size ziptop freezer bag and seal.
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Is there anything you can think of that could replace the yogurt? My husband is lactose intolerant… I can use Lactaid milk for the recipe but I don't know what to swap out the yogurt with.
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Jolene: If your husband is just lactose intolerant and does not have a milk allergy (issues with milk protein) then he should be able to tolerated yogurt. The lactose is broken down by the bacterial cultures so hopefully he can tolerate it. {Sorry to respond unasked–I am a Registered Dietitian who just happened to see your question!}
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Thank you for answering, Jenni. I haven't got to the bottom of my inbox. I was thinking that was the case, but I'm glad to have an RD say so!
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Thank you! I didn't know that.
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I made these the other day for my husband who won't eat breakfast unless it's easy to grab. We both like them but both compared them to cornbread. What is it that makes us think that? The whole wheat flour maybe because it's a little grainier?
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Jessica Reply:
July 6th, 2010 at 7:53 am
It could depend on the grind of whole wheat flour. I’m not sure; I haven’t had that happen.
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Karen Reply:
July 8th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
Try using WW pastry flour instead of regular WW flour. It’s a much finer grind. I use WW pastry flour for everything (often without any white flour) and my family doesn’t even notice.
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Where do you get those muffin cups? I don’t care for muffins without cups because of the hardened texture… I’m wondering if they are cheaper than cupcake muffin cups too. Thanks!
~ Michelle
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Jessica Reply:
July 6th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
These are actually portion cups that my sister gave me. She promised me they were oven safe. But, I really have no idea. I’ve seen them in the party section of Walmart.
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Since the yogurt is probably for moisture mainly, I would just use 1 cup applesauce instead of the oil and yogurt. I have a very similar muffin recipe and that is how I do it.
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I used this recipe for blueberry muffins last night and they turned out very good! My batter was very thick though so I added a little more milk, and I had enough batter to do 18 large muffins. I used half succanat and half cane sugar and sour cream instead of the yogurt, but I think it would be really yummy with vanilla yogurt too! Thanks for the recipe!
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I know this is an old post, but…. where do you buy your muffin cups? I love those ones. Makes them look like muffins, not cupcakes!
Can you email me on nzkylee@hotmail.com?
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Jessica Reply:
January 7th, 2011 at 2:13 pm
Those are party cups, not really muffin cups. I’m not sure if you’re “supposed” to bake in them, but I did.
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campbell Reply:
July 18th, 2011 at 8:43 pm
Wilton makes those cups… they sell them at our local craft store and walmart
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I was wondering if you think it would be ok to use vanilla yogurt instead of plain??
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Jessica Reply:
March 6th, 2011 at 6:17 pm
yes, that should be fine.
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This might seem like a silly question, but where did you get those gorgeous muffin cups. I have been looking EVERYWHERE for them and I can’t find them.
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Jessica Reply:
March 6th, 2011 at 6:18 pm
They are actually party cups. I’m not sure you’re supposed to bake in them, but the house didn’t catch fire and no one grew a second head, so I think we’re good. I think they’re the kind you serve mints in at weddings.
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I’ve never been much of a baker, but this recipe looks really easy to make. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to use up all of those cupcake cups that I’ve had for so long!
And I know my family will thank you!
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Coming back to say that I made these muffins tonight and they were a huge success! I made it into a fun time with my kids. I filled the cups half way full, then let the kids put in some add-ins, then finished filling the cups. The kids had a blast (including my 3 year old niece) and enjoyed eating their creations. Oh, and my family says thanks!
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Jessica Reply:
March 22nd, 2011 at 8:26 am
@Ginny, yeah! So glad you enjoyed them.
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My son has been asking for “vanilla muffins” and I think these might fit the bill. I also LOVE the instructions for making your own mix. That is exactly what I need!
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Is this the measurements for 1 batch?
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Jessica Reply:
July 19th, 2011 at 7:10 pm
It is a large batch – It makes 2 dozen muffins.
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Hey! I know this post is old, but I had a question. If I wanted to make the mix ahead, but wanted to make a smaller batch (I don’t have enough muffin pans to make that big of a batch) what would the portion of the dry mix be? For example, if I wanted to make up the dry mix, and then make a dozen muffins, how much of the dry (all mixed together) would I take out?
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Jessica Reply:
November 5th, 2011 at 4:24 pm
@Amy, I would just cut the proportions in half before you make the mix. That would be enough for a dozen muffins.
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My family is officially addicted to these muffins. They’re so easy and we love them. Thanks so much!
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Jessica Reply:
January 9th, 2012 at 9:49 pm
That’s what I love to hear! Thank you.
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