Ditch the expensive boxed mixes or pricy bakery muffins! This easy, homemade muffin mix recipe allows you to make big, bakery-style muffins that can be flavored any way you like. Make several batches of mix and bake all kinds of muffins whenever the craving hits, saving you time, money, and hassle.
There are so many great ways to vary this basic muffin recipe. Be sure to try our luscious Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins for a zesty twist or the very best Chocolate Chip Muffins (with Lime and Coconut!) You will love our simply sweet Vanilla Muffins as well as whatever combinations you dream up!
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Homebaked muffins are hard to beat – unless you add more sugar and frosting and call them cupcakes!
Muffins are easily portable and have no need for utensils or even a plate in order to enjoy them. They make for delicious breakfasts and snacks that are easy on the budget.
And the best muffins are made from a homemade muffin mix!
Why Make This
It works. At Good Cheap Eats we don’t mess around with recipes that only sometimes work. A fail in the kitchen costs money. This homemade muffin mix recipe turns out every single time.
It’s the only muffin recipe you’ll ever need! This Homemade Muffin Mix recipe has endless possibilities. It’s one basic batter that you can customize however you like. 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. Make blueberry muffins in summer and cranberry orange muffins in fall and anything else you have on hand the rest of the year.
It’s efficient. Making a homemade muffin mix is a great way to save money, control ingredients, and enjoy the best homemade muffins whenever you like. A homemade mix is so easy and cheap to make! You are definitely gonna want to mix up several bags of the mix for later use once you taste how yummy these muffins are.
It’s very make-ahead. This make-ahead muffins recipe can be stored as a mix, or you can bake and freeze muffins. You can even freeze unbaked muffins to bake later!
It makes a great gift. This recipe is great for freezer meal prep but also makes a fantastic gift for someone. Alternatively, you can fill a basket with baked muffins. You’ll be Friend of the Year whichever way you go.
Ingredients
I was inspired by a Joann Chang recipe for bakery-style muffins, 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.
Here’s what you’ll need to make your own homemade muffin mix:
unbleached, all-purpose flour – This is the type of flour I typically use in all my recipes. You can also use the bleached variety or whole wheat pastry flour which is a whole grain with a softer texture that isn’t so wheaty.
sugar – You can use whatever dry sweetener you typically use in baking, such as granulated sugar, brown sugar, or sucanat (dehydrated sugar cane juice).
whole wheat flour – This is optional but I like the earthiness it adds to the muffins. You can use regular flour if you prefer.
leavenings – You’ll need baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Don’t omit any of these, but do remember you can make your own baking powder substitution if you need to.
eggs – I’ve made these muffins with whole eggs, egg whites for more protein, (use 3 tablespoons for each whole egg in the recipe) or even flaxseed meal egg substitute.
milk and yogurt – My default liquids are milk and yogurt for this recipe because they are regular grocery staples, but you can use any combination of milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, buttermilk, or ricotta. Shop your kitchen to save money! If you have a plant-based item you prefer, that should work as well. Just make sure you’re adding 1 ½ cups of liquid in addition to the oil.
neutral oil – I use avocado oil, but you can use whatever oil you typically use as well as melted butter, margarine, or a plant-based butter.
vanilla extract – Vanilla adds flavor to these homemade muffins. You can use any flavor extract you prefer as long as it goes well with your mix-ins.
mix-ins for muffins – Here’s the part where you can really get creative! You can use any combination of nuts, seeds, chocolate, fruit (such as mashed bananas, whole blueberries or raspberries, finely chopped apples, or coarsely chopped cranberries) or veggies (such a mashed and cooked sweet potato, pumpkin, squash, or shredded raw carrot, zucchini, or summer squash).
You can make so many fun flavor combos with this homemade muffin mix!
Muffins are delicious plain, but you can make them so much better by varying the fruits and flavorings that you stir in. Consider:
- blueberries and nutmeg
- lime zest and chocolate chunks
- shredded carrot and spices
- berries and ricotta
- pineapple tidbits and flaked coconut
- chopped strawberries and rhubarb
There are so many delicious combinations of fruits, nuts, spices, and extracts, you could probably make a different type of muffin every day of the month!
For Protein Muffins:
I particularly like to boost the protein content in my homemade muffins. To do this:
- substitute ½ cup of the flour with ½ cup quinoa flakes or ½ cup whey protein powder
- swap the eggs out for egg whites (6 tablespoons total)
- use cottage cheese for the yogurt
To avoid dry muffins, check them a few minutes earlier in the baking time. (Quick breads are done when they reach an internal temperature of 200 degrees F. Use an instant read thermometer to verify.)
Step-by-Step Instructions
The process is super simple to make your homemade mix:
- Collect containers you’d like to use to store the mix. This can be mason jars with lids, plastic containers with lids, or ziptop quart size bags.
- Label the containers with the baking instructions as well as what wet ingredients should be added. You’re only going to put dry ingredients in your jar.
- Layer in the ingredients in the jar: flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Store the mix in a cool dry place until ready to use. For longest shelf life, store the mix in the freezer.
When you’re ready to bake your muffins:
- Preheat the oven to 375°. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin papers or spray with nonstick cooking spray. For smaller muffins, you will want 18 cups prepared.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the muffin mix to eliminate any clumps.
- In a separate bowl, combine the milk, oil, yogurt, eggs, and extract, if using. Whisk to blend.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry. Fold gently until mostly moistened, but still lumpy and with a few dry spots. Fold in mix-ins of your choosing.
- For 12 large muffins, fill muffin cups completely, even mounding past their tops. For 18 kid-size muffins, fill almost full.
- Bake 20 – 30 minutes, depending on how much you fill them. Bake until a tester comes out clean and/or the internal temperature has reached 200 degrees F. Cool on a wire rack before serving.
Freezing Tips
If you don’t have the time to bake the muffins right before serving, no worries! You can cool them on a rack, wrap them well, and freeze them. (Remember you can also freeze muffins unbaked!)
When ready to serve, pull out as many muffins as you’d like and let them sit at room temperature for an hour or two until thawed.
Best Muffin Tools
After years of weekly (sometimes daily?!) muffin baking, I’ve come across a few tools that I absolutely LOVE for making homemade muffins:
- parchment muffin papers – I prefer using muffin papers since we’re such an on-the-go household. Muffin liners make it easier for transport as well as serving. I’ve found that parchment is the best for not sticking to the muffin.
- USA muffin pan – Whether you use papers or not, the USA pan is the best for easy clean up since there’s no need to grease the pan. Everything cleans up easily.
- Rubber spatula – I like to get every last bit of batter to make sure my muffins are big. A rubber spatula makes that easy.
A few notes about this recipe:
A few things of note about this recipe. Originally, back in 2009, I baked these muffins at 350, but since raised the heat to 375 and reduced the baking time a bit. I like the crunchier texture of the baked muffin this way. If you prefer, you can bake at the reduced temperature.
Keep in mind the cups do get VERY full. That’s okay. Just spray the top of the pan to make sure they don’t stick. If you want smaller muffins, go for it. Just reduce the baking time.
The Cost of Homemade
We often assume that homemade is cheaper than a store-bought mix. Surely, homemade tastes better and allows you to control which ingredients are used, but it’s always good to crunch the numbers to see if it’s worth any price difference.
Here’s what it costs to make the homemade mix (not including wet ingredients or add-ins) when you buy the ingredients at a mid-range grocery store:
- all-purpose flour – $0.45 ($2.69/5# bag)
- sugar – $0.22 ($1.97/4# bag)
- whole wheat flour – $0.13 ($3.99/5# bag)
- baking powder- $0.09 ($1.49/8.1 oz)
- baking soda – $0.01 ($0.99/16oz)
- salt – $0.02 ($2.99/26 oz)
A homemade mix that yields 12 extra large muffins costs 92 cents! This does not account for the wet ingredients, the oil, eggs, milk, yogurt, or mix-ins. You will easily be able to keep the cost per muffin quite low!
A similar commercial mix that makes 6 muffins costs $1.79. This does include the eggs and oil, however, even accounting for the cost of those ingredients, homemade is way cheaper, making it more than worth your while to make your own homemade muffin mix.
FAQs
With a homemade mix, it will already be fantastic. But, if you’re purchasing a boxed mix, you can enhance it by using butter instead of oil, adding an extra egg, and stirring in some fun mix-ins like fresh or frozen blueberries or chocolate chips.
Muffin batter should be wet, but still thick enough that you can scoop it and it stands up in the cup, similar to ice cream that has slightly softened.
Buttermilk adds tang and texture to your muffins. In the presence of baking soda in your baking recipe, buttermilk helps the leavening react. Be sure to add some acid such as white vinegar or yogurt.
Favorite Muffin Variations
Tell us what you think!
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Homemade Muffin Mix Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar brown sugar or sucanat can also be used
- ½ cup whole wheat flour
- 4 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 egg
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup neutral oil
- ½ cup plain yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or any flavor you prefer
- 1 ½ cups mix-ins for muffins any combination of nuts, chocolate, or fruit, such as mashed bananas, blueberries, finely chopped apples, raspberries, or coarsely chopped cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin papers or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl or airtight container, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.3 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, ½ cup whole wheat flour, 4 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- Store until ready to use.
- In a separate bowl, combine the oil, milk, yogurt, eggs, and extract, if using. Whisk to blend.2 egg, 1 cup milk, ½ cup neutral oil, ½ cup plain yogurt, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry. Fold gently until mostly moistened, but still lumpy. Fold in mix-ins of your choosing.1 ½ cups mix-ins for muffins
- For 12 large muffins, fill muffin cups completely, even mounding past their tops. For 18 kid-size muffins, fill almost full.
- Bake 25 – 35 minutes, depending on how much you fill them. Bake until a tester comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack before serving.
Notes
- substitute 1 cup of the flour with ½ cup quinoa flakes and ½ cup whey protein powder
- swap the eggs out for egg whites
- use cottage cheese for the yogurt
Nutrition
This post was originally published on November 8, 2009. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Kelly
I’ve been using this mix for years and bulk batch the bulk batch! On kitchen prep day my son is in charge of putting all the dry ingredients together in the mix containers. I think we do 6-7 at a time.
I recently had to make refills on my own (gasp!), and on that day I made a few batches of muffins for the freezer too!
I really appreciate the ease this mix gives for variety and customization!
Jessica Fisher
One of my fave things to freeze! 🙂
Lisa
I make a variation of these muffins almost every week. Usually banana chocolate chip, carrot coconut raisin, apple cinnamon, or cranberry and pumpkin seed. Extremely versatile. I’ve used soy milk, almond milk and regular milk and they all work great. Plain yogurt, vanilla yogurt, Greek yogurt, or sour cream or even flavoured yogurt cups if that’s what I have on hand – all good. I always sub the whole wheat flour for 1/2 c oats. I often use 1/4 c applesauce (sometimes flavoured if that’s what I have) and 1/4 c oil rather than straight 1/2 c oil. Both ways work great.
Rose
How do you make this mix gluten free? Is there a particular flour blend you normally use? I don’t normally buy a gluten free blend, but I do have both the America’s Test Kitchen “all purpose” gluten free blend and the Gluten Free Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day blend on hand most of the time.
Jessica Fisher
Hey Rose, I’ve not made them GF yet, so I don’t know. Please let me know if you substitute the gf blend for the flour.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Jessica, I just made these blueberry muffins today with blueberries from my bushes 🙂 They are SO good. Loved the crunchy top with the Demarara sugar. They looked just like bakery muffins. I made this batch to divide as gifts for 2 people and I was really pleased with how they turned out. I had a bit of batter left so made a few mini muffins for DH and me. They were a hit with all! Thanks for this recipe for a delicious and great looking muffin!
Emily Walker
I have been making these muffins since their original post in 2009. Household favorite.
Jessica Fisher
Thanks for your feedback! So glad to hear they are a hit!
Sandra Thompson
Yes!! I love that your recipe uses some whole wheat flour! I have always used muffin mix from https://shop.kodiakcakes.com/collections/muffins, but making muffins from scratch is so much cheaper. I can’t wait to bake a batch! Thank you! Have you tried the ones from Kodiak Cakes? If so, how do yours compare?
Jessica Fisher
I haven’t tried those, but I can’t wait to hear what YOU think, Sandra!
Susan
I know you said you swapped out the sour cream in the original recipe for yogurt. What happens if I use sour cream in this recipe? I will have sour cream on hand more often than I will have yogurt.
Jessica Fisher
It’s a perfect swap. Will be nice and rich!
Regina Noonan
If I don’t have whole wheat flour can I just use 4 cups regular flour? I tried these once and the batter was very gummy. I’d like to try again but wanted to check about the flour first. thanks!
Jessica Fisher
Yes, that should be fine. Batter shouldn’t be gummy. In fact, it’s usually on the dry side. Make sure you use a liquid measuring cup for the liquids. And it’s best to weigh the flour if you have a kitchen scale. (4.5 ounces per cup) Here’s to better results this time!
Shandon-dy R Diehl
I was wondering if you could put cocoa powder in these. If you could, how much would you put in?
Jessica Fisher
I’ve made adjustments for that in this recipe: https://goodcheapeats.com/chocolate-cheesecake-muffins/
Megan
I love this recipe! Do you think I could sub another liquid for the milk? For example, juice or whey from making yogurt?
Jessica Fisher
yep. i think whey would be great or buttermilk. Not sure about juice, but I’ve used tea before. Try it and let me know?