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!
We love to hear your experiences with Good Cheap Eats. Click the STARS on the recipe card or leave a STARRED comment to let us know what you think of the recipe.
Homemade Muffin Mix Recipe
Equipment
- large airtight container
- large mixing bowl
- wire whisk
- rubber spatula
- parchment muffin papers
- USA muffin pans
- wire rack
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.
Lisa
Planning to make these tonight. To those who add oats, how much do you and and do you need to reduce the flour?
Marci
Made some dry mix packs including some 1/2C yogurt packs, put them in my freezer. We love adding chocolate chips! I plan to take a couple packs to our weekend gathering- one set with bananas and the other with chocolate chips.
Janet
We make these a lot during the summer months. We have kids (ours, their friends and neighborhood siblings) in and out of the house all week. I bake them up in mini muffin pans. I have found the recipe makes about 56 mini muffins or just short of 5-dozen. Served with a glass of cold milk, these make sweet, inexpensive, refreshing snacks the kids all enjoy. Today I made a batch with semi-sweet chocolate chips; a second batch with diced fresh strawberries; and a third batch with a combination of 1 ½ cups diced fresh strawberries and a ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips. The kids liked the combo muffins the best. Strawberries were on sale and I had a coupon making them just 66 cents per pound!
Jessica Fisher
So glad you’re enjoying the recipe. The chocolate strawberry sounds delicious!
Marci
Im trying to use up some bargain trix yogurts we bought, kids hated them, now we have about 30 4oz.containers. They seem to be the perfect amount needed for this recipe. I think I’ll freeze these cups and continue to use them up when making these muffins. Even though the flavor is strawberry-banana, you can’t taste it. It goes to show you something is only a bargain, if kids actually eat it. It was 50 containers for $5 from our local restaurant supplier- who was overstocked. Usually the kids eat yoplait or greek yogurt, but we got overly excited about the price.
Thanks for the recipe! I’ve made 3 batches, including one batch subing with gluten-free flour and using coconut oil. I also subbed the wheat flour with almond flour- its what I had on-hand.
jaime
I love love love these! I’ve been making them for about 4 years now and I am still finding new ways to experiment!! My oldest took a bunch to college as a welcome gift to her floor and the girls devoured them! Now if one sees me they are all looking for muffins!!
Jessica Fisher
Yay! So glad to hear it!
Kelly
I’ve been using your recipe for a while, either as a single batch at a time option or for a big muffin making to store in the freezer day option. I would like to mix up several batches of the dry ingredients to have on hand for quick and easy muffin mornings, but I don’t see how much dry mix to use at a time. I’m guessing three and a half cups is close, but thought I’d ask anyway.
Jessica Fisher
I would suggest simply making half batches when you measure out the dry ingredients. The wet ingredients divide pretty easily, just remember to mark on the container how much to add.
Vanessa B
I added peaches, cinnamon, fresh nutmeg, almond extract. Amazing!
Jessica Fisher
Sounds great!
VaGF
I’ve made these 3 times now and have 3 bags of dry mix in my fridge – they are great! I substituted a gluten free flour blend for the flours and cut the sugar to 3/4c. Blueberry with almond extract and banana chocolate chip were great. I think I undercooked the blueberry with lemon extract because I didn’t defrost my blueberries and didn’t see your comment about increasing cooking time with frozen until just now. I make a combo of mini muffins (easier for the kids) and big ones. I just wanted to let everyone know, they turn out well gluten free too. Thanks for the great, versatile recipe!
Jessica Fisher
So glad to hear it! I have some in the oven right now. I’ve found I like them better cooked at a slightly higher temp nowadays. 375-ish.
sherri
I love your recipe! I’m commenting today to say thank you!! Thank you to the poster that made them gluten free. My daughter is gf and I am not. I make muffins every week for her and regular ones for us. I’m always making two different recipes. Its so nice to be able to make them the same but with a gf mix and a regular mix. I want to try them with lemon yogurt and blueberries or chia seeds which are ones we love.
sona
I just cant get it right. I followed the recipe to a tee!! Batter was extremely thick and heavy, but I didnt dilute it thinking that is the way it is supposed to be. I folded wet into dry just long enough to get it all wet. I set the timer 2 minutes short of suggested MINIMUM time. Muffins were done and SO DRY, I could not swallow them without a drink handy. The taste is great and would like to try again after we finish this double batch. What on earth do I do differently. I am using non stick pans….is that the culprit?? They do seem to bake differently than other pans??
Jessica Fisher
How do you measure your flour? Good start for troubleshooting when something dry. I’ve started weighing my flour, it’s quicker than measuring and comes out much more consistent. https://goodcheapeats.com/2014/11/how-to-measure-flour-properly/
Also, what were your mix-ins?
sona
In some I put 1/4 walnut, some 3 choc chips and some nothing….all dry.
I sifted both flours than measured as always, not weighing.
sona
clarifying, sifted the flours separately and measured them separately.
Jessica Fisher
It is a thick batter, but not impossible to stir. What kind of flour are you using?
Jessica Fisher
I am completely stumped. The only other thing I can think (if you’re using all the ingredients as listed) is that your oven runs hot. I had one that did that. It was 25 degrees hotter than the temp it said it was.
sona
Thank you, I will have a guy out to check that this next week. One last ?? when I make this again, is it supposed to be so heavy I can hardly turn it over in the bowl? It was a double batch. If not, should I just add more milk/water?
Michalene
These muffins are delicious! Quick question: is there anyway to incorporate jam or jelly into this muffins? If so, how much? Thank you!
Jessica Fisher
Yes. I usually do a swirl through the middle, about 1 tablespoon per muffin in between scoops of batter.
Annette
Can you freeze the muffins after they are baked? Has anyone tried this? How do you thaw and heat them up?
Jessica Fisher
Yes, I freeze leftovers all the time or bake a double batch. I usually thaw them overnight on the counter and they are great the next morning. You can warm them in a low oven for 5 minutes if you like or zap them in the microwave, but we usually have them at room temp.
Danielle L. Zecher
Can you use bleached flour in this recipe instead of unbleached? I’m faitly sure all of mine is bleached, but I really want to try making these! Also, can you use shredded carrots, zuchinni, etc for the fruit in this recipe?
Jessica Fisher
Yes, you can use bleached flour. And yes, shredded veggies work as well as fruit for a mix-in.
Danielle L. Zecher
Thanks! I made these last week using strawberries, and they were GREAT!!!
Jennifer Hoffman
These were so good!! I freeze our overripe bananas so I just thawed them to add, also used vanilla yogurt. So moist and delish! It made 12 jumbo muffins for me (you really can mound way past the top) I love freezing muffins for a quick grab and go breakfast!
Jessica Fisher
Glad you enjoyed them!
Christina Scarce
Tonight to use up a couple of things from the pantry, I tried a new combination with your Mix & Match Muffin recipe. Mashed bananas and butterscotch morsels. I think they may be the kids’ favorite combination yet. I don’t usually buy butterscotch morsels, but I bought them for Christmas goodie baskets. Then after buying I realized they contained coconut oil which 2 different families couldn’t eat. The kids will happily eat them up in these muffins.
Jessica Fisher
Sounds yummy. Hubs is allergic to those chips, so I’ve never bought them. But, I’m hungry now.
Shelly
I love this recipe and have been making your mix and match muffins for the last 1 1/2 years. I’m now trying to be careful about my sugar intake and would love to replace the sugar with agave. Have you ever tried to and if so, did you have any success?
Jessica
I am going to be making some tweaks as well. I’ve done this with maple syrup, adjusting the other liquids to make sure it’s not too wet. I would imagine you can do the same with agave.
ray
I made 2 batches today. I made a pumpkin and chocolate chip muffins and I had some frozen cranberries in freezer so made cranberries with orange zest and 1 tablespoonful of vanilla. I only had flavored yogurt so I used Keffir instead. They are delicious and moist.
Jessica
@ray, flavored yogurt will work too, but good to know that kefir does as well.
connie
ok just made these..used applesauce and coconut oil in place of yogurt and oil. I added cinnamon and chopped apple,walnuts and oats…..YUM!!!!!!
rjd1967
The only oil I have right now is peanut oil…is this ok?
Jessica
I have never done any baking with peanut oil, so I can’t answer that. I’d be more likely to use melted butter instead.
ray
I made these muffins yesterday I used blackberries and rasberries I had in the freezer. They are really good and very moist. I sent home a dozen with my daughter and she called me to tell me that they tasted like it came from the store and if I made it from scratch. “It taste good, just like the store”.
Jessica
I’m glad that “like the store” is a complement. LOL! So glad you enjoyed them.
Amanda
I just made my first batch. These where great, they mad 12 reg sized and 24 mini muffins. I wanted to see how the base recipe was before added anything. They came out of the oven nice and tender.