All-flavors Muffins, a batter for countless different flavors!
The muffins are soft little treats typical of the United States, prepared in just a few minutes. Light and fragrant, they are perfect for breakfast, snacks, outdoor buffets, and birthdays. They are so simple that they can even be made with your kids. My most delicious recipe? chocolate muffins with a soft Nutella heart, a true delight!
There are countless versions and the process is almost always the same, separating the dry and liquid ingredients into different bowls, mixing them well, and combining them. In 5 minutes, the batter is ready to be baked. The basic recipe can be filled with fresh and dried fruit, canned fruit, jam, and creams of all kinds. When they’re ready, they can be topped with a cream cheese icing called frosting. In this case, they’re no longer called muffins but cupcakes. I made lemon cupcakes with strawberry heart with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Try them; they’re really delicious.
Since the basic recipe allows for so many variations, I thought of proposing my version that you could enrich as you like. Today, I’m sharing my all-flavors muffins, and I assure you they’ll stay soft for 3 or 4 days.
If you love muffins, here are some irresistible recipes:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 12
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 340.55 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 55.68 (g) of which sugars 37.76 (g)
- Proteins 4.59 (g)
- Fat 12.05 (g) of which saturated 4.14 (g)of which unsaturated 6.53 (g)
- Fibers 2.74 (g)
- Sodium 77.66 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 60 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
This recipe is perfect for achieving all the customizations you love the most. You can add small pieces of fruit, chocolate, or chopped nuts to the basic batter. The biggest advantage is you can make a tray of 12 different muffins to please the whole family.
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg (medium)
- 1/3 cup peanut oil (or 6 tbsps of melted butter, cooled)
- 7/8 cup whole milk
- 1 packet baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest (grated)
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 tablespoons dark chocolate chips
- 1 apple (half diced and half sliced)
- 2.1 oz strawberries (diced)
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest (grated)
- 5.3 oz strawberries
- 1/3 cup sugar (for the topping)
- 3 Golden apples (medium)
- 1/3 cup brown sugar (for the topping)
- 3.5 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest (grated)
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 5.3 oz 50% dark chocolate
Tools
- 2 Bowls
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Muffin Pan
- 12 Cupcake Liners
Method
Let’s prepare 12 muffins with different flavors together:
Wash the lemon, grate the zest, and set it aside.
In a bowl, place the liquid ingredients: 1 egg, vanilla, grated lemon zest, milk, and oil. Mix well with a hand whisk.
In another bowl, sift the flours together with the baking powder, add the sugar, a pinch of salt, mix, and pour the liquids into the bowl with the dry ingredients, quickly incorporating everything with a whisk until a homogeneous mixture is obtained.
The all-flavors muffin batter is ready. At this point, you can customize them as you wish. I’ve suggested some variations, but you can add anything you like.
Line the mold with 12 cupcake liners and fill them with the batter (you should reach a half centimeter from the edge). Now we need to create our favorite flavors, I’ve chosen 4 randomly. If you’re using fruit, wash and cut it before preparing the batter to have everything ready.
In 3 liners, add the apple pieces, mix with a wooden toothpick, decorate the surface with 3 thin apple slices, and sprinkle with brown sugar.
In 3 liners, add the chocolate chips, mix with a wooden toothpick, and decorate the surface with more chocolate chips.
In 3 liners, add the diced strawberries, mix with a wooden toothpick, and distribute a few strawberry pieces on the surface, sprinkle with granulated sugar.
In 3 liners, add more lemon zest (1 teaspoon in total), mix with a wooden toothpick, and sprinkle with granulated sugar.
Bake the all-flavors muffins in a preheated static oven at 350°F for about 20 minutes or until the top is golden. Check by doing the toothpick test.
The all-flavors muffins are ready, take them out of the oven, let them cool, and serve.
This recipe is extremely versatile. If you want, you can also fill them after baking and decorate them with a glaze or frosting of your choice.
If you want to prepare 12 chocolate muffins:
Prepare the basic recipe for the all-flavors muffins. If you don’t like the taste of lemon combined with chocolate, don’t add the lemon zest to the batter, but add another teaspoon of vanilla or another aroma of your choice.
Coarsely chop the dark chocolate (make small pieces, maximum 1 cm) and add them to the batter, pour into the liners and bake.
Keep in mind that chocolate tends to make batters drier, so when you prepare muffins with chocolate pieces, the baking time will be shorter, about 18/20 minutes. Always do the toothpick test before removing from the oven.
If you want to prepare 12 strawberry muffins:
Prepare the basic recipe for the all-flavors muffins.
Wash the strawberries well, remove the leaves, and cut them into 1 cm pieces.
Mix them into the batter and distribute it in the 12 liners, sprinkle the surface with granulated sugar, and bake.
Batters containing fruit pieces, especially if they contain a lot of water like strawberries, need a longer baking time of around 25 minutes.
Always check the baking with the toothpick test.
If you want to prepare 12 apple muffins:
Prepare the basic recipe for the all-flavors muffins.
Wash the apples, peel them, and cut one and a half into cubes and one and a half into slices.
Add the apple cubes to the previously prepared batter and mix. Pour into liners, add 3 apple slices to each muffin’s surface, sprinkle with brown sugar, and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden.
If you like, you can add half a teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter.
If you want to prepare 12 lemon muffins:
Wash 1 organic lemon very well, grate the zest, and extract the juice; you need 3.5 tablespoons.
Prepare the basic recipe for the all-flavors muffins by reducing the milk to 5/8 cup and adding 3.5 tablespoons of lemon juice (they will be much more fragrant), the rest of the ingredients remain unchanged; when the mixture is ready, pour it into the liners and sprinkle the surface with a pinch of lemon zest and granulated sugar (you can substitute it with your preferred sugar, even granulated is fine), then bake for about 20 minutes or until golden.
Check the baking by doing the toothpick test.
Tips
Storage
The all-flavors muffins keep at room temperature for 3 or 4 days, covered with plastic wrap or a cake dome.
If you prepare fruit muffins, I recommend storing them in the fridge, especially if the temperatures are high; otherwise, the fruit will tend to sour.
When serving, heat them for 10 seconds in the microwave; they will seem freshly baked. If you don’t have a microwave, leave them at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
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