Basic Muffin Recipe

This basic muffin recipe uses simple ingredients, so it will pair perfectly with any of your favorite mix-ins! Make this dairy free muffin base and add whatever you want to the batter. Chocolate chips, blueberries, strawberries — the possibilities are endless!

Basic Muffin Recipe

This subtly sweet basic muffin recipe is super versatile. You can make this base and then turn it into whatever type of muffin your heart desires.

You could pair juicy blueberries with a little lemon zest and make refreshing, healthy lemon blueberry muffins. Or maybe, add fresh fruit and chia seeds to these simple ingredients and make some delicious breakfast muffins.

And, if you just want some comforting and sweet gluten-free muffins, you can simply throw a bunch of chocolate chips in the mix.

Whatever you choose to make, there's never a wrong time for warm, fluffy muffins! This can be your go-to recipe whenever you get a hankering for a sweet treat.

But, if adding your own mix-ins to a recipe is too daunting for you, that's ok! Check out these muffin recipes like cinnamon apple muffins or banana chocolate chip yogurt muffins or traditional chocolate chip muffins.

Why I Love This Recipe

• Having a great go-to recipe for muffins will allow you to make any type of muffin you want for any occasion.
• Muffins are the perfect shareable treat to make for parties or bring to get-togethers.
• This easy recipe is dairy-free and free of refined sugar. You can feel good about anyone in the family eating these! (Trust me, no one will know the difference!)

Ingredients

Check your pantry for these key ingredients, plus whatever you want to add, before you run to the grocery store!

• old fashioned rolled oats
• dairy-free milk (like almond milk or coconut milk)
• all purpose flour
• coconut sugar
• baking powder
• ground cinnamon
• salt
• coconut oil
• large eggs
• vanilla extract

Substitutions

You can use a gluten-free flour blend, such as King Arthur Measure for Measure Flour (a 1:1 flour substitute), to make this recipe without gluten. Be sure the oats you use are gluten free as well.

If you don't need these muffins to be dairy-free, feel free to use dairy products instead of alternatives.

You can replace the coconut oil with butter, avocado oil, vegetable oil, or olive oil.

Need to make these delicious muffins vegan? Try replacing the eggs with flax egg or mashed ripe bananas. The texture may turn out differently, so feel free to experiment until you get good results!

Best Muffin Add-Ins

There's so many different things you can add into your muffins. Here's a few ideas and the measurements you can use to get the perfect fluffy muffin every time:

• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 cup mixed berries
• ¾ cup chocolate chips
• ¾ cup peeled and diced apples
• ¼ cup chopped walnuts + ½ cup diced bananas

How to Make Basic Dairy-Free Muffins

Preheat your oven to 375°F and prepare a muffin tin with cupcake liners or by greasing the muffin pan.

Then, pour oats and almond milk into a large glass bowl or measuring cup, stir them together, and let them soak for 20 minutes.

While the oats soak, combine flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.

Add the beaten eggs, coconut oil, and vanilla extract to the soaked oats. Stir to combine.

Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients in. Gently mix the dry and wet ingredients together until just combined.

Fold in whatever add-in(s) you've chosen. If you're using blueberries or mixed berries, be careful not to over mix them or they'll bleed into the batter.

Use a ¼ cup measuring cup or ice cream scoop to scoop batter into a greased or lined muffin pan.

Add some more toppings on top, if desired. If you broke the batter into different flavors, it should look like this:

Bake the muffins for 20-22 minutes until the muffin tops are a nice golden brown, and they bounce back when gently touched.

Let these tasty treats cool in the pan for about 3 minutes and then move them all to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Serve whenever you're ready!

Tips for Success

Allow the eggs to come to room temperature before mixing them into your muffin batter. They'll mix in much more easily!

Make sure you don't over mix the batter. It will make your muffins gummy and chewy, and if you're adding fruit, it will make it bleed into batter.

Be sure you line your muffin tin with paper liners or reusable silicone liners. If you don't have those, grease the pan well. Don't let those tasty muffins to stick! I've got a whole blog post with tips and trick on how to grease a muffin pan.

Use unsweetened almond milk, or another unsweetened non-dairy milk, to keep the sugar content in this recipe low.

How to Store Leftover Muffins

Muffins are best fresh (especially if you bake them with fruit), but they can be just as good a day or two later — or even a month later — if stored properly.

I have a whole post about how to store and freeze muffins, but here’s the gist:

Allow the muffins to cool completely before storing them. Place in an airtight container, lined with paper towels to help collect condensation from residual heat in the muffins.

The best way to store muffins depends on how soon you want to eat them: 

• Within 3 days of baking them: Store them on the countertop at room temperature. 
• In the next few days: Store them in the fridge, but with the risk of a change in texture. Alternatively, store what you’ll eat in the next few days using the countertop method, then freeze the rest. 
• Within the next 3 months: Store them in the freezer — reheat when you get a muffin craving! 

Muffin Recipes You'll Love

• Mixed Berry Muffin
• Cranberry Orange Muffins
• No Sugar Added Strawberry Chia Muffins
• Coffee Cake Muffins with Coffee Glaze
• Banana Muffins