These Mini Muffins have a caramel-like sweetness from brown sugar and a hint of cinnamon. After baking, the tops of these muffins are dipped in melted butter and cinnamon-sugar!
Additionally, we’re sharing three variations: chocolate-chip, berry, or mixed berry!
Mini Muffins — Four Different Ways!
We’re muffin fanatics at my home, but let me tell you, Mini Muffins really take the cake. (Pun intended!) They’re adorable, easy to snack on, and completely irresistible.
These mini muffins are hands down the best I’ve ever tasted. They’re bursting with flavor, incredibly moist, and finished with a crispy, buttery, sugary topping that’s to die for.
And today we’re also sharing several other variations: mixed berry, blueberry, or chocolate chip!
Mini Muffins Ingredients:
- Eggs: Use room-temperature for even mixing and a light texture.
- Oil: Vegetable or canola; both are flavor-neutral.
- Sour Cream: Full-fat for moistness; full-fat Greek yogurt works as an alternative.
- Vanilla Extract: Opt for pure over imitation for a richer flavor.
- Milk: Whole milk preferred; 2%, 1%, and skim are alternatives.
- Brown Sugar: Use soft and fresh brown sugar.
- Flour: Use white all-purpose flour.
- Baking Powder: Ensure it’s fresh for optimal rise.
- Cornstarch: Key for tender muffins.
- Salt: This enhances flavors and balances sweetness.
- Cinnamon: Adjust to taste preference!
Why Use Room-Temperature Ingredients for Mini Muffins:
- Even Mixing: Ingredients at room temperature blend seamlessly, preventing a chunky or curdled batter.
- Air Trapping: Warm fats like butter trap air during mixing, resulting in fluffier baked goods.
- Consistent Baking: A uniform batter temperature ensures even baking and optimal texture. (Cold ingredients can alter baking time and outcomes.)
How To Make The Best Mini Muffins
- Room-Temperature Ingredients: Ensures even baking and a fluffy texture. Remove cold items from the fridge an hour before starting.
- Avoid Over-mixing: Mix just until flour isn’t visible.
- Test for Doneness: Muffins are ready when a toothpick comes out clean or with moist crumbs.
- Cool Before Topping: To prevent sogginess, wait until muffins are completely cool to dip in butter and cinnamon-sugar.
- Achieve perfect muffin texture by carefully measuring flour. Over-packing results in dense muffins. For accuracy, use a food scale to measure 225 grams.
Variations
Switch Up Your Mini Muffins!
- Mixed Berry: Add pulsed frozen mixed berries (½ cup) on top of batter in muffin cavities. Swirl with a toothpick. Bake with a few extra minutes due to cold berries.
- Blueberry: Top batter with 6-8 wild frozen blueberries (they’re smaller in size) per muffin. Optionally, add lemon zest to the batter.
- Chocolate Chip: Mix 1 cup mini chocolate chips into dry ingredients.
Experiment with nuts, dried fruit, or spices for more variations!
Storage
Storing Mini Muffins
- Room Temperature: In an airtight container, 2-3 days.
- Refrigerator: In an airtight container, up to a week. Warm slightly before serving.
- Freezer: Freeze on baking sheet, store in freezer bag up to 3 months. Defrost or microwave briefly.
Tip: Apply butter and sugar topping before serving if stored long-term.
Quick Tip
Why Cool Muffins On A Cooling Rack?
The design of a cooling rack allows air to circulate all around the mini muffins, which can help prevent them from becoming soggy from the steam that they release while cooling.
More Breakfast Favorites:
Mini Muffins
These Mini Muffins deliver a burst of caramel-like sweetness from the light brown sugar, rounded out with a subtle hint of warmth from the cinnamon. The rich sour cream-and-vanilla-infused batter forms a tender, moist crumb, while the cinnamon-sugar topping provides an irresistible crispy, sugary crunch.
Equipment
- Mini Muffin Tin
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- ½ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup full-fat sour cream, at room temperature
- ¼ cup milk (whole milk preferred), at room temperature
- ¾ cup soft light brown sugar, packed
Dry Ingredients
- 1¾ cups white, all-purpose flour (Note 1)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cinnamon-Sugar Donut-Inspired Topping (OR Make a different muffin variation -- See Note 2)
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- PREP: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Generously coat a Mini Muffin Pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- WET: In a medium-sized bowl, add the eggs. Whisk. Add the remaining wet ingredients and whisk until smooth and emulsified.
- DRY: In a separate, larger bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Stir to mix.
- COMBINE: Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Whisk together until combined. Use a spatula to scrape the edges of the bowl. Be careful not to over-mix.
- BAKE: Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin filling cavities nearly to the top. Bake for 10-13 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean or with moist crumbs. Remove the muffin tin from the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes. Gently remove the muffins from the tin and place them onto a cooling rack. Allow the muffins to fully cool on the rack.
- SUGAR TOPPING: In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter. In another bowl, stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon. Dip the top of each cooled muffin into the melted butter, letting the excess drip off. Then dip the buttered muffin top into the cinnamon-sugar mixture, shaking off the excess. (Depending on how generously you top your muffins, you might have a bit leftover. Save any excess; once the butter hardens, spread it on toast and sprinkle with any remaining cinnamon-sugar!) Enjoy!
Video
Recipe Notes
Note 1: Flour: The key to nailing that perfect muffin texture? It's all about how you handle the flour. If you pack in too much, you'll end up with muffins that are dense and dry. My tip? Grab your mixing bowl and place it on a food scale. Spoon in the flour until you hit the magic number of 225 grams. Trust me, it's faster and more accurate than messing around with measuring cups! If you don't have a food scale, use a large spoon to spoon the flour into the measuring cup then use the back of a butter knife to level off the top.
Note 2: Muffin variations:
- Blueberry Muffins: We want to make sure that large blueberries don't overtake the miniature muffins. Use frozen wild blueberries, which are much smaller in size. After preparing the batter, add it to the muffin cavities and top each with about 6-8 wild blueberries. Swirl them into the batter using a toothpick. (For an extra burst of flavor, you can also add some lemon zest to the muffin batter and replace 1 teaspoon vanilla with 1 teaspoon pure lemon extract.)
- Chocolate Chip Muffins: Simply add 1 cup of mini chocolate chips to the dry ingredients and proceed with recipe as directed.
- Mixed Berry Muffins: Follow the original recipe to prepare the batter. Next, pulse 1/2 cup of frozen mixed berries in a food processor until they're broken into small pieces. Distribute the batter into the mini muffin cavities and spoon the crushed berries over each. Using a toothpick, gently swirl the berries into the batter. Bake as instructed, but allow a couple extra minutes due to the cold berries.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 79kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 65mg | Potassium: 21mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 79IU | Vitamin C: 0.03mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 0.3mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Thanks for sharing these mini muffins
You bet!
Very cool! This would make it a nice treat to a friend’s son coming up birthday party! The video makes it easy to follow too. Thanks.
OMG These mini muffins so great, Chelsea! And thanks for the video 😉
Thanks Olivia!!
These are adorable and I love how they don’t look easy, but after watching the video, I think I could do this! 🙂 I have read your ebook (awesome!) and I love your blog and photography! The short videos are so fun. What editing software do you use or camera? I have heard that go-pros work great but I haven’t tried one yet but really want to. Maybe you could do a post about it!
You are so sweet, thank you Adell! 🙂 Thank you so much for your kind compliments, they mean so much to me!! I use a 6d camera and edit in photoshop for blog photos. For the videos, I would love to do a post sometime when I feel like I’ve learned enough to!! This turkey video was my very first time ever doing a video and editing and I recognize I have SO much to learn! 🙂 I actually did it super budget — just used my iphone, built a tripod out of PVC pipe (tutorial here: http://thecraftyblogstalker.com/diy-overhead-camera-mount/) and then I edited on imovie on my phone. I hope that helps. As I learn more, I will keep some notes going to hopefully write about it all!
Thanks for the info! I can’t wait to try a video, such a fun element to add. And I think people will really love the quick, short videos. I am like you, a little impatient 😉 but if that means cute turkey muffins in October, no complaints here!
They are so much fun to make!! Thank you so much! Haha, yeah as fun as long recipe videos are, I just rarely have the patience to finish them! ?
These mini muffins are so delish, Chelsea!
Thank you so much Gayle! 🙂
I am new to your blog and absolutely love it! I’ve made a bunch of your recipes and I’m addicted!! Thank you so much for all the great dinner posts especially the salads and the crockpot ones..so much easier when you just don’t have the time but way better than cereal! Ha!! Got the kids & happy hubby. Cool video too. Thanks!!
This comment made my day!! So, so great to hear! 🙂 Haha — happy kids and happy husband is the best 🙂 Thanks again Claire!
Love mini muffins!
Thank you!!