Plain muffins

Tender plain muffins made with oil and ready for your favourite additions.

Twelve golden muffins cool on a rack beside the empty muffin pan.
Makes
12 standard muffins
Heat
220°C
Baking time
15–20 min
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Plain muffins

Makes
12 standard muffins
Heat
220°C
Baking time
15–20 min
United States Supplement

Plain muffins

Method

  1. 01 · Prepare

    Before mixing

    Use: Pan + oven

    Heat oven; grease wells or grease paper liners.

    Ready when: Prepared 12-well pan.

    A baker greases a twelve-well muffin pan.
    01 PrepareGrease the muffin wells before making the batter.

  2. 02 · Combine

    About 20 seconds

    Use: Dry + Wet

    Whisk dry ingredients; beat wet ingredients separately. Combine briefly.

    Ready when: Lumpy batter; dry flour moistened.

    A spoon turns through lumpy muffin batter in a mixing bowl.
    02 CombineMix only until the flour is moistened; small lumps are fine.

  3. 03 · Portion + bake

    15–20 minutes

    Use: Batter

    Fill wells two-thirds to three-quarters full; bake.

    Ready when: Toothpick from a central muffin comes out clean.

    Muffin batter portioned into a twelve-well pan.
    03 Portion + bakeDivide the batter evenly among the prepared wells.

  4. 04 · Cool

    Until cool

    Use: Muffins

    Remove to a rack as soon as safely handled.

    Ready when: Moist, tender crumb.

    Twelve golden muffins cool on a rack beside the empty muffin pan.
    04 CoolMove the muffins to a rack after their brief rest in the pan.

What to look for

StageLook / feel forNeeds attention
MixingSome lumps remain.Stirring until perfectly smooth.

Troubleshooting

If you see thisLikely causeWhat to do nowNext time
Tough crumbOvermixed batterReduce mixing next batch.Stop once flour is moistened.

Keep individual portions or batter depth unchanged when scaling; baking time does not scale with batch weight. For blueberry muffins, fold in 150 g blueberries just before portioning. Bake until the cake beside a berry tests clean. For chocolate-chip muffins, fold 100 g chocolate chips into the finished batter. For lemon–poppy seed muffins, add 10 mL finely grated lemon zest and 20 mL poppy seeds. Use zest for flavour without changing the liquid balance. For cranberry–orange muffins, fold in 120 g chopped cranberries and 10 mL finely grated orange zest. Check the cake between fruit pieces for doneness.

Source and measurement notes

Uses the source’s all-purpose-flour and oil options. Alcohol-free vanilla replaces the optional extract; optional topping sugar is omitted.

Recipe

Plain muffins

A plain muffin batter made with all-purpose flour and oil.

How do I make it?

  1. Prepare the tin

    Before mixing

    Heat the oven to 220°C. Grease all 12 muffin holes, or put in paper liners and grease those.

    A baker greases a twelve-well muffin pan.
    Grease the muffin wells before making the batter.

    Ready when: Prepared 12-well pan.

  2. Mix wet and dry separately

    About 20 seconds

    Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in one bowl; beat the milk, oil, eggs and alcohol-free vanilla in another. Stir them together for about 20 seconds, stopping when the dry flour is wet even if the batter is lumpy.

    A spoon turns through lumpy muffin batter in a mixing bowl.
    Mix only until the flour is moistened; small lumps are fine.

    Ready when: Lumpy batter; dry flour moistened.

  3. Fill and bake

    15–20 minutes

    Fill each muffin hole two-thirds to three-quarters full, then bake. Check a muffin near the centre of the tin with a toothpick; it should come out clean.

    Muffin batter portioned into a twelve-well pan.
    Divide the batter evenly among the prepared wells.

    Ready when: Toothpick from a central muffin comes out clean.

  4. Cool on a rack

    Until cool

    As soon as you can safely handle the muffins, take them out of the tin and put them on a rack to cool.

    Twelve golden muffins cool on a rack beside the empty muffin pan.
    Move the muffins to a rack after their brief rest in the pan.

    Ready when: Moist, tender crumb.

What can go wrong, and how can I fix it?

What you noticeLikely causeWhat to do
Tough crumbOvermixed batterReduce mixing next batch. Stop once flour is moistened.
Useful recipe notes

Keep individual portions or batter depth unchanged when scaling; baking time does not scale with batch weight. For blueberry muffins, fold in 150 g blueberries just before portioning. Bake until the cake beside a berry tests clean. For chocolate-chip muffins, fold 100 g chocolate chips into the finished batter. For lemon–poppy seed muffins, add 10 mL finely grated lemon zest and 20 mL poppy seeds. Use zest for flavour without changing the liquid balance. For cranberry–orange muffins, fold in 120 g chopped cranberries and 10 mL finely grated orange zest. Check the cake between fruit pieces for doneness.

See the detailed method and ratios in , or follow ingredients through the .

Ingredient proportions & recipe details

Plain muffins at a glance

Makes
12 standard muffins
Heat
220°C
Baking time
15–20 min
How do the ingredient proportions compare?

Percentages compare each listed weight with the combined flour weight (100%). These are ingredient ratios, not dough hydration; milk, eggs and fillings contain other ingredients as well as water.

Formula componentGramsFlour = 100%
All-purpose flour240 g100%
Granulated sugar100 g41.7%
Table salt3 g1.2%
Baking powder14 g5.8%
Milk227 g94.6%
Vegetable oil50 g20.8%
Eggs100 g41.7%