14 Homemade Muffin Recipes for the Coziest Breakfast Ever

Requiring mostly just pantry staples and a bowl or two, these muffin recipes will start any day off right.

A tray and a plate of banana oatmeal muffins with a glass of sparkling water

Serious Eats / Morgan Hunt Glaze

Muffins are the epitome of an easy and satisfying breakfast. Most recipes rely on just a few ingredients—many of them pantry staples—and can often be made in one bowl, minimizing kitchen cleanup. Plus: Muffins can be easily baked ahead of time, making them a great grab-and-go breakfast. Below, we've gathered our favorite muffin recipes—including classic blueberry, banana oatmeal, and raisin bran—that will guarantee a delicious start to your day.

Love any of these recipes? Tap "Save" to add them to MyRecipes, our free tool to save and organize favorites from top food sites.

December 2020

  • Classic Blueberry Muffins

    20160608-blueberry-muffins-vicky-wasik.jpg
    Vicky Wasik

    Some common problems we’ve encountered with blueberry muffins is that they’re often much too sweet and the berries tend to sink to the bottom. Our recipe offers up a solution with a thicker batter that cuts back on the sugar. While the consistency of the batter helps hold the berries in place, we also like to add a spoonful of plain dough to the bottom of each cup to further prevent the berries from sinking. For a touch of sweetness, the muffins can be topped with sparkling sugar before baking.

  • Lemon–Poppy Seed Muffins

    Lemon poppy seed muffins stacked on a wooden surface, with a partially sliced muffin showing the interior

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

    For a muffin that truly packs a punch, toss plenty of lemon zest with sugar—which helps draw out the zest's fragrant oils—then beat the citrus-sugar mixture with room-temperature butter.

  • Apple Pie Muffins

    apple pie muffins on a white tray, with 3 muffins on a circular tray in the background. A clear glass of milk to the side on pink napkins.

    Serious Eats / Robby Lozano

    Studded with sweet-tart apple pieces and topped with a cinnamon-spiked crumble, these tender muffins deliver all the flavor of an apple pie packed into a muffin. They’re equally impressive as a Sunday brunch treat for guests or as an afternoon snack served alongside a hot cup of coffee.

  • Banana Oatmeal Muffins

    A tray and a plate of banana oatmeal muffins with a glass of sparkling water

    Serious Eats / Morgan Hunt Glaze

    Continue to 5 of 14 below
  • Raisin Bran Muffins

    20161205-bran-muffins-vicky-wasik-10.jpg
    Vicky Wasik

    A solid breakfast should be warm and hearty. That’s where Stella’s bran muffins come in. Instead of using cereal, they get their distinct bran flavor from wheat bran, which is mixed with boiling water to help prevent it from soaking up moisture from other ingredients in the batter. Adding some Greek yogurt into the mix keeps the batter thick, helping the muffins rise into their dome-like shape. Before baking, we like to sprinkle flax seeds or bran flakes on top for a nice crunch.

  • Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

    20160930-pumpkin-streusel-muffins-vicky-wasik-2.jpg
    Vicky Wasik

    There are very few pumpkin-flavored foods I enjoy, but these pumpkin streusel muffins are a rare exception. The batter is full of spices like cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg, offering warm notes to compliment the pumpkin purée. For added flavor and crunch, we top the muffins with sweet and nutty streusel that includes ingredients like brown sugar and green pumpkin seeds. Once baked, you’re left with tender and fragrant muffins that might just become your new favorite pumpkin treat.

  • Banana–Nut Muffins

    banana nut muffins on a yellow platter, with yellow napkins, a yellow tabletop and orange juice

    Serious Eats / Jen Causey

    These bakery-worthy muffins capture the very best of banana bread: They're tender, moist, fragrant, and just sweet enough.

  • Morning Glory Muffins

    Overhead view of muffins

    Serious Eats / Jen Causey

    These hearty breakfast muffins are studded with pecans, dried fruit, carrots, apples, and coconut. White whole wheat flour adds an earthy, nutty flavor to the batter while keeping the muffins tender. Fresh orange zest brings a nice tanginess, and orange juice helps moisten the batter.

    Continue to 9 of 14 below
  • Cheesecake Streusel Muffins

    20140508-one-bowl-baking-cheesecake-streusel-muffins-edit.jpg
    Yvonne Ruperti

    Cheesecake for breakfast? These muffins make that dream a reality. The center of each one is made up of a sweet and lemony cheesecake filling, and then finished with a buttery streusel. To add the cream cheese filling to the batter, grab a tablespoon of the cheese, dip it into the batter, then use another spoon to scrape the filling as deep into the batter as possible. With rich cheesecake flavor in every bite, they’re the perfect option for all you sweet breakfast lovers out there.

  • Vegan Chocolate-Coffee Muffins

    20140428-vegan-chocolate-muffin.JPG
    Carrie Vasios Mullins

    With a double dose of coffee in the form of a fresh brew and instant espresso powder, these muffins are quite the pick-me-up—and they just happen to be vegan. The absence of butter and eggs creates a crumb that differs from the traditional texture of a muffin and instead is rich, fudgy, and decadent. Since the batter is on the sticky side, you’ll want to use paper liners instead of just greasing a muffin tin. For chocolate chip-topped alternative that's made richer with eggs and milk, check out Yvonne's espresso chocolate muffins.

  • Honey Corn Muffins

    20140331-288288-honey-corn-muffins-edit.jpg
    Yvonne Ruperti

    Like cornbread in muffin form, these muffins lean on honey for a touch of sweetness. The mix consists of some typical muffin ingredients—flour, sugar, eggs, milk—while also incorporating cornmeal for the corn flavor and butter for a tender crumb. The batter leads to earthy and golden corn muffins in just 20 minutes, which are best served with a sweet and simple honey butter on the side.

  • Brown Sugar Berry Crumble Muffins

    Yvonne Ruperti

    Though rich with brown sugar, these muffins get a tang from yogurt, along with a fruity boost from berries. You can mix and match berries to your liking, from blackberries to blueberries to raspberries. The muffins get a sweet and buttery topping in the form of a brown sugar crumble. They’re tender, moist, and—dare we say it?—another way to sneak some fruit into your diet.

    Continue to 13 of 14 below
  • Earl Grey Lemon Muffins

    20131015-wakeandbake-earl-grey-muffin-recipe.JPG
    Carrie Vasios

    When it comes to Earl Grey tea, you either love it or you hate it. But if you’re a fan, then these muffins are for you. The recipe calls for three tablespoons of loose leaf Earl Grey tea—you’ll want to seek out a blend that’s strong, with pronounced notes of bergamot, so that the flavor really comes through. However, the tea itself isn’t thrown into the batter; instead, we steep it in milk and then incorporate that steeped milk in with the rest of the ingredients. The muffins get their lemon flavor from lemon zest, resulting in a breakfast that’s bright and tasty, with a distinct tea flavor all throughout.

  • Pineapple Coconut Muffins

    Yvonne Ruperti

    The iconic pairing of pineapple and coconut gives these muffins a tropical twist. The coconut is incorporated in two forms: coconut milk and coconut flakes, the latter of which are added in the batter and also sprinkled on top before baking. Meanwhile, pineapple cubes offer a fruity bite. The juicy, sweet, and tender muffins will surely leave you feeling like you're on island time.