Basic Buttermilk Muffin Recipe

These basic buttermilk muffin recipe is absolutely versatile: by changing the flavor additives in it, you can get dozens of different flavors and combinations. This is a kind of base for creating any kind of muffin – from classic vanilla to exquisite spicy ones with candied orange, blueberries, lemon zest, chocolate chips, strawberry, cranberries, and so on, whatever your imagination is able to produce.

What is the difference between muffin and cupcake?

The main difference is the principle of kneading the dough and the ingredients. For cupcakes, softened butter is mixed with sugar, then eggs are added one at a time and the rest of the ingredients are added according to the recipe. For muffins, the liquid ingredients (they often contain vegetable oil rather than butter) and the dry ingredients are mixed separately, and then both mixtures are combined.

Also, theoretically, the differences include the size and origin of muffins and cupcakes, but in my opinion, this is no longer so important.

How to make muffins with berries?

If you are making muffins with berries, I advise you to add them already in the molds: fill them with dough to ⅓, put the berries, fill them with another ⅓. This is done so that the berries do not leak juice and color the dough during mixing.

Although in some cases this effect will look beautiful, but, for example, with blueberries or black currants, the dough may turn blue or greenish.

You can also add frozen berries directly to the dough, then mix it quickly, so that the berries do not have time to leak their juice and color the dough.

What can I use instead of buttermilk?

If you don’t have buttermilk, you can substitute low-fat unsweetened yogurt or sour cream. Alternatively, you can make homemade buttermilk by adding 1 tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar to the milk (the amount of milk is equal to the amount of buttermilk in the recipe).

This amount of products makes about 14–16 muffins.

Ingredients:

200 ml of buttermilk
50 ml of odorless vegetable oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
150 g sugar
200 g wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda

1. Turn on the oven to preheat to 180°C.
2. Mix the liquid ingredients (buttermilk, oil, egg, vanilla extract).
3. Mix the dry ingredients (sugar, flour, baking soda).
4. Combine both mixtures, mix with a mixer, whisk or silicone spatula until smooth.
5. Put the dough into the molds, filling them by ⅔.
6. Bake at 180°C for about 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Enjoy your meal!