Glazed Lemon Muffins

Glazed Lemon Muffins

However your day is going today, it’s about to get better. I can confidently say these lemon muffins are some of the best you will ever taste. Follow the recipe exactly, weigh your ingredients and you’ll be enjoying these soft, tender muffins in no time.

These delightful muffins are perfect for breakfast, brunch or an anytime snack. I love enjoying one with a cup of strawberry or chamomile tea.

Print Recipe
Glazed Lemon Muffins
Soft, tender lemon muffins glazed with lemon icing
Course Breakfast, Brunch
Keyword lemon, muffins
Servings
muffins
Ingredients
Muffins
Icing
Course Breakfast, Brunch
Keyword lemon, muffins
Servings
muffins
Ingredients
Muffins
Icing
Instructions
Muffins
  1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line a 12-serving muffin pan with tulip baking liners.* (You can also use standard muffin liners. They hold less batter so you may end up with a couple of extra muffins.)
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  3. In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and lemon zest, with an electric mixer, until light and fluffy.
  4. Add eggs one at a time and beat until well combined.
  5. Add extracts and beat until well combined.
  6. On low speed, mix in flour mixture in two additions alternating with half of sour cream after each addition. Mix just until combined. Batter will be thick.
  7. Divide batter evenly into muffin liners. (If using standard muffin liners, fill 3/4 full.)
  8. Bake at 375ºF for 5 minutes. Turn oven heat down to 350ºF and continue baking muffins until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, about 12-16 more minutes. Do not over bake.
  9. Transfer muffins to a cooling rack to cool completely. Brush icing onto muffin tops with a small pastry brush.
Icing
  1. Whisk icing powdered sugar, melted butter, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice together until smooth. Add additional lemon juice until desired consistency is reached.
Recipe Notes

*To find  tulip muffin liners, click here.

To find floral tulip muffin liners, click here.

Sweet Cornbread Muffins

These soft, tender, fluffy, sweet cornbread muffins are my favorite version of cornbread ever! No hate to the crumbly, savory cornbread that some people prefer. I like that too! Coincidentally, the latter has fans who leave the most heated comments on my cornbread posts. Maybe their cornbread is making them cranky. This cornbread recipe is delightful and would cheer up anyone, especially when it’s served warm and slathered with butter and honey. Positively divine.

I used a square muffin pan because it makes the muffins look absolutely adorable. The pan is also known as a brownie pan. The pan details are in the recipe notes. Feel fee to use a standard round muffin pan instead.

Print Recipe
Sweet Cornbread Muffins
Soft, tender, fluffy, sweet cornbread muffins
Keyword cornbread, muffins
Servings
square muffins
Ingredients
Keyword cornbread, muffins
Servings
square muffins
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour a 12-serving square muffin pan, also known as a brownie pan.* (You can also use a traditional round muffin pan. The baking time may be a little shorter.)
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, sour cream, oil and butter until smooth.
  4. Add egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix just until combined. A few lumps are okay.
  5. Transfer batter to prepared pan, filling wells halfway full. (Fill 2/3 full if using a round muffin pan.)
  6. Bake until edges turn golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 17-20 minutes. Do not over bake.
  7. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes them transfer muffins to a cooling rack. Serve warm or room temperature.
Recipe Notes

*I used a Fat Daddio's square muffin pan. It's available at kitchen stores and online.  If you can't find that one, Chefmade also makes a good one. The cavities on that one are a little smaller, so the baking time may be shorter. To find it, click here.

If you're using a dark colored pan, reduce your oven temperature to 325ºF

Pumpkin Cinnamon Mini Muffins

My mom had a cupboard in the kitchen containing a few old cookbooks that she rarely used. As a child, I used to enjoy perusing them and looking at the baked treats. Some of the cookbooks were so old, they had black and white photos or even just drawings of the food. The ones with drawings interested me because they depicted smiling children enjoying the treats.

When I started learning to bake, I found a recipe for French Breakfast Puffs in one of those old books. The title sounded so fancy, but they were really just simple muffins dunked in butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar. I have no idea what the name of the cookbook was or what happened to it, but the delicious muffin recipe stuck around for a while. I’ve tweaked the recipe so many times over the years, and most recently, I added pumpkin to it. These Pumpkin Cinnamon Mini Muffins are one of the best versions I’ve created. The inside texture of the muffins is soft and moist and it contrasts nicely with the slight crunch you get from the cinnamon sugar on the outside. They look so cute too, like little pumpkins, and they definitely make children smile!

To watch the TikTok video of these mini muffins being made, click here.

Print Recipe
Pumpkin Cinnamon Mini Muffins
Servings
mini muffins
Ingredients
Muffins
Topping
Servings
mini muffins
Ingredients
Muffins
Topping
Instructions
Muffins
  1. Grease and flour a 24-serving *mini muffin pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.
  3. In a large bowl, beat sugar, oil, egg and pumpkin purée until smooth.
  4. Stir in flour mixture just until combined. A few lumps are okay.
  5. Transfer batter to prepared pan, about a scant 2 tablespoons of batter in each muffin cup.
  6. Bake until toothpick inserted into muffins comes out clean, about 11-13 minutes. Do not over bake! Be diligent, since over baking can happen very quickly with mini muffins.
  7. Let muffins cool in pan for 5 minutes. Turn muffins out onto a cooling rack.
Topping
  1. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl.
  2. Dunk warm muffins in melted butter, then roll in cinnamon sugar.
Recipe Notes

To find the mini muffin pan I used, click here.

Pumpkin Spice Mini Loaves with Caramel Filling

pumpkin spices mini loaves with caramel filling

In early September, I saw someone announce the fall season on social media. In addition to people pointing out that it was too early for the announcement, the word police corrected the person with the word autumn. Since both terms are correct, we can call the season whatever we prefer. I think autumn is a pretty sounding word, so I’ll use it for the rest of this post. Whatever you call it, these Pumpkin Spice Mini Loaves are a perfect little celebration of the season. They have just the right amount of pumpkin spices, making them so fragrant that your kitchen will smell like cozy autumn heaven.

pumpkin spices mini loaves with caramel filling

I call them loaves because I originally made them in mini loaf pans. They’re so cute and delicious that I often give them as holiday gifts. This year I decided to try them in ramekins and I loved the results! I used 6-ounce ramekins, but you can use 8-ounce ramekins, any size mini loaf pans, a muffin pan or even an 8 or 9-inch loaf pan. Keep in mind that baking times will differ. To find the ramekins I used, click here.

Print Recipe
Pumpkin Spice Mini Loaves with Caramel Filling
Mini loaves of tender pumpkin bread with caramel filling and luscious cream cheese frosting
Servings
mini loaves
Ingredients
Pumpkin Spice Mini Loaves
Cream Cheese Frosting
Servings
mini loaves
Ingredients
Pumpkin Spice Mini Loaves
Cream Cheese Frosting
Instructions
Pumpkin Spice Mini Loaves
  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour seven 6-ounce ramekins or six 8-ounce ramekins or any loaf pans of your choice.
  2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Set aside.
  3. In a separate large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
  4. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well combined.
  5. Beat in pumpkin and vanilla until combined.
  6. Stir in flour mixture just until combined.
  7. Divide batter evenly into prepared ramekins. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Do not overbake. (Mini loaves or muffins bake for 15-25 minutes, depending on size. 8 or 9-inch loaf bakes for 40-50 minutes)
  8. Cool completely if serving in ramekins or remove from pans after cooling for 10 minutes. Continue to cool on wire rack.
  9. Make 3/4-inch well in the center of each loaf. Fill with caramel sauce. (For an 8 or 9-inch loaf, poke multiple holes with a skewer. Fill with caramel sauce.)
  10. Top with cream cheese frosting and pumpkin seeds
Cream Cheese Frosting
  1. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter together with an electric mixer until smooth.
  2. Add vanilla extract and salt and beat until combined.
  3. Gradually add powdered sugar and beat at medium speed until combined.
  4. Add heavy cream and beat at low speed until combined.

Fairy Puffs

Fairy Puffs sugared mini muffins wtih edible flowers

My dad used to take me on walks in the woods to look for fairy rings when I was a child. I wanted to see a real fairy so badly! I read a book about fairies, hoping to learn more about them. Fairies love little cakes, milk, honey and butter so I’m sure these Fairy Puffs would be fairy approved.

My Fairy Puffs recipe is loosely based on an old favorite mini muffin recipe. I tweaked it quite a bit, including the addition of pink dragonfruit powder. Dragonfruit has a subtle flavor, so the bright fuchsia powder is mostly for color. But oh what a beautiful color it is! You can find dragonfruit powder in healthy food stores or online. To find the dragonfruit powder, also known as pink pitaya powder, I used, click here.

fairy puff muffins

Decorating these little cuties was so entertaining! After sampling multiple variations of sparkling sugar and cinnamon sugar, I decided that dipping the bottoms of the muffins in butter and cinnamon sugar, then dipping the tops in butter and sparkling sugar gave them the perfect balance of sugar and spice. I had purchased some edible flowers a couple of days prior, and they added a pretty, magical touch. The flowers I used are called bachelor’s buttons and I got them at a local gourmet flower seller.

sugared mini muffins with edible flowers

Print Recipe
Fairy Puffs
Course Breakfast, Brunch
Keyword cake, muffins
Servings
mini muffins
Ingredients
Fairy Puffs
Topping
Course Breakfast, Brunch
Keyword cake, muffins
Servings
mini muffins
Ingredients
Fairy Puffs
Topping
Instructions
Fairy Puffs
  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour a 24 serving mini muffin pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, dragonfruit powder, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
  4. Add egg and beat until smooth.
  5. Add flour mixture and milk alternately in two additions and mix just until combined.
  6. Transfer batter to prepared muffin pan, filling muffin cups about 3/4 full.
  7. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of muffins comes out clean, about 12-14 minutes. (Be careful not to over bake. Check a few minutes early. Small muffins can dry out easily.)
  8. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Remove puffs from pan and transfer to cooling rack. (Loosen puffs with a small offset spatula or butter knife if necessary.)
Topping
  1. Combine granulated sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl.
  2. Place colored sparkling sugar crystals in another shallow bowl.
  3. Dip the bottoms of each puff in melted butter, then into cinnamon sugar mixture.
  4. Dip the tops of each puff in melted butter, then into sparkling sugar.
  5. Decorate with edible flowers if desired.
Recipe Notes

*To purchase dragonfruit powder, click here.

 **To purchase pink sparkling sugar crystals, click here.

 

Strawberry Shortcake Crumble Muffins

strawberrry shortcake crumble muffins

Have you noticed the strawberry shortcake crumble topping trend? I noticed many people sharing various versions of the crumble recipe all over Tiktok. I’ve seen the topping on cake, cupcakes and countless other desserts. Most people seem to make it using strawberry gelatin mix and vanilla pudding mix. The version I’m sharing here uses freeze dried strawberries instead. I’m not opposed to using gelatin mix, I just seriously love the tart, natural flavor of freeze dried strawberries.

This topping is irresistible on these tender strawberry muffins. I wanted to pile on as much crumble topping as possible so I used tulip baking cups. They’re made of grease-proof parchment paper squares. You can buy them online or make them yourself with squares of parchment. You can use the link provided at the end of the recipe to find the ones I used. Keep in mind, if you use standard muffin liners, you’ll use less batter and topping for each muffin, so you’ll end up with a few more muffins.

I used fresh strawberries for the puree in the muffins, but feel free to use frozen, defrosted strawberries if you cant get fresh ones.

Strawberry shortcake crumble muffins

Print Recipe
Strawberry Shortcake Crumble Muffins
Strawberry muffins topped with strawberry shortcake crumble
Servings
muffins
Ingredients
Strawberry Shortcake Crumble Topping
Strawberry Muffins
Servings
muffins
Ingredients
Strawberry Shortcake Crumble Topping
Strawberry Muffins
Instructions
Strawberry Shortcake Crumble Topping
  1. In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt.
  2. Cut cubed butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or with your fingers until it forms pea size pieces.
  3. Place half of crumble mixture into another medium bowl and combine with freeze dried strawberries. Mix well and press together with your fingers to form pea sized pieces.
  4. Gently combine the two bowls of crumble together. Set aside in refrigerator while preparing muffin batter.
Strawberry Muffins
  1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line a 12 serving muffin tin with tulip baking liners or parchment squares.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
  4. Add eggs and extract. Beat until well combined.
  5. Add dry ingredients and beat on low speed, just until combined.
  6. Add buttermilk, strawberry puree and food color. Beat on low speed, just until combined.
  7. Divide batter evenly into muffin liners.
  8. Sprinkle crumble topping evenly over batter.
  9. Bake at 375ºF for 5 minutes, then turn oven temperature down to 350ºF and continue baking until topping is golden and a toothpick inserted in center is clean, about 13-17 more minutes.
Recipe Notes

To find tulip baking cups, click here

To find floral tulip baking cups, as seen on TikTok, click here