Basic Breakfast Muffins

These are the muffins to make when you’re out of eggs, out of butter, and out of patience. Six ingredients that most pantries already have, no creaming, no separate mixing of butter and sugar. The result is a soft, lightly sweet muffin that tastes clean rather than indulgent.

With no fat or eggs in the mix, honey and applesauce carry the load. Honey holds moisture and adds floral sweetness, while a small amount of applesauce gives the crumb just enough tenderness to keep things from going dry. Vanilla rounds out what could otherwise taste flat.

Mix the wet and dry separately, then fold them together with a few decisive strokes. Stop the moment you don’t see dry pockets of flour. Overworking the batter develops gluten, which is great for bread and terrible for muffins. The crumb gets tough and tunnels form through the middle.

These keep well at room temperature and freeze beautifully, which makes them ideal for batch-baking on Sunday so weekday breakfasts come out of the freezer.

Serve with jam, peanut butter, or just a smear of butter for someone who is not avoiding it.

Pro Tips

• Lumpy batter is correct batter. If your batter is smooth, you’ve gone too far.
• Fill cups three-quarters full for properly domed tops. Fuller and they spill, lower and they don’t dome.
• Test for doneness with a toothpick at 25 minutes. Ovens vary, and these can dry out fast if pushed past done.
• Cool 5 minutes in the tin before transferring to a rack. Lifting too soon tears the bottoms.
• Reheat frozen muffins for 20 seconds in the microwave. They taste fresh-baked again.

Variations

• Stir 1 teaspoon of cinnamon into the dry ingredients for warm spice notes.
• Fold in 1 cup of fresh blueberries, raspberries, or chopped strawberries for berry muffins.
• Replace half the flour with whole wheat flour for a heartier bite.