Easy Bakery Style Vanilla Muffins
Looking for a quick and delicious muffin recipe that the whole family will love? Today I’m sharing my favorite Easy Bakery Style Vanilla Muffins. They come together quickly, they’re versatile enough to top with any mix-ins you want, and the outcome is always amazingly sweet and moist!
Table of Contents
Using a cake mix to make muffins is a fabulous way to get the perfect bakery style taste and texture.
This vanilla muffin recipe is also so easy to make and allows you to bake a batch even on the busiest days. They truly are the best vanilla muffins.
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What You Need for This Recipe
- Vanilla Cake Mix: This is the perfect starting point for a moist and super delicious muffin with classic vanilla flavor.
- All Purpose Flour: Added to give the muffins a denser structure then traditional cupcakes.
- Baking Powder: While there are leavening agents in the cake mix, adding a bit more helps to give them a great rise.
- Vegetable Oil: Adding it to the mixture gives them a soft and tender bite. Melted butter can also be used in place of the oil.
- Vanilla Bean Paste {or vanilla extract}: Using vanilla bean paste in the batter gives it delicious vanilla flavor and gorgeous flecks of vanilla bean throughout. You can also use the inside of vanilla beans that you purchase in the spice aisle of the grocery store.
- Sanding Sugar: Added to give the top of the muffins a wonderful texture and shine. Vanilla sugar would be a wonderful substitution for this ingredient.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Add-In Ideas
This is the perfect base muffin recipe that allows you to really make them your own with fun add-in ideas.
- Fresh or Frozen Berries would be wonderful mixed into the batter. Try juicy blueberries, raspberries, blackberries or diced strawberries.
- Zest from a Lemon or Lime would add another element of flavor that goes perfectly with vanilla.
- Chocolate Chips can be added to the batter or sprinkled on the top for a creamy chocolate element.
- Fruit Jam or Curd can be added to the center of a muffin for a fun surprise that everyone will go crazy for.
- Crumb Topping would be used instead of the sanding sugar for another texture element and buttery flavor.
How To Make Vanilla Muffins
1.Combine the cake mix, flour and baking powder in a large bowl and whisk. Then add the remaining ingredients, except for the sanding sugar. Stir the ingredients together just until combined, making sure to not over mix.
2. Use a large cookie scoop {or about a 1/4 cup} to fill the muffin tin cups 3/4 full of muffin batter. The muffin cups should be lined with paper liners or nonstick cooking spray.
3. Add a sprinkle of sanding sugar to the top of each muffin.
4. Bake in a 375 degree preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes on a wire rack. You can tell the muffins are done when a toothpick comes out without batter or the muffin tops are golden brown.
Cool in the tins for 5-7 minutes, then move to a wire rack.
Expert Tips
- Line the muffin pan with cupcake liners. Muffin liners allow you to easily remove the simple vanilla muffins from the pan and helps with easy cleanup.
- Use room-temperature ingredients. Doing so allows you to easily mix the ingredients together and helps to give them a fluffy texture and moist crumbs.
- Mix the ingredients by hand. It is important not to over mix muffins; mixing by hand allows you to control this much easier than using an electric mixer.
- Use a large ice cream scoop to measure out the batter. This is so important in making sure that all of the muffins are the same size and bake evenly.
- Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes before removing the cupcake liner. Doing so will ensure that the liner doesn’t stick to the muffin and comes off easily.
Storing/Freezing
Store – Store leftover fluffy vanilla muffins in an airtight container for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for 4 days.
Freeze -These muffins will freeze well for up to 3 months. I suggest wrapping each cooled muffin in plastic wrap and storing in a freezer bag. This also makes it easy to grab one muffin at a time.
Recipe FAQs
The fluffiest muffins can easily be accomplished by not over mixing the batter and being sure that you have the correct amount of flour. Adding too much baking mix to the batter will result in a heavier and more dense muffin that can also be a little dry.
The simple answer is that the batter was over mixed. It is SUPER important to be sure that you are only mixing the ingredients until just combined. I encourage you to mix the batter by hand so that you can easily control when to stop mixing.
There are a few things you can do to ensure you get a moist muffin. Baking in a cupcake liner will help because it creates a barrier between the hot pan and batter.
Also be sure to have the dry ingredients whisked and add the wet ingredients at one time. Finally, do not over bake the muffins. Remove from the oven once they are baked through and the top is golden brown.
Although these sweet muffins are great on their own, they are also wonderful with other easy breakfast recipes and a cup of coffee.
Serve easy vanilla muffins with Cheesy Ham Casserole or Pigs in a Blanket Casserole for a delicious breakfast.
Do you love muffin recipes? Try these…
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Easy Bakery Style Vanilla Muffins
Ingredients
Muffin Batter
- 1 box vanilla cake mix {15.25 ounces}
- 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 large eggs
- ⅔ cup milk
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract {or vanilla bean paste}
- ¼ cup sanding sugar
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°. Line 12 muffin tins with cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl combine the cake mix, flour and baking powder, whisk to combine. Add the eggs, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Stir until combined.
- Scoop the batter into the lined muffins tins using a large cookie scoop {filling 3/4 full}. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with a tablespoon of crumb mixture and bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with only a few crumbs {no raw batter}.
- Cool in the tins for 5-7 minutes, then move to a wire rack. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days or in the refrigerator for 4 days. Freeze muffins for up to 3 months.
Video
Notes
- Don’t skip the step of lining the muffin pan with cupcake liners. Muffin liners allow you to easily remove the simple vanilla muffins from the pan and helps with easy cleanup.
- Use room-temperature ingredients. Doing so allows you to easily mix the ingredients together and helps to give them a fluffy texture and moist crumbs.
- Mix the ingredients by hand. It is important not to over mix muffins; mixing by hand allows you to control this much easier than using an electric mixer.
- 1 cup of Fresh or Frozen Berries
- Zest from one Lemon or Lime
- 1 cup Chocolate Chips
- 1 cup Fruit Jam or Curd
- Crumb Topping
