Muffins are an easy breakfast treat. Made the night before or fresh out of the oven, muffins are best served warm.
To heat up your muffins, wrap with foil and heat for four to five minutes in a 450°F preheated oven, or wrap in a paper towel and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Before you begin: want tips on heavenly, fluffy muffins and abandoning the soggy muffin-bottom blues? Check out our guide here.
Banana Nut Muffins
When my bananas start to get really ripe, I either bake a banana bread or freeze them for future recipes.
These sprouted wheat coconut cocoa banana muffins strike the perfect balance between sweet and healthy! They are full of delicious and wholesome ingredients, like dark chocolate, coconut, cocoa powder, and sprouted wheat flour.
Carrot Muffins
Carrot cake is a favorite in my home. The last time I made them, I added a swirl of cream cheese frosting on top.
Then the argument ensued: were they muffins or cupcakes? Either way, they were delicious.
Carrot Muffins – Get the Recipe Now
If you want to stick to a healthier breakfast, I’d say avoid the cream cheese frosting!
Raspberry Muffins
Instead of the traditional blueberry muffin, try using raspberries or blackberries or use all three for a berry mixture.
Vegan Raspberry Lemon Muffins – Get the Recipe Now
Besides a load of good taste, you’ll get the added benefit of antioxidants and tons of vitamins.
These are also particularly delicious topped with homemade lemon curd.
Make our vegan version of fruity raspberry muffins, with perfect zings of citrus!
Chocolate Chip Muffins
Chocolate for breakfast? Why not, when you can enjoy these delicious chocolate chip muffins.
It’s like a hearty chocolate chip oatmeal cookie, but as a deliciously fluffy muffin!
Pumpkin Nut Muffins
Who says pumpkin is just for fall? Enjoy these pumpkin muffins at any time of year.
They are incredibly moist, thanks to the loads of fall squash included in the ingredients.
About Jennifer Swartvagher
Jennifer is an experienced journalist and author. Her work has been featured on TODAY Parents, The New York Times Blog, BlogHer, Scary Mommy, and scores of other parenting and cooking publications.
Awesome recipes! You practically had my mouth watering mentioning the carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. I’m definitely saving that one for the next time the family wants something sweet.
I also really enjoyed the banana nut take these classic breakfast treats. I always get discouraged from making the bread because for some reason bread is my enemy, but this recipe feels easy and mess-up-proof enough even I can’t destroy it! Thank you for this article!
I love muffins anytime of the day, but they are good for a breakfast on the go. The chocolate recipe is my favorite and then banana. I like traditional ones and although big ones look great, they can be tricky to eat, so bite size ones are better for me.
It’s a good way to use up bananas, and cupcake sized breads tend to keep well and you can freeze them if need be.
We make a style very similar to the banana one, except we use oatmeal.
You would be amazed at how well they freeze!
I eat them almost every day.
I am actually out of oatmeal so I am going to try this batch exactly how you describe it.
I couldn’t help myself but bookmark the page, am thankful really, for these awesome ideas, I love baking, so, in this particular area, I know I won’t go wrong 😉 …the banana nut and chocolate chip example really caught my eye, the presentation too is quite awesome, somehow ruffled my feathers in a good way, now I know how to layer/present the table with such wonderful niceties. 😉
When my bananas get too ripe, I either feed them to the dog or make banana nut bread, so these muffins will be a nice change to the normal routine. However, the recipe I want to try the most is the one for the raspberry muffins; the tartness of the fruit that balances the sweetness of the dessert is appealing to me. For the carrot cake muffins, was your cream cheese frosting homemade and if so, how did you make it? Thank you for the article!
Cream Cheese Frosting
4 ounces unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and cream cheese. Once combined, slowly add powdered sugar until smooth. Add vanilla and mix until well incorporated.
Those pumpkin-based ones look delicious. I prefer to place some vegetables and fruit in them for breakfast because it’s a little healthier. I don’t like carrots, though they’d be perfect to add to the pumpkin, but I bet zucchini would work well.
I”m bananas for these banana muffins! Aahah, sorry, I had to. But seriously, I can tell I will enjoy this recipe. Quick question, though: could I add more spices to the pumpkin version without affecting the consistency?
Yes, adjust the spices according to your tastes.
I have made some pumpkin spice cookies a long time ago. I’m now thinking about making it into a muffin version. I love to eat these for breakfast but then I would eat them any time of day. All of these recipes look simple enough to make. How could I possibly mess this up? Time to get cooking!
Muffins are always enticing. All of these look good. The little ones, bite size would be dangerous. End up eating the whole batch of these. The pumpkin nut and banana ones too. Probably all of them. I don’t think I’ve ever had a muffin I didn’t love. There is only one problem with them, they widen my hips and add to my butt. Other than that I don’t see any problems with them. This is why I can only look at pictures of them.
Speaking of muffins, I actually had a couple of them at dinner earlier this evening. They weren’t that good, but I was dining at a relatively lackluster buffet. I’m partial to the classic chocolate chip variety, but I’ve been known to grab a blueberry from time to time. I love these recipes, though. They all sound pretty good!
These look absolutely amazing, especially the carrot one! Even though I probably won’t be able to make and eat these since I am vegan and all of them eaither had eggs, butter, or milk in them, I still quiet enjoyed the pictures. Do you think I could still make these with some substitutions? Like applesauce instead of eggs?
P.S. In the first one, you forgot to put the egg in the ingredients list though. Just to let you know.
What are muffins but naked/healthy cupcakes? Wonderful recipes, by the way; I think my favorite out of all of these would be the chocolate chip one or banana nut one (I like my mine sweet). I’ve never heard of anyone putting raspberries in their breakfast grab-and-go, but I bet the tartness of the raspberries would go great with the sugar that’s already in these tiny cakes!
They also make great house-warming gifts too; who doesn’t love receiving a basket of muffins when they are so busy with unpacking and cleaning? They make for the best treats that anyone of any age can enjoy.
Thanks for sharing the recipes!
Reading these comments, I’m surprised raspberry examples aren’t more common! I eat them fairly regularly at a breakfast cafe down by my work, and I’ve prepared them myself a few times. My only tip for anyone who decides to bake them would be to keep in mind that your berries will add moisture to the batter, especially if you are using riper berries. You may want to adjust your cooking time accordingly, if you dislike a moist texture.
I’ve never heard of raspberry muffins, but they look delicious! It might also be good to make the banana nut version and throw in some raspberries. I have at least a half dozen bananas in the freezer just waiting to be used.
Have you ever used whole wheat flour to make these a bit healthier? I would like to make some to have on hand as a quick breakfast but would feel somewhat guilty consuming the calories since my normal breakfast is a bowl of plain oatmeal. Also, I imagine I could substitute Splenda for the sugar.
The chocolate chip muffins look killer. Plus the ingredient list isn;t too lengthy so I think I can manage to try these with the items I have in my house. I think I might start baking these once school starts up again because I have a bad habit of skipping breakfast. I think maybe if I am able to bake (which I love) I’ll be able to justify eating them so I wouldn’t waste food.
I especially enjoy a savory muffin for breakfast, but fruit and nuts will also do. These ideas are really great and offer you more options when you just don’t know what to make anymore. Breakfast making can become an ordeal when you have a family of children who are easily bored.
I have some leftover bananas from a family gathering not long ago. I’ve never tried using them in a cake before, but a banana muffin seems like a good idea. I wonder if it would go well with some peanut butter, since peanut butter seems to always go well with bananas, in my opinion. Plus it balances out the health benefits.
Muffins are delicious! I remember my mother used to make them almost every morning for breakfast. As I got older I lost interest in them but I think I should start baking them once again. Banana variations seem pretty tasty! 😀
Those banana nut and raspberry muffins look delicious. I haven’t thought to make muffins as a breakfast item but I love the idea! I’ll definitely start doing this. They seem healthy too.
I do like the idea of the pumpkin and nut muffins. I’ve saved the recipe and will try it out the next time the family comes to visit. It looks like a way to give the muffins an ideal amount of ‘squish’ without making them too sweet. Personallly I prefer savoury food to sweet, but these seem to be a good compromise.
I really want to try the raspberry muffin recipe for breakfast one morning.
I really want to try to make the banana nut muffins. I just bought some bananas and cupcake paper wrappers for baking. This will make making muffins easier as well as for the clean up. My mom would love the carrot muffins for breakfast. She loves carrot cake more than anyone else in my house.
I think CARROT MUFFINS are my favorite too, they are quite simple to make and very soft to the tongue. I have never made them at home, so I’m planning on following the easy steps as soon as I have time on my hands!
Putting cream cheese frosting on top seems like a good idea, thanks for the information Jennifer Swartvagher!
I’ve just saved all of your recipes, I like to start my day with something sweet and muffins are perfect. I can’t wait to try the carrot ones, I have a juice extractor and every time I make carrot juice there’s a lot of waste that looks exaclty like grated carrots and I’ve always felt sorry for throwing it out. Thanks to your recipe, I’ll have a delicious treat and a big glass of carrot juice for breakfast tomorrow! I’m going to try out all the other recipes, I’m especially intrigued by the banana and nuts and the pumpkin versions.
All of these look super appetizing! I’m itching to try the chocolate chip one first. I’ve never really had a knack for baking, so I hope that following these recipe’s to the T would help me out in that department. I kind of want to try recipes that involve meat as well, to eliminate the need to fry bacon or sausages separately for breakfast every morning. Is that doable at all?
I’m gonna try the banana ones tomorrow. They look delicious, and the ingredient list is so simple (I really hate it when recipes have ingredients that would require me to go to at least 3 different places to get).
The thing I’ve taken from this article that I’ll use the most, though, is probably the wet paper towel wrap before microwaving trick. I knew it could be used to heat things up more evenly, but I didn’t know it could be used on baked goods.
Oh, these are great. My kids always loved having these for grab and go breakfast or even just for snacks.
You have included some great flavors. I especially want to try the second one (with or without topping they sound great).
A variety basket of these would make a nice welcome gift for a new neighbor.
Well I am sorry to say that I have an issue with this article. While I respect pumpkin, and that carrot muffin actually sounds really delicious, and is something that I am going to try, I had to continually ask myself where the blueberries were. When it comes to muffins in the morning, I have to have some tangy blueberries. I know it is just my personal tastes, but I hoped my bias would emphasize how much I love them. I am going to try that carrot one, though, so thank you for sharing.
Yum! I know I love muffins passionately; one batch can feed me for a week! I’ll really enjoy trying out these recipes. But, one question. Do you think the banana nut version would work with pecans instead of walnuts?
I love this! I have three toddlers, who are tired of eating cereal, and pop tarts for breakfast, so our new “thing” is muffins. They absolutely love blueberry and banana nut, so we are rather excited to try raspberry and chocolate chip muffins.
These look really amazing, I love them! You guys always come up with the best recipes around! I definitely would like to wake up in the morning and see some of those upon my table, for sure! Thank you for sharing this, I will copy down the second recipe, that’s the one wich attracted me the most.
The pumpkin muffins sound really good! They sound like they’d be delicious with some apple butter, honey, or maybe a bit of maple syrup. Looking at the recipe, it looks like you could also use sweet potato puree instead of pumpkin. Pumpkin muffins would also be nice for a “Harry Potter” themed breakfast, if you are so inclined.