Christmas Muffins
Muffins are the Christmas-morning bake that asks the least of you: one bowl, no mixer, and a tray that bakes while the coffee brews. These twenty-seven run from cranberry orange and gingerbread to eggnog, peppermint and panettone. Mix the batter the night before and the morning takes care of itself.
Start With These Six
One from each section below, from cranberry white chocolate to a mincemeat muffin under a sugar snow. Bake these first if Christmas morning only has room for one tray.
Cranberry White Chocolate Muffins
Tall domes studded with fresh cranberries and white chips, with cream cheese and sour cream keeping the crumb soft. The recipe finishes with sparkling sugar, so every top glints.
Gingerbread Muffins with a Coarse Sugar Top
Dark molasses and four warm spices make a soft, crackle-topped muffin that tastes like a gingerbread cookie. Finish them with White Sparkling Sugar and the crystals keep their sparkle through the bake.
Hot Chocolate Muffins
Hot cocoa mix in the batter, chocolate chips throughout and mini marshmallows melted onto the tops. They taste like the mug next to them, and kids can do the scooping.
Eggnog Muffins with Streusel Topping
One full cup of eggnog goes into the batter, then a nutmeg streusel and an eggnog glaze go on top. The recipe makes six, sized for a quiet Christmas morning.
Mincemeat Muffins
Mincemeat brings spiced fruit to a whole wheat and bran batter, and no mixer is needed. Maureen calls it the Christmas morning muffin, and the batch freezes well.
Cream Cheese Red Velvet Muffins
Deep red muffins with a sweet cream cheese center and a crunchy pearl-sugar crust. Bake them in Christmas papers and they look like ornaments lined up on the tray.
Cranberry Christmas Muffins
Cranberry is the Christmas muffin most people picture, and it pairs with orange, white chocolate and even marzipan. Fresh berries burst; dried ones stay sweet and chewy.
Cranberry White Chocolate Muffins
Tall domes studded with fresh cranberries and white chips, with cream cheese and sour cream keeping the crumb soft. The recipe finishes with sparkling sugar, so every top glints.
Christmas Muffins with Marzipan and Cranberries
Cubes of marzipan melt into soft almond pockets next to tart fresh cranberries and walnuts. A Dutch Christmas muffin that tastes a lot like stollen.
Cranberry Orange Muffins with Orange Glaze
Cinnamon sugar goes on before baking and an orange glaze goes on after, so each muffin gets crunch and shine. Dried cranberries and a little clove bring the holiday in.
Chocolate Cranberry Orange Muffins
Cocoa batter, a cocoa-pecan streusel and bursts of fresh cranberry, with orange zest to brighten all that chocolate. The darker take on a cranberry muffin for the holiday tray.
Orange Cranberry Streusel Muffins
Orange marmalade goes right into the batter, so the citrus runs deeper than zest alone. Pecans, a cinnamon streusel and a thin glaze make them brunch-table pretty.
Christmas Morning Muffins
Butter-free and quick, with orange juice, dried cranberries and a pinch of nutmeg under a demerara top. Mix the dry ingredients the night before and breakfast is ten minutes away.
A bakery-tall top with a crunch on it
Granulated sugar sprinkled on raw batter melts into the top and is gone by the time the tray comes out. White Sparkling Sugar is extra-coarse and heat-resistant, so the crystals keep their shape and sparkle through the bake and leave a crackly white crown on every muffin. Spoon it on right before they go in.
Gingerbread and Spiced Muffins
Molasses and ginger make a darker, softer muffin than anything else on the tray. Four gingerbread takes, each finished its own way, plus chai and cardamom.
Gingerbread Muffins with a Coarse Sugar Top
Dark molasses and four warm spices make a soft, crackle-topped muffin that tastes like a gingerbread cookie. Finish them with White Sparkling Sugar and the crystals keep their sparkle through the bake.
Caramelized Pear Gingerbread Muffins
Pears get browned in butter and brown sugar before they go into the molasses batter, so every bite has a soft, caramel-edged piece of fruit. Gingerbread with a little extra going on.
Gingerbread Muffins with Crystallized Ginger
Chopped crystallized ginger leaves chewy, spicy pockets, and a pinch of black pepper wakes up the molasses. A snowfall of powdered sugar finishes the look.
Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Muffins
Chocolate chips and orange zest meet molasses and maple in a white whole wheat batter. Swap in whole wheat KAMUT flour for a nuttier, more buttery crumb.
Chai Spice Streusel Muffins
Chai streusel swirls through the middle of a tender vanilla muffin and piles up on top. Cinnamon leads the spice blend, so a bold Saigon cinnamon really shows up here.
Cardamom Muffins
Cardamom in the batter and in the sugar crust gives these the warm, floral taste of Scandinavian holiday baking. A splash of almond extract rounds it out.
Chocolate and Peppermint Christmas Muffins
Peppermint for the candy-cane crowd, marshmallows for the kids and a red velvet that could hang on the tree. Breakfast that eats like dessert, which is the point in December.
Hot Chocolate Muffins
Hot cocoa mix in the batter, chocolate chips throughout and mini marshmallows melted onto the tops. They taste like the mug next to them, and kids can do the scooping.
Peppermint Chocolate Muffins
Dutch cocoa makes these dark and smooth, and crushed peppermint candy on top gives every bite a candy-cane crunch. Gluten-free and dairy-free, built on almond and coconut flour.
Cream Cheese Red Velvet Muffins
Deep red muffins with a sweet cream cheese center and a crunchy pearl-sugar crust. Bake them in Christmas papers and they look like ornaments lined up on the tray.
Christmas Sprinkle Chocolate Chip Muffins
Red and green sprinkles and mini chocolate chips scatter through a tall, bakery-style crumb. Cornstarch is the trick to the tender texture, and kids love handling the sprinkles.
Chocolate Peppermint Muffins
Whole wheat flour, Greek yogurt and peppermint baking chips make a lighter chocolate muffin. Amy fills the cups right to the top, which is how she gets those tall domes.
Chocolate Gingerbread Muffins
Molasses and cocoa together taste like a gingerbread cookie dunked in hot chocolate. Applesauce and maple stand in for most of the fat, and there is a gluten-free flour option.
Eggnog and Sugar Cookie Muffins
Eggnog stands in for the milk and brings its own nutmeg along. Two eggnog takes and a snickerdoodle borrowed from the cookie tray.
Eggnog Muffins with Streusel Topping
One full cup of eggnog goes into the batter, then a nutmeg streusel and an eggnog glaze go on top. The recipe makes six, sized for a quiet Christmas morning.
Eggnog Muffins with Eggnog Glaze
Soft, nutmeg-scented muffins under a thick eggnog glaze that sets like icing. Real vanilla in the batter pulls the custard flavor forward.
Snickerdoodle Muffins
Cream of tartar gives the classic snickerdoodle tang, and a heavy roll in cinnamon sugar makes a crackly crust. The cookie-tray favorite, ready before breakfast.
Fruit and Nut Christmas Muffins
Candied peel, mincemeat, pear and pecans: the flavors of Christmas cake, in a muffin cup and ready by nine. Two panettone takes and a pecan pie muffin with five ingredients.
Mincemeat Muffins
Mincemeat brings spiced fruit to a whole wheat and bran batter, and no mixer is needed. Maureen calls it the Christmas morning muffin, and the batch freezes well.
Panettone Muffins
Candied peel and sultanas soak in brandy and orange syrup, then fold into a buttermilk batter bright with citrus. A pearl-sugar crown makes each one look like a tiny panettone.
Pecan Pie Muffins
Five ingredients and the gooey, caramel taste of pecan pie in a muffin cup. Brown sugar does the heavy lifting, and a pecan half crowns each one.
Ginger Pear Muffins
Grated and diced pear make these moist, with honey in the batter and crystallized ginger on top. Whole wheat KAMUT flour stands in nicely for the whole wheat pastry flour.
Orange and Pecan Muffins
Blitz a whole orange, peel and all, into the batter for big citrus flavor. Raisins and pecans make them taste like Christmas cake without the weeks of feeding.
Olive Oil Panettone Muffins
Butter and olive oil share the work for a tender crumb, with orange-soaked candied peel throughout. Coarse white sparkling sugar on top bakes into a crackly, glittering finish.
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We've Got Answers
Can you make muffin batter the night before?
Yes, for most of these. Mix the batter, cover the bowl and refrigerate it overnight, then scoop and bake in the morning, adding a minute or two for the cold batter. Batters that lean on baking soda rise a little less after a night in the fridge than baking powder batters do. Fold in fresh berries in the morning so they do not bleed.
How do you get tall, bakery-style muffin tops?
Fill the cups right to the rim instead of two-thirds full, and let the batter rest 20 to 30 minutes so the flour hydrates and the batter thickens. Start the oven hot, around 425F, for the first 5 minutes, then drop to 350F to finish. The early heat pushes the centers up into a dome before the crust sets.
How do you get a crunchy sugar top on muffins?
Sprinkle coarse sugar over the raw batter right before the tray goes in. Fine granulated sugar melts into the top and disappears, while a heat-resistant sparkling sugar keeps its crystals through the bake and leaves a crackly, glittery crown. Turbinado works too, but it browns and reads golden rather than white.
Should you use fresh, frozen or dried cranberries in muffins?
Fresh or frozen give tart, juicy bursts; use frozen straight from the freezer so they do not streak the batter pink, and toss them in a spoonful of flour first so they do not sink. Dried cranberries are sweeter and chewier and never bleed. Chop whole fresh berries in half if you want more tart in every bite.
Why are my muffins dense or tough?
Almost always overmixing. Stir the wet and dry together only until the last streak of flour disappears; lumps are fine and bake out. Spoon the flour into the cup instead of scooping it, and check that the baking powder is fresh. A dense muffin with a flat top usually means old leavening.
How do you freeze and reheat muffins?
Cool them completely, then freeze them in a single layer and bag them for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight on the counter, or wrap one in a paper towel and microwave it for 20 to 30 seconds. To bring back a crisp top, warm them for 5 minutes in a 350F oven. Add any glaze after reheating.
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