Homemade Raisin Spice Muffins

By
Danilo Alfaro
Danlio Alfaro
Danilo Alfaro
Danilo Alfaro has published more than 800 recipes and tutorials focused on making complicated culinary techniques approachable to home cooks.
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Updated on 12/28/21
Raisin spice muffins

Mehmet Gökhan Bayhan / Getty Images

Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 20 mins
Total: 35 mins
Servings: 9 servings
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
268 Calories
7g Fat
48g Carbs
5g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 9
Amount per serving
Calories 268
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 7g 9%
Saturated Fat 4g 20%
Cholesterol 37mg 12%
Sodium 303mg 13%
Total Carbohydrate 48g 17%
Dietary Fiber 1g 5%
Total Sugars 23g
Protein 5g
Vitamin C 0mg 2%
Calcium 140mg 11%
Iron 2mg 11%
Potassium 206mg 4%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

You really can't go wrong with a raisin muffin flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg. A little bit of nutmeg is really all you need, but it will add a nice, spicy fragrance to the muffins. You could also substitute ground cloves.

The key to making great muffins is not overmixing the batter. Once the liquid ingredients are added to the dry, mix the batter by hand just until the flour is moistened, for no more than about 10 seconds. Too much mixing can cause the muffins to be dry, tough or misshapen.

Also, make sure your baking powder is fresh. If it's older than six months (or if you can't remember how old it is), buy a new container.

Finally, if you want to spruce your muffins up a little bit, here's a recipe for a simple streusel topping you can mix up in just a few seconds.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour, or 2 1/4 cups pastry flour, sifted

  • 1/2 cup sugar

  • 1 tablespoon baking powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1 cup whole milk

  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

  • 1 large egg, or 2 medium 

  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, or shortening

  • 1 cup raisins

  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

  • 1 pinch nutmeg

Steps to Make It

  1. Preheat oven to 400 F.

  2. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

  3. Unwrap the butter and heat it in the microwave, in a microwave-safe bowl, for about a minute, until it's thoroughly melted. Set it aside at room temperature to cool, but don't let it solidify again.

  4. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and then add the sugar, milk, raisins, and vanilla to the eggs.

  5. Thoroughly grease and flour a muffin pan (or use paper muffin liners).

  6. Pour a tiny bit of the melted butter into the egg-vanilla-milk mixture and stir it in. Repeat 3 to 4 more times, adding a slightly larger amount of the liquid butter each time until it is all incorporated.
    Note: Don't add hot melted butter to the egg mixture as the heat from the butter would cook the egg, and that's not what you want to do.

  7. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ones and mix no more than 10 seconds. The batter should be visibly lumpy, and you may see pockets of dry flour. That's OK. It's extremely important not to overmix the batter, or the resulting muffins will be too hard.

  8. Quickly spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pans and bake immediately.
    TIP: The dry and wet ingredients, respectively, can be mixed in advance, but as soon as the wet and dry ingredients have been combined with each other, the liquid will activate the baking powder, and the batter must be baked right away.

  9. Bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.