Skip to Content

The Best Mini Muffin Recipes

Mini muffins are the perfect breakfast or dessert. Get inspired by this list of The Best Mini Muffin Recipes.

If you prefer full size muffins, check out our list of Unusual Muffin Recipes.

Three stacked mini funfetti muffins with the words "The Best Mini Muffin Recipes" digitally written on top.

Affiliate links are included in this post and Drugstore Divas may make a small commission if you use them.

I love muffins. There’s a grocery store in our town that makes the best pistachio muffins. A couple times a year, I treat myself to one and it’s the best decision I make all year.

I don’t even try to make them at home because I know I’d fall short. I do, however, have a few unique muffin recipes that I make on a regular basis.

When I’m making sweet muffins for us to have at home, I will usually use the mini muffin pan and turn these into mini muffin recipes. That way, we don’t overindulge.

If I’m making savory muffins or breakfast muffins, I make them full size.

That’s not a hard and fast rule, but I try to follow it.

The Best Mini Muffin Recipes

This unique muffin recipes round up is split into two sections: sweet muffin recipes followed by savory muffin recipes.

As we add more mini muffins to Drugstore Divas, we’ll update this post. So be sure to bookmark, pin it, or do whatever you do to save posts so you can come back to it later.

Sweet Mini Muffin Recipes

Carrot Cake Mini Muffins.

Carrot Cake Mini Muffins

The best of our mini muffin recipes (according to popularity on Drugstore Divas) are our Carrot Cake Mini Muffins.

I made the recipe for Pete because carrot cake is his favorite, but they’ve become a big hit with everyone it seems.

So, if you’re only going to choose one recipe to make off this mini muffins recipes list, these carrot cake muffins should be it.

Chocolate Mini Muffins.

Chocolate Mini Muffins

I love chocolate, so of course, I was bound to make chocolate mini muffins with our favorite three-ingredient recipe.

These chocolate muffins are so light and fluffy.

Even better, these chocolate mini muffins are really rich in flavor so you can actually satisfy your chocolate craving with only one muffin.

Lemon muffins in a bowl with the words "Weight Watchers Lemon Muffins" digitally written on top.

Lemon Weight Watchers Mini Muffins

These Lemon Mini Muffins are the first version of the three ingredient muffins that we posted on the blog. It was my friends recipe and since then, I’ve made so many different incarnations of the Weight Watchers muffins.

And every single version has been a hit.

If you’re a fan of lemon, you’ll be a fan of these.

Funfetti muffins piled on a plate with the words "Funfetti Muffins" digitally written above it.

Funfetti Mini Muffins

Funfetti is such a fun cake mix with all the colors of the sprinkles popping out.

But usually, that’s all covered by frosting and icing. So you sort of lose the fun of the funfetti.

Since these are muffins, not cupcakes, they’re not topped with frosting. So you really get the fun of the sprinkles in these.

Coffee And Chocolate Muffins.

Coffee And Chocolate Mini Muffins

These Coffee And Chocolate Muffins are our most recent version of the three-ingredient muffin we love so much.

Don’t mind that the photo calls them cupcakes. That’s only because I topped them with powdered sugar — which completely dissolves into the muffins unless you add it right before serving.

So the “cupcake” aspect, which was the sugar topping, was completely lost when we ate these. Hence the muffin name.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins.

Pumpkin Spice Mini Muffins

Is it really even fall if all the pumpkin spice items aren’t on the shelves? Definitely not.

So we had to jump on the bandwagon and make these Pumpkin Spice Muffins.

There is a full can of pumpkin in the recipe, which surprisingly only lends a little pumpkin flavor to these Pumpkin Spice Muffins. You’re mostly tasting the spices from the cake mix.

Savory Mini Muffin Recipes

Corn Dog Muffins.

Corn Dog Mini Muffins

I love corn dogs. They’re not great for you, but they taste great. And really, sometimes taste is all that matters.

But I’m not going to make homemade corn dogs. That’s just more work than I really have time for.

will, however, make Corn Dog Muffins. They’re all the taste of homemade corn dogs without too much effort.

Pumpkin Spice Weight Watchers Muffins on a wire rack.

Mini Muffins Recipes: Frequently Asked Questions

What are mini muffins?

Mini muffins are muffins that are smaller than traditional muffins.

But, really though, mini muffins are 1/3 of the size of full size muffins. That means for a recipe that yields a dozen muffins, you’ll get three dozen (36) mini muffins, give or take.

So, if you’re making a traditional recipe, you’ll either need two mini muffin pans or you’ll need to bake multiple batches.

How do you fill mini muffin pans?

Mini muffin pans seem a little harder to fill than full size pans. I wouldn’t suggest pouring the batter directly into a mini muffin pan.

Instead, use a spoon or a cookie scoop to easily fill mini muffin pans.

How do you make mini muffins without a pan?

If you don’t have a mini muffin pan, you can make mini muffins with a little creativity.

Purchase foil cupcake liners and set them on a baking pan.

Foil liners are a lot more sturdy than paper cupcake liners, so they’ll stand on their own and won’t tip over as they’re baking (which would really cause a mess).

If you bake mini muffins in foil liners instead of in a mini muffin pan, you may have to adjust your baking time. Muffins will bake faster in foil liners than in a metal muffin pan.

Is there a difference between muffin and cupcake pans?

There’s no difference between a muffin pan and a cupcake pan. They’re just different ways to say the same thing.

There are different types of those pans though. The main two are silicone and metal muffin pans. What are the differences?

A silicone mini muffin pan is one that’s made silicone. It needs to be placed on a cookie sheet before being filled with muffin mix. It does not need to be greased before filling and the mini muffins will pop out easily.

The silicone mini muffin pan will not heat up, so your baked items will not brown around the edges (making it ideal for baking mini muffins without wrappers).

A metal mini muffin pan is one that’s made of metal. It does not to be placed on another surface before being filled. It does need to be greased before adding the muffin batter (if it’s not non-stick).

A metal mini muffin pan will heat up in the oven, so it will be hot to the touch when you take it out of the oven. The mini muffins won’t pop out as easily as a silicone pan.

Then, there’s a mini muffin top pan, which allows you to just bake muffin tops instead of baking full muffins.

Top Three Kitchen Tools For Making Mini Muffins:

If you’re going to start making mini muffins on a regular basis, these are the top three kitchen tools and gadgets to have:

Chocolate batter in a mini muffin pan.

Mini Muffin Pan

A mini muffin pan, either silicone or metal, is required to make mini muffins. Since muffin recipes make more mini muffins than traditional muffins, having two pans is super helpful.

Water being poured into a bowl with funfetti muffin batter.

Mixing Bowl

A good mixing bowl with a non-slip bottom is really helpful when you’re making mini muffins. Ours has an egg cracker on it, which makes it ideal, but I can’t find it online anymore. You can purchase non-slip mixing bowls below though.

Energy balls on a pan with a cookie scoop on the side.

Cookie Scoop

It’s a lot easier to scoop mini muffin batter using a cookie scoop than it is to try and pour the batter from the mixing bowl into the mini muffin pan cavities.

Which of these unique muffin recipes are you going to make first? Be sure to let us know in the comments.

Chelsee

Saturday 7th of May 2016

Mini Muffins come in so handy on the go! They are just good to have around for days when you don't have time to make an actual breakfast. Thanks so much for linking up for the Best of the Blogosphere Linky Party!

Ashleigh

Thursday 5th of May 2016

Thanks.

Shirley Wood

Thursday 5th of May 2016

Muffins are good to make for weekend breakfasts when we have a lot of errands to run. We don't have to leave a mess in the kitchen before we run out the door. Thanks for sharing your list with us at Merry Monday.

chellie

Wednesday 4th of May 2016

Thanks for 7 great recipes!! glad you joined us this week at FTAF!

Kathleen

Sunday 1st of May 2016

Oh, I love this list. I need some muffin recipes for our next camping trip. Thanks for linking up. Hope to see you this week.