Salted Caramel Buttermilk Brown Sugar Muffins
I love when muffins get a nice domed top. And when they’re dripping in salted caramel.
But not all of muffins get that coveted dome. Nor are they always drenched in caramel.
But these are both. I was hoping for the best with the shape and texture because I adapted one of my most popular recipes, Cinnamon-Sugar Crust Cinnamon-Ribbon Bread.
I had never made the recipe as muffins, but when I make the bread, it always rises beautifully and cooks through so evenly. And it’s such an easy recipe to make. One bowl, no mixer, nothing fussy.
It totally delivered for the muffins and they’re soft, wonderfully moist, and the crumb has the perfect balance of density and lightness.
The batter has melted butter, oil, and buttermilk. The later two in particular keep quickbreads and muffins soft, moist and supple.
The buttermilk balances the sweetness and I just love baking with buttermilk. The results are unparalleled and everything turns out so fluffy and tender.
I used real buttermilk but if you don’t keep it on hand, I highly recommend this Powdered Buttermilk. If you don’t use buttermilk often, but sometimes see a recipe that needs a small amount, but think you won’t use the rest of the jug before it goes bad, then the powder is for you. Shelf stable, keeps for ages.
Or make buttermilk by souring your own milk. Add about 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice to 1/2 cup milk, wait 10 minutes for it to curdle, then use as indicated.
To sweeten the batter I used brown sugar which provides wonderful depth of flavor because as the muffins bake, the butter and brown sugar caramelize, creating subtle caramel undertones.
And clearly I played up the caramel flavor by drizzling the muffins with salted caramel. Make your own or use storebought. The muffins don’t ‘need’ it, but why not.
The basic recipe is a great jumping off point for tweaking to your liking. Add mini chocolate chips to the batter or go stick with cinnamon-sugar.
Rather than topping with salted caramel, try a vanilla cream cheese or a browned butter glaze. Can’t go wrong with any of those options.
The muffins are so fluffy that they’re are almost like eating cupcakes for breakfast, minus the frosting. And in place of it, all that caramel.
Which I’m not exactly complaining about.
Salted Caramel Buttermilk Brown Sugar Muffins
These easy, one-bowl, no-mixer muffins are soft, wonderfully moist, and the crumb has the perfect balance of density and lightness. The batter has melted butter, oil, and buttermilk to keep the muffins fluffy and tender. Don’t overfill your muffin pan because the muffins rise very well. While baking, the butter and brown sugar caramelize, creating subtle caramel undertones. Although they don’t ‘need’ it, I played up the caramel profile by drizzling with salted caramel. Make your own or use storebought. Use the batter as a jumping off place and try adding chocolate chips or glaze them with another favorite.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch salt, optional and to taste
salted caramel, for drizzling (storebought or homemade)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a Non-Stick 12-Cup Regular Muffin Pan with paper liners or spray well with floured cooking spray (I prefer the cosmetic look of no liners); set pan aside.
- In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, about 1 minute on high power; set aside.
- In a 2-cup glass measuring cup or medium bowl, add the buttermilk, oil, egg, vanilla, and whisk to combine.
- Add the buttermilk mixture to the melted butter and whisk to combine.
- Add the brown sugar and whisk to combine.
- Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, optional salt, and stir until just combined; don’t overmix. Batter will be lumpy and don’t try to stir the lumps smooth or muffins will be tough.
- Using a large cookie scoop or 1/4-cup measure, distribute the batter evenly among each cavity of the prepared muffin pan. Cavities will be between 2/3 and 3/4-full; don’t exceed 3/4-full or muffins could overflow because they rise very well.
- Bake for about 18 to 20 minutes, or until tops are domed, puffed, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs dangling but no batter. Bake until done; watch your muffins and not the clock. Allow muffins to cool in pan for about 10 minutes before carefully removing.
- Drizzle muffins with salted caramel as desired. Don’t add the caramel until you’re ready to eat them because they could get soggy. Muffins are best fresh, but will keep airtight for up to 5 days at room temp; or in the freezer for up to 4 months.
Adapted from Cinnamon-Sugar Crust Cinnamon-Ribbon Bread
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Whenever I have leftover buttermilk I always seem to make waffles, but muffins sound like an even better idea! Yum!!
Waffles aren’t too shabby either!
I am presently on day 2 of a 3-day juice cleanse and I cannot tell you how amazing these look! And that’s not just my hunger talking.
Oh girl bravo to you for doing a cleanse AND reading dessert blogs. Eeek! I love the feeling of doing cleanses, but not on day 2. Day 3 when it’s done is the best :)
Yes please to muffins dripping with salted caramel, love!!
Averie, one bowl recipes are a big hit with me as I hate doing dishes!! Great looking muffins!
I really wanted to make muffins or bread today and I ran out of time. Now I’m really made I didn’t because I want these!!!!!! Love that drippy caramel!
And thanks for the Bhg pin :)
Yum! I think this is the first muffin recipe I have ever seen drenched in caramel.
There’s a first for everything, right!
Can’t stop thinking about these muffins. Anything with caramel is a friend of mine!
Love the way you think!
I love Salted Caramel anything, so I am excited to try these out!
I loove how beautifully your bread recipe translated into these muffins! and ahhhh salted caramel, soooooo amazing!
I LOVE one bowl, easy recipes. So good. And that sauce? Drooling! Averie, these look so amazing! Pinned!
Thanks for pinning, Chelsea!
I LOVE this flavor combination! Gorgeous photos, as always!
Thanks for all your support here, on FB likes, etc! :)
Pretty sure I am going to faint because these look INCREDIBLE!! I can’t get over muffins with a salted caramel glaze. And brown sugar + buttermilk sounds like it makes one helluva good muffin. This is for sure the best part of breakfast!
That perfect risen dome and dripping caramel – what more could you need in a muffin?!
These look so good! Funny I just posted my Apple Shortcake Buttermilk Muffins and it’s nice to see like minded baking! Scrumptious photography, too!
Why can’t all muffins come with gorgeous drippy caramel sauce?? Oh right, because then I’d eat dozens at a time and be as large as a whale and never be able to fit through a doorway, let alone my teensy tiny kitchen… Bummer. ;)
You always take such gorgeous photos Averie! I’m absolutely in love with your white wooden backdrop. Did you follow a tutorial for it at all?
No, I bought it. I have no time to DIY! ha!
That’s awesome! My dad loves to woodwork as a hobby, so I’m hoping I can beg him to help me someday soon. Fingers crossed it turns out as cute as yours!
These look amazing. That dripping caramel is just calling my name!
Brown sugar. Salted Caramel. All in one muffin. Yep, I will take one of these babies!
Blogged about this recipe, instead of caramel I put in dark chocolate chips. Muffins turned out so delicious!
Blog – BrianaVeniana.Wordpress.com
Oh I’m so happy to hear that you loved them and you can never go wrong with dark chocolate!
You have many awesome recipes,especially the raspberry things,and anything with caramel/caramel and salt can’t wait to make them.Keep bringing yummy recipes.
Per your suggestion on your Raspberry Bread page, I just made this recipe for my dad, adding fresh raspberries from his garden. The only change I made was, that I used only a 1/2 of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of white/granulated sugar plus folded in the raspberries. We were using the small muffin pans and I thought too much brown sugar would make the mini muffins looked burnt. I was right, and next time I may use 3/4 cup white and 1/4 cup brown as they still are a bit dark. But this was a very generous recipe and tasted very good. It made 48 mini muffins plus 12 regular sized muffins, by adding about 4 cups of berries. We only filled the cups half full, which was good, or they would have run over. Thanks for your awesome recipes! Have always appreciated them!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you!
I tried your raspberry bread (using fresh raspberry from the garden), cinnamon ribbon (I was lucky to have one slice), and this recipe at least twice because my family loves the basic recipe. The first time I made the muffins we only had caramel syrup at home. My husband decided to cut the warm muffins in half, add butter and the syrup then let it soak for a couple of minutes like “tiramisu.” The second time I made the muffins I added a cup of Heath Chocolate and Toffee Bits and didn’t need the caramel syrup. It was yummy and everyone wanted seconds but they were to late cause someone ate half a dozen already. I posted it here: https://www.facebook.com/cookneatwithfitfoodie/posts/2155087144773578
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this is a family favorite!
I made the brown sugar muffins a few times now and everyone always LOVES them! They’re super easy to make and delicious without being too sweet.
Thanks for the 5 star review and I’m glad they are a hit with everyone!