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    Home » Recipes » Muffins

    Red Velvet Muffins

    Published: Feb 4, 2023

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    This Red Velvet Muffins recipe has it all - A rich muffin with great taste and texture, a cream cheese filling, and a crunchy sugar crust!

    A pile of red velvet muffins on a plate, each topped with pearl sugar.

    Valentine’s day is coming up, time to share my recipe for the perfect muffin for a sweet Valentine’s morning brealfast!

    While I haven’t gotten around to shooting and posting my red velvet cake recipe - a lightly chocolate cake with the tang of buttermilk, and a cream cheese filling, I’ve got a bunch of other recipes featuring the classic red velvet flavor.

    Most of my posted red velvet recipes are for red velvet desserts - Red Vellvet Brownies, Red Velvet Biscotti and Gluten Free Red Velvet Cookies - but I recently posted my Red Velvet Bagels recipe, and my red velvet pancakes are coming soon!

    Today I’ve got another recipe for red velvet lovers - my red velvet muffins!

    These fluffy muffins are the perfect treat for Valentine's Day breakfast - a hint of chocolate, beautiful red color, and cream cheese filling to finish it off.

    While these aren’t just unfrosted cupcakes - they’ve got less sugar than my red velvet cupcake recipe - you COULD use them as a base for less-sweet red velvet cupcakes by adding a bit of tangy cream cheese frosting on top.

    However you serve them, these muffins are sure to be a favorite addition to your holiday recipe box!

    A pile of red velvet muffins on a plate, each topped with coarse sugar.

    Ingredients

    This recipe uses simple ingredients that you should be able to find in any grocery store, if you don’t already have them on hand.

    You will need:

    All Purpose Flour
    Granulated sugar
    Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
    Buttermilk
    Cream cheese
    Butter
    Large Eggs
    Pure Vanilla Extract
    Baking Powder
    Salt
    Red Gel Food Coloring
    Coarse Sugar - AKA Pearl Sugar

    A few notes on substitutions and such:

    1. You can use cake flour if you prefer, but I find it’ll make them more like cupcakes than muffins - it makes for a softer cake batter.

    2. If you don’t have buttermilk - or your want to make these with a plant based milk - you can add 2 teaspoon of either white vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk. We used unsweetened almond milk this time.

    3. You can use vegetable oil in place of the butter, if desired.

    4. You can use a liquid red food coloring if you have to, but I definitely recommend using a gel color. They’re far more concentrated, and are the easiest way to get your desired color intensity, without adding a ton of liquid to the batter.

    Beyond the ingredients, I like to use paper liners in my muffin pan, for easier cleanup.

    If you want to get festive, consider using decorative cupcake papers. You can get them in solid colours, or in Valentine’s day or Christmas designs, as needed!


    Variations

    We love these muffins as-is, but there are a few ways you can customize them:

    Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Muffins

    Add 1 cup of Chocolate Chipsto the batter before scooping it into the pan.

    I like to use Milk Chocolate Chips or White Chocolate Chips, Mini Chocolate Chips are another good option.

    Unfilled Muffins

    Feel free to skip the cream cheese filling, especially if you’re looking to make dairy free red velvet muffins.

    I find it a good idea to use chocolate chips when skipping the filling, to make up for the volume lost from the missing filling, though!

    Red Velvet Cupcakes

    If you’d like these to be more like a cupcake, use your favorite vanilla cream cheese frosting recipe, or even just a vanilla buttercream.

    Vanilla American Buttercream is an easy, common recipe that uses icing sugar.

    Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream is a little bit more work, but makes a FANTASTIC, super smooth and luxurious frosting - my favourite!

    A cut open red velvet muffin with cream cheese filling, with more red velvet muffins behind it.

    How to Make Red Velvet Cupcakes

    The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, here is the pictorial walk through.

    Cream Cheese Filling

    Whisk the softened cream cheese until smooth and creamy.

    Add sugar and vanilla extract, stir to combine.

    A 2 part image showing the cream cheese filling being mixed.

    You can beat the cream cheese mixture in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment OR the whisk attachment (medium speed), or use a medium-sized bowl and a handheld electric mixer if you prefer. Personally, I use a medium mixing bowl and beat it by hand.

    Chill in the fridge or freezer, while you make the muffin batter.

    Note: For best results, chill for several hours or even overnight. The colder your cream cheese mixture, the better.

    As photographed, ours was more liquid than it needed to be, as we had to use a tub of cream cheese rather than a brick that morning, and didn’t let it chill very long.

    The colder / more solid the cream cheese, the more uniform the filling area - less risk of spreading, weird shapes, etc.

    Red Velvet Muffins

    Preheat oven to 375 F. Line a regular muffin pan with cupcake liners, or spray with baking spray.

    In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

    In a separate bowl - I used a medium bowl - combine eggs, buttermilk, melted butter, vanilla extract, and a good amount of red food colouring.

    Add egg/milk/ butter mixture all at once to large mixing bowl with the flour mixture.

    A 5 part image showing the dry ingredients being mixed, the wet ingredients being mixed, then the wet being poured into the dry.

    Stir wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until moistened - scraping the sides of the bowl. The muffin batter should be lumpy.

    A 2 part image showing the red velvet batter being mixed.

    Divide batter into muffin cups, filling each about ⅓ full.

    Note: If your filling is relatively soft/liquid, spread the muffin batter up the sides of the muffin cups / muffin liners, as pictured. If your filling is solid, you don’t need to worry about spread/blowout as much!.

    A 2 part image showing the first round of batter in the muffin tin, then spread up the sides of each cup.

    Divide the filling between the prepared muffin tin cavities, aiming for a general tablespoon of filling in the center of each - leaving room around it.

    Spoon the remaining batter over the muffin cups, allowing the batter to fully encase the filling.

    A 2 part image showing the filling added to the muffin batter, then topped with more batter.

    Sprinkle the tops of the muffins generously with coarse sugar.

    Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 22 to 25 minutes or until golden and a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean.

    A 2 part image showing the sugar topped muffins before and after being baked.

    (Note: Only insert it about ⅓ of the way down. If you hit cream cheese, it’ll be wet no matter how done it is!)

    Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes, before serving.

    A clean butter knife held over a pan of baked red velvet muffins.

    Leftovers

    Once cooled to room temperature, muffins can be stored in an airtight container - or large freezer bags - in the fridge for 5 days or so.

    Best served at room temperature or warmer.

    A pile of red velvet muffins on a plate, each topped with pearl sugar.

    More Valentine's Day Ideas

    Looking to do something a bit different for Valentine's Day? Here are a few ideas!

    6 Inch Cheesecake
    Baklava Cheesecake
    Balsamic Mushroom Baked Brie
    Booze Bouquet Tutorial
    Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova
    Chocolate Ravioli
    Dark Chocolate Truffles
    Deviled Strawberries
    Fondant Chocolate Leaves Cake Tutorial
    Heart Shaped Bagels
    Heart Shaped Beer Pretzels with Jalapeno Jack Dip
    Mini Eclairs
    Mushroom Goat Cheese Braid
    Pepper Crusted Tuna with Wasabi Cream Sauce
    Phyllo Crab Triangles
    Red Velvet Bagels
    Red Velvet Brownies
    Savory Tomato Shortcake
    Traditional Raspberry Mousse
    Valentine's Day Deviled Eggs
    Valentine’s Day Pavlova

    Special Diet Treats

    Need it gluten free* or low carb? Check out these Valentine's Day recipes on my other blogs:

    Gluten-Free Crab Cakes
    Gluten Free Crepes
    Gluten-Free Fried Brie
    Gluten Free Red Velvet Cookies
    Heart Fruit Skewers with Raspberry Cheesecake Dip
    Keto Creme Brulee
    Low Carb Chocolate Mousse
    Keto Crab Cakes
    Low Carb Tiramisu
    Keto Cheesecake
    Seafood Cobb Salad

    * Some of the recipes in the first link section are inherently gluten free, too!

    A cut open red velvet muffin with cream cheese filling, with more red velvet muffins behind it.

    Share the Love!

    Before you chow down, be sure to take some pics of your handiwork! If you Instagram it, be sure to tag me - @CelebrationGenerationCA - or post it to My Facebook Page - so I can cheer you on!

    Also, be sure to subscribe to my free monthly email newsletter, so you never miss out on any of my nonsense. Well, the published nonsense, anyway!

    Finally, if you love this recipe, please consider leaving a star rating and/or a comment below, and maybe even sharing this post on social media!

    A pile of red velvet muffins on a plate, each topped with coarse sugar.

    A pile of red velvet muffins on a plate, each topped with coarse sugar.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Saved!
    5 from 3 votes

    Red Velvet Muffins

    This Red Velvet Muffins recipe has it all - A rich muffin with great taste and texture, a cream cheese filling, and a crunchy sugar crust!
    Prep Time15 mins
    Cook Time25 mins
    Chill time1 hr
    Total Time1 hr 40 mins
    Course: Breakfast, brunch
    Cuisine: American
    Diet: Vegetarian
    Servings: 12 Muffins
    Calories: 296kcal
    Author: Marie Porter

    Equipment

    Muffin Tin
    Cupcake Liners optional

    Ingredients

    Cream Cheese Filling:

    • 6 oz Cream cheese softened
    • 2 tablespoon Granulated sugar
    • 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract

    Red Velvet Muffins

    • 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
    • 1 cup Granulated Sugar
    • ¼ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
    • 2 tsp. Baking Powder
    • ½ teaspoon Salt
    • 2 Large Eggs lightly beaten
    • 1 cup Buttermilk
    • ½ cup Butter melted and cooled
    • 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
    • Red Gel Food Colouring
    • Coarse Sugar Pearl Sugar

    Instructions

    Filling:

    • Whisk the softened cream cheese until smooth and creamy.
    • Add sugar and vanilla extract, stir to combine.
      Chill in the fridge or freezer, while you make the muffin batter. (Overnight is great!)

    Muffins

    • Preheat oven to 375 F. Line 12 muffin cups with liners, or spray with baking spray.
    • In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
    • In another bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, melted butter, vanilla extract, and a good amount of red food colouring. Add egg mixture all at once to the flour mixture.
    • Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy.)
    • Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling each about ⅓ full.
    • Divide the filling between the muffin tins, aiming for a general tablespoon of filling in the center of each - leaving room around it.
    • Divide the remaining batter between the muffin cups, allowing the batter to fully encase the filling.
    • Finally, generously sprinkle the tops of the muffins with coarse sugar.
    • Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 22 to 25 minutes or until golden and a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean.
      (Note: Only insert it about ⅓ of the way down. If you hit cream cheese, it’ll be wet no matter how done it is!)
    • Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes, before serving

    Notes

    The colder your cream cheese mixture, the better.
    As photographed, ours was more liquid than it needed to be, as we had to use a tub rather than a brick, and didn’t let it chill very long.
    The colder / more solid the cream cheese, the more uniform the filling area - less risk of spreading, weird shapes, etc.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 296kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 64mg | Sodium: 322mg | Potassium: 110mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 499IU | Calcium: 97mg | Iron: 1mg

    A pile of red velvet muffins on a plate, each topped with coarse sugar.

    A pile of red velvet muffins on a plate, each topped with pearl sugar.

    A cut open red velvet muffin with cream cheese filling, with more red velvet muffins behind it.

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    Marie Porter


    Evil Cake Overlord, All -Around Kitchen Badass!

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