Memorial Day is around the corner (and that means summer is, too!), and it’s time to start brainstorming patriotic food for our barbecues! But you still have to eat breakfast before the big meal is ready, so it’s nice to have something quick, easy, and perhaps with fruit to balance the burgers and chips. This red, white, and blue muffins recipe is the greatest thing ever, and I’ll tell you why.
First (and probably most importantly), they get my kids to eat fruits and be happy about it. My daughter normally won’t eat strawberries, but she loves these. These are practically gourmet muffins, but super simple to make!
Second, visually, these are very patriotic muffins, so they make a perfect easy breakfast for several holidays throughout the year. I make these muffins for Memorial Day, 4th of July, AND Labor Day. You could find plenty of other excuses – I mean days – to eat them, too! President’s Day, Flag Day, Veterans Day… Check your calendar, there are plenty of opportunities.
And third… These are literally the best muffins I’ve ever tasted. Yep, I’m tooting my own horn. They’re better than anything I’ve ever bought from the store, anything I’ve ever made from a mix… They are just the BEST. The flavor is unbelievable!
While my family eats these for breakfast, they’re sweet enough to make a great patriotic dessert as well.
The Best Patriotic Muffins
This is the best muffin recipe for making red, white and blue breakfast food. Healthy muffin recipes are great, but you have a really good excuse to add some sugar to these. Normal muffins don’t come out super-white, and white chocolate chips really bring home the “red, white and blue” theme!
I honestly love doing red, white and blue food because it gets you thinking outside of the box for new combinations based on both color and flavor.
If you haven’t decided whether or not muffins would make the best breakfast for Memorial Day or Labor Day, allow me to convince you. These two holidays are both always celebrated on Mondays. Red, white, and blue muffins also happen to be beautiful. This gives you the perfect opportunity to celebrate #muffinmonday on your Instagram!
Sold, right?
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How to Make Red, White, and Blue Muffins
Ingredients Needed
For the Muffins:
- 2 cups + 1 Tbsp. flour (divided)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup oil – olive, canola, or vegetable
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup fresh chopped strawberries
- 3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1/2 cup white baking chips
- 1/4 cup coconut flakes/shreds (or your preferred nut) (optional)
For the Topping:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 to 2 Tbsp. milk
- 1/4 tsp. orange or vanilla extract
1. Preheat and Prepare Muffin Pans
Set your oven to 375 degrees. Prepare 12 muffin cups with either cooking spray or paper liners.
I like to spoon the batter straight into my silicone cupcake trays because they pop right out and I know we’ll eat them all right away!
2. Mix the Dry Ingredients
Combine the two cups of flour, the sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk them around to thoroughly mix.
3. Mix the Wet Ingredients
In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, oil, milk, and vanilla. Beat until combined.
4. Combine the Dry and Wet Mixtures
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the egg mixture into the center all at once.
Mix with a spatula or large spoon just until all of the flour is moistened; it will be thick and lumpy. Do not over-mix!
5. Toss the Fruit and Chips in Flour
This step has a specific purpose: to keep the pieces from sinking to the bottom of the batter. That way you’re more likely to get an even distribution of fruit chunks in your muffins.
Just put all of your chosen fillers (fruit, baking chips, nuts) into a bowl, dust with a tablespoon of flour, and toss to coat.
6. Add the Fruit and White Chocolate
Add the flour-coated chopped strawberries (or your preferred red fruit), blueberries, and white baking chips to the batter. Carefully fold them in, breaking as few berries as possible.
7. Spoon Batter into Muffin Pan & Bake
Fill the cups or liners about 3/4 full.
Bake in the oven about 21-25 minutes or until the tops are lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (other than any berry juices or melted chocolate). Let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes.
8. Make Your Glaze & Drizzle It
While the cupcakes are cooling in the pan, mix the powdered sugar, one tablespoon of milk, and the orange or vanilla extract until smooth. If it’s not thin enough, add more milk half a teaspoon at a time until it runs off the spoon just fast enough to drizzle. The heat from the still-warm muffins will help it spread all over the tops, so don’t worry if it goes on thick.
Spread the glaze over your muffins. You can do this while they’re still in the pan or after you’ve removed them to a baking rack to finish cooling. Personally, I prefer to wash the excess glaze off of my silicone muffin molds over a wire rack!
I like to serve them while they’re still warm, but they’re perfectly tasty at room temperature as well. You can even serve them cold straight out of the refrigerator!
FAQ & How to Customize
Q: How long do these muffins stay good?
If you wrap them tightly in plastic and keep them in the refrigerator, they should stay fresh for 3-4 days. You can set them out to reach room temperature in the plastic before eating, or eat them cold! If you want them warm, pop them in the microwave for no more than 10 seconds.
Q: Can these muffins be frozen?
Yes, and they freeze very well! Just make sure you let them cool completely and do not glaze them before freezing. I recommend glazing them after first thawing and allowing them to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Q: Can this muffin recipe be doubled?
Yes, just double every ingredient and you should be able to get 24 muffins out of it!
Q: Can I substitute whole wheat flour for all-purpose flour?
Yes, that’s totally fine! The flavor will be different, but the fruit and baking chips are sweet enough that it shouldn’t be detrimental.
If you’re able and willing, though, I’d compromise and use 1 cup of all-purpose flour with 1 cup of whole wheat flour. You could also add about two tablespoons of sugar to the dry mix if you feel the whole wheat flour is overwhelming.
Q: What kind of oil should you use in muffins?
I use vegetable oil for anything that uses more than 1/4 cup. If you can afford it, I recommend olive oil. But pretty much any oil in the cabinet will do!
Q: What kind of milk do you use? Can you use buttermilk?
We personally use 2% in our house. Skim or whole should also work just fine, you just might notice a richer flavor using whole milk.
Buttermilk is totally acceptable, too! Just make sure you add a 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda (not powder) to the dry ingredients to cut the acidity.
Q: Can I use frozen strawberries instead of fresh?
While you can, frozen strawberries are usually whole or sliced in pieces too large for this type of muffin. You’re going to have to cut them up either way (you want the strawberry chunks to be about as big as the blueberries). For this reason, I prefer to start with fresh strawberries.
Q: Can you use fruits other than strawberries and blueberries?
Yes! You can maintain the red color by using fresh or frozen raspberries instead. If you prefer dried fruits in muffins, you could also try dried cranberries or dried cherries for a nice, rich red color.
There’s not really anything you can substitute the blueberries for that will provide the same blue color, but if you don’t eat blueberries you can easily omit them.
Q: How can I add back the “white” if I don’t have white baking chips or want to use regular chocolate chips?
There’s no need to try and add it back. The glaze you drizzle on top dries into a pretty white, so you’ll still have red, white and blue muffins!
Q: Is there any other kind of topping to use on these muffins?
Of course! The white drizzle lends itself to the red, white, and blue muffins thing, but I love streusel as well. Just mix 2 tablespoons of sugar with half a teaspoon of cinnamon, then cut a teaspoon of softened butter into it and sprinkle over the muffins before baking. Now you’ve got blueberry streusel muffins on steroids!
If you’re looking for some pizzazz without a lot of effort, skip the glaze AND the streusel and just sprinkle some raw sugar on top of the batter.
Recipe Card
Red, White, and Blue Muffins
Looking for an easy breakfast recipe to kick off your Memorial Day, 4th of July, or Labor Day? These delicious red, white, and blue muffins will be a big hit with the whole family!
Ingredients
- 2 cups + 1 Tbsp. flour, divided
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup chopped fresh strawberries* (about 4-6)
- 3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1/2 cup white baking chips
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut or preferred nuts
For Filling
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 to 2 Tbsp. milk
- 1/4 tsp. orange extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray or baking cups. Chop your strawberries into blueberry-sized chunks.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until combined.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, milk, and vanilla until combined.
- Make a well in the flour mixture. Pour the egg mixture into it all at once, then stir with a spatula until completely combined, being sure to scrape the bowl. The batter should be thick and lumpy.
- In a medium bowl, toss the strawberries, blueberries, white baking chips, and nuts (if using) in one tablespoon of flour to coat.
- Carefully fold the floured pieces into the batter until evenly dispersed.
- Spoon the batter into muffin cups. They should be about 3/4 full.
- Bake at 375 degrees for about 21-25 minutes or until tops are golden and a toothpick inserted near the center of a muffin comes out free of wet batter.
- Cool muffins in the pan on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes. If freezing muffins, do not glaze as directed in the next few steps until they are thawed for eating.
- In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, one tablespoon of milk, and orange extract until smooth. Add additional milk 1/2 teaspoon at a time until it reaches drizzling or spreading consistency.
- With muffins either still in the pan or removed to the wire rack, drizzle with the powdered sugar glaze. If glazing while still in the pan, allow five minutes before removing to wire rack.
- Serve warm, room temperature, or cold from the refrigerator!
Notes
*You can substitute fresh raspberries, dried cranberries, or dried cherries for the strawberries if you prefer.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
12Serving Size
1 muffinAmount Per Serving Calories 337Total Fat 18gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 1mgSodium 244mgCarbohydrates 43gNet Carbohydrates 42gFiber 1gSugar 27gProtein 4g
Rate & Review
If you dig these Memorial Day muffins (or Fourth of July muffins, or whenever you’re making them!), please let me know if you like it! You can rate and review it (just click on the “Write a Review” tab next to the “Comments” tab below).
If you’re making these muffins to kick off a patriotic holiday like Labor Day, you might want to check out my list of awesome Labor Day appetizer recipes as well.
While you’re preparing to celebrate, get some inspo for your 4th of July nails before you go!
