Air Fryer Muffins: Blueberry Cornmeal, Pumpkin, and Nut Recipe

A warm muffin with a little smear of butter or some honey on a cold morning can be so comforting. I particularly enjoy a freshly baked muffin with a hot and strong cup of coffee when I am settling in for a long day of work.

But who has time to bake muffins on a work day? Using your air fryer will cut the baking time in half. You can even make the batter the night before and store in the refrigerator. Just be sure to give it a good stir and allow it to come to room temperature before cooking. I like to pop the muffins in the air fryer, put a pot of coffee on, go get dressed for the day, and let the house fill up with the aromas of brewed coffee and baked muffins. I can actually smell this combo while I am typing this recipe.

Muffins are so satisfying and great vehicles for a vast variety of fun and nutritious ingredients. I have a basic muffin batter recipe that I add different things to for switching it up. You can go sweet or savory with this.

Here are the ingredients for a basic muffin batter:

• 2 cups of flour (use your favorite type or gluten-free)
• 2-1/2 tsps baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup sugar (can always add more or less)
• 1 cup whole milk (or plant based milk)
• 1 egg
• 3 TBS melted butter

The recipes in this article vary from the basic muffin batter recipe ingredients. Keep an open mind and have fun creating your own spin on a muffin batter.

Tips for Air Frying Muffins

An air fryer cooks faster than a conventional oven because the heat circulates constantly and evenly around the food. It is often best to bake at a lower temperature than what a conventional recipe will call for so the baked goods don’t cook too fast or dry out. Many muffin recipes call for baking at 400 – 425°F. With and air fryer, it is more effective to bake at 325 – 350°F, from my experience.

You can’t place a muffin tin inside most air fryers, except maybe the ones that are actual ovens that have an air fry setting. When using a countertop air fryer, you will want to bake the muffins in individual silicon muffin cups. Alternatively, you can place parchment paper muffin cups inside oven-proof ramekins, fill them, and place the ramekins inside the air fryer.

Because the air is moving constantly, your muffins may look like they have had a bad hair day. The batter on top can be windswept, so to speak. One way to minimize this is to rotate the muffins once or twice while baking them. If you don’t want to babysit the muffins, just skip this step and enjoy the creativity that emerges.

All air fryers differ, so be prepared to experiment with the temperature and timing when baking. I recommend trying one muffin when first starting out before you do entire batches. When an inserted toothpick comes out clean, the muffins are generally finished baking.

Air Fryer Muffin Recipes

These muffin recipes are for 12 muffins. You can cut the ingredients in half for 6, or double the recipe to feed a crowd or for freezing some muffins to enjoy later on. Defrost frozen muffins and warm them up in a toaster oven, if desired.

Ingredients:

Blueberry Cornmeal Muffins

• 1 cup white cornmeal
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2-1/2 tsps baking powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup whole milk or buttermilk
• 1 whole egg
• 6 TBS (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1-2/3 cups fresh blueberries

Pumpkin Muffins

• 2 cups whole wheat white flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 tsps baking powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 whole egg
• 1 cup mashed cooked pumpkin or canned unsweetened pumpkin

Nut Muffins

• 2 cups whole wheat white flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3 tsps baking powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, or a combination)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 whole egg
• 3 TBS unsalted butter, melted

Total time:25 min – Prep time:10 min – Cook time:15 min – Serves:12 people
Author: Nick

Directions:

1. Blueberry and Pumpkin: In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat and set aside to slightly cool.

2. Take 2 large mixing bowls. In one, whisk together all of the dry ingredients. Pumpkin: add the spices. Nut: stir in the nuts. In the other bowl, whisk together the milk and egg. Pumpkin: stir in the pumpkin. Blueberry and Nut: whisk in the butter until well combined.

3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine well into a smooth batter. Blueberry: fold the blueberries into the batter.

4. Preheat your air fryer to 350°F.

5. Spoon the batter into 12 silicon muffin cups or line small oven-proof ramekins with parchment paper muffin cups and fill with the batter. The cups should be 2/3 full.

6. Place the muffin cups on the crisper plate or in the basket of the air fryer. Close the bucket and cook for 10 to 15 minutes. You will have to check for doneness. Do this by inserting a toothpick into the center of a muffin. It should come out clean.

7. Remove the muffins to a cooling rack and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Repeat with the remaining batter until all are baked. Serve slightly cooled with butter, jam, honey, cream cheese, or nothing at all.

More Muffin Ideas

I really think a basic muffin batter is a blank canvas for creating some delicious baked goods that people of all ages will enjoy. When I am cooking with kids, I like to put out some bowls of different things to toss into the batter. I’ll divide the batter into a few bowls and allow the kids to customize their own muffins. This can be lots of fun. It is similar to gong to a frozen yogurt bar that has lots of toppings to choose from. Here are some of the ingredients I keep on hand:

• Chocolate, carob, or butterscotch chips
• Raspberries
• Raisins or Craisins
• Chopped candied nuts
• Diced apple
• Out bran or wheat germ
• Bananas
• Shredded carrots or zucchini
• Mini-marshmallows

Savory muffins are high on my list of enjoyable treats as well. I have been known to make some pretty awesome muffins to serve at holiday dinners, notably Thanksgiving. For most savory muffins, you can eliminate the sugar. Here are some of my favorite savory muffins:

• Cornmeal, cheddar, and broccoli or spinach muffins
• Breakfast muffins with cooked sausage or bacon crumbles
• Holiday muffins with sautéed diced celery, cranberries, walnuts, thyme, and sage
• Sundried tomato, olive, and feta muffins
• Caramelized onion muffins
• Ham and swiss lunch muffins