Peach Muffins

Literally the BEST peach muffins! Infused with brown butter (!) and punctuated with plenty of fresh peaches, my recipe is mouth-wateringly irresistible. Top with streusel, a drizzle of glaze, or simply sprinkle with coarse sugar for a bakery-style feel.

Why You’ll Love These (Amazing!) Peach Muffins

• Full of flavor: We’re taking things up a notch by incorporating browned butter into the muffin batter. It gives the muffins an unparalleled depth of flavor that accents the peaches *beautifully*.
• Packed with peaches: You’ll get that fresh, summery flavor in every single bite. It’s so disappointing when fruity muffins are mostly bread and no fruit — not today!
• Quick and easy: Just 15 minutes of prep before they go in the oven with no fancy tools needed–not even a mixer!
• So pretty: Sprinkle coarse sugar on top before baking, or add a drizzle of my easy vanilla glaze. Even better, serve them in my parchment paper muffin liners for that bakery-style look!

These peach muffins start with my favorite tender and moist basic muffin base, but it reaches new heights (if not literally, more on that below) with nutty browned butter and bright pops of fresh peaches. To say they’re irresistible would be an understatement.

Not-So-Tall Tops

One thing you’ll notice about these muffins is they don’t have the same tall, towering muffin tops you may be used to from some of my other versions (like my lemon poppyseed muffins).

As a muffin perfectionist, this bugged me at first.

Despite the fact that my first bite of the winning recipe caused me to literally yell out across my house that we had achieved true peach muffin perfection, I wanted the tops to simply be taller. And, with additional testing (I think we did a dozen rounds) I was able to actually achieve precisely these same impressive tops, but doing so yielded a muffin that simply slightly less tasty or flavorful, or with a crumb that was just a tad too dry.

I ultimately made the only logical choice and opted to trade off towering tops for incredible depth of flavor, and to be honest I haven’t looked back since.

SAM’S TIP: While the brown butter adds LOTS of flavor here, this recipe can handle a sprinkle or two of spices as well. I’d recommend cinnamon and nutmeg, but feel free to play around with it. Ginger might be fun too!

What You Need

Always use ingredients that are the same temperature for even mixing and a better final texture! Your brown butter should be cooled to room temperature and your cold ingredients should be warmed to room temperature BEFORE you begin.

• Brown butter. Brown butter adds a rich, nutty flavor to the muffins, ultimately enhancing the peach flavor. Make sure you let your butter cool completely after browning; it doesn’t need to be re-solidified, but it does need to be cool to the touch.
• Peaches. I love using fresh peaches, but frozen will work too. If you use frozen peaches, make sure to thaw, drain, and blot them before adding. Peeling or leaving the skin on your peaches is entirely up to you, but I personally prefer to peel mine (the skin can be tough!).
• Buttermilk. Buttermilk is critical for moist, tender, and flavorful muffins, so it’s a must here. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, use my easy buttermilk substitute.
• Sugar. Coarse sugar adds a nice crunch and pretty appearance (just like my peach cake!). If you don’t have coarse sugar, you can use regular granulated sugar, demerara sugar, or turbinado sugar for sprinkling on top.
• Flour. Just like my blueberry muffins, you want to be careful to avoid accidentally adding too much flour to this recipe. Check out my post on how to measure flour if your baked goods often turn out dry.

SAM’S TIP: I provide instructions on how to brown the butter in my recipe below, but if you’d like a more in-depth explanation, check out my how to brown butter post.

Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

How to Make Peach Muffins

1. Brown the butter – Possibly the most critical step and what really sets these peach muffins apart from any other. Cook the butter over medium-low heat until melted, then increase the heat to medium and stir constantly while the butter sizzles and pops. Remove from heat when you notice brown flecks forming on the bottom of the pan, then pour into a large heatproof bowl and let cool completely before proceeding.
2. Add the buttermilk, egg, granulated sugar, and vanilla to the cooled butter and stir very well to combine.
3. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then gradually fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until about halfway combined.
4. Stir in the in peaches until incorporated, then stop. Do not over-mix!
5. Portion the batter into a lined 12-count muffin tin.
6. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with coarse sugar (if using), then bake for 20 minutes at 375F. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

SAM’S TIP: Don’t over-mix the batter! If you do, you’ll develop too much gluten in the batter, which can lead to dense, rubbery peach muffins. Mix until everything is just combined, and whatever you do, do NOT use an electric mixer!

Frequently Asked Questions

If you’re looking for more ways to add fresh fruit to your muffins, try my strawberry muffins or lemon muffins next!

Enjoy!

Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook

Peach Muffins

Look no further–you've officially found the BEST peach muffins! Infused with brown butter and punctuated with plenty of peaches, my recipe is next-level. Top with streusel, a drizzle of glaze, or simply sprinkle with coarse sugar for a bakery-style look.

Recipe includes a how-to video!

4.89 from 9 votes

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Course: Breakfast, muffins, quick bread

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 muffins

Calories: 214kcal

Author: Sam Merritt

Ingredients

• ▢ ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter
• ▢ 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 large egg room temperature preferred
• ▢ ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ ½ cup (118 ml) buttermilk room temperature preferred
• ▢ 1 ⅔ cup (210 g) all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 ¼ cups (175 g) diced peaches see note
• ▢ Coarse sugar for sprinkling (or use regular granulated sugar)

Recommended Equipment

• ▢
  Saucepan
• ▢
  Muffin tin
• ▢
  Mixing bowls

Instructions

• Brown the butter. In a saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Increase heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly. Butter will sizzle and pop. Once popping slows or stops and you notice the butter is beginning to turn golden brown (there will be brown flecks on the bottom of your pan) immediately remove from heat. Pour into a large heatproof mixing bowl and allow to cool completely until no longer warm to the touch before proceeding.
  ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter
• Preheat oven to 375F (190C) and line a 12-count muffin tin with paper liners.
• Once butter has cooled, add sugar, egg, and vanilla extract and whisk very well until ingredients are well combined.
  1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar, 1 large egg, ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
• Stir in buttermilk.
  ½ cup (118 ml) buttermilk
• In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  1 ⅔ cup (210 g) all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
• Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and use a spatula to gently fold together until about halfway combined.
• Add peaches and stir until ingredients are completely combined. Don’t over-mix or muffins will be dense.
  1 ¼ cups (175 g) diced peaches
• Evenly divide batter into prepared muffin tin and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
  Coarse sugar
• Transfer to center rack of 375F (190C) oven and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs.
• Allow muffins to cool in baking pan for 5 minutes before carefully removing to a cooling rack to cool completely. If you'd like to add a glaze, drizzle with my easy vanilla glaze once muffins have cooled.

Notes

Peaches

May use fresh or frozen peaches (if using frozen I thaw, drain, and pat dry before using). I typically remove the skin as it can be tough and a bit unpleasant in the finished muffin, but ultimately it’s your choice.

Storing

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2-3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Note that muffins stored in the refrigerator will become a bit dense and dry.

Nutrition

Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 214kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 165mg | Potassium: 60mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 325IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 44mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.

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