Red Velvet Muffins

5 from 1 vote

These Red Velvet Muffins topped with cream cheese frosting are incredibly moist, super fluffy, and simply scrumptious! With all the rich red velvet flavor, this recipe is the ultimate handheld version of the beloved classic!

Prep Time8

Cook Time22

Total Time30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 339kcal

Author: Katalin Nagy

Equipment

Ingredients

For the red velvet muffins

240 g Granulated sugar
180 g Unsalted butter room temperature
2 Eggs room temperature
2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
240 g All purpose flour
16 g Cocoa powder
1 teaspoon Baking powder
½ teaspoon Salt
240 g Whole milk room temperature
Red food coloring preferably gel, eg. Americolor
1 teaspoon Baking soda
1 teaspoon White vinegar

For the cream cheese frosting

113 g Cream cheese full fat (33%+) eg. Philadelphia
55 g Mascarpone very cold! 36% heavy cream
30 g Powdered sugar sifted

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Make the red velvet muffins

Prepare your muffin tin with muffin liners and preheat the oven to 175°C / 347°F (no fan).
In a large bowl, cream the room temperature butter and sugar with an Electric hand mixer for a few minutes until it's light and fluffy. Then slowly whip in the eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla extract.
Mix the red food coloring into the room temperature milk. Then slowly pour it into the batter while continuing to whip it.
Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into the batter. Then use a rubber spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Do not overmix the batter.
In a small bowl, mix the vinegar together with the baking soda. It will be super bubbly. Then immediately fold the vinegar mixture into the muffin batter just until combined.
Fill the muffin cavities about ¾ full with batter using a piping bag or spoon. Distribute the batter for evenly among the cavities.
Bake the muffins for about 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Do not overbake the muffins as they can dry out.
Let the muffins come to room temperature before frosting.

Prepare the cream cheese frosting

Whip all the ingredients together with an electric hand mixer for a few minutes until light and fluffy. Do not over beat or it can become runny.
Spoon or pipe frosting on top of the muffins.
Serve the muffins fresh or store them in the refrigerator for 2-3 days in an airtight container.

Notes

INGREDIENT NOTES

All the ingredients must be at room temperature to properly emulsify: eggs, butter, and milk.
The baking soda and vinegar mixture is my signature baking hack to make muffins and cupcakes super moist and fluffy, do not skip it.
You might be able to make more or less mini muffins with this recipe depending on the size of your mini muffin cases.
The cream cheese, mascarpone, and heavy cream/whipping cream all need to be high in fat. Using the low-fat version may result in a thinner frosting because it contains more water.
Use high-quality gel food coloring eg. Americolor that has a vibrant red color to prevent breaking the batter.

TECHNIQUE NOTES

A digital scale is required for a consistent, happy baking experience:)
Do not overwork the muffin batter. After the wet ingredients are whipped together switch to a rubber spatula to incorporate the dry ingredients.
Always preheat your oven and consider using a digital oven thermometer for the best results.
When whipping in the eggs, butter, and milk, make sure they are all at room temperature otherwise the batter will break.
Also, make sure that you whip in the eggs and milk slowly. Do not pour these wet ingredients in all at once as that can also break the muffin batter and cause it to curdle.
Baking these muffins takes 22 minutes in my oven. However, focus on the texture, not the time. Do the toothpick test (it should come out clean) to avoid underbaked muffins. Yet, do not overbake them either as that would result in a dry texture.
Cream cheese frosting is very easy to overwhip. When whipping the frosting stop as soon as the mixture has reached a fluffy consistency (this will take 2-3 minutes). It won't get stiffer after this point. In fact, if you overbeat it, it will only get runnier and then it will break

Nutrition