Buttermilk Muffins are the best muffins I have ever tasted. They are light and fluffy with a subtle hint of honey, the perfect amount of sweetness, and just a touch of sour buttermilk flavor.
Have you ever heard of the TV show Hart of Dixie? It was (ok, still is) one of my favorite shows. I recently binge-watched it again and thought I might try to recreate some of the favorites from the Butter Stick Bakery. Of course, the Buttermilk Muffin was the first recipe I had to try to make!
These muffins are light and fluffy and have this unique flavor from the honey and buttermilk. They are so good – like a cupcake and a muffin had a baby… I can’t really explain it; you just have to try them! Topping them with honey butter makes them even more incredible.
The other items on the Butter Stick Bakery menu that I could find are:
- Anges’ Sweet Tea
- Aunt Mae’s Carrot Cake
- Pumpkin Pound Cake
- Shelton’s Peanut Butter Clusters
- Hummingbird Cake
- Salted Caramel Chocolate Fritter Cupcakes
- Breakfast Skillet Bread Pudding
- Snickerdoodle Cookies (I have Apple Butter Snickerdoodles that are really good!)
Which one should I try to make next?
🥘 Ingredients Needed
- All-Purpose Flour
- Sugar
- Baking Powder
- Kosher Salt
- Buttermilk
- Honey
- Melted Butter
- One Egg
🍽 Equipment Needed
- Measuring Spoons/Cups
- Two Bowls
- A Muffin Tin
🥣 How to Make Them
These muffins are so easy to make, and they taste so good! They are the easiest breakfast to whip up.
- First, preheat the oven to 400°.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. (Picture 1)
- In another bowl, combine egg, buttermilk, melted butter, and honey. (Picture 2) Make sure the butter has cooled down, or it will harden up the second it hits the cold buttermilk. If this happens, you can save it by heating the whole mixture very slowly in a small saucepan over low heat just until the butter melts again. Make sure the heat is very low, or the egg will cook.
- Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. (Picture 3 – 4)
- Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. (Picture 5)
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 10 – 15 minutes.
- Let the muffins cool for about 5 minutes before removing them from their pan and moving to a wire rack. Serve while warm with butter and a drizzle of honey.
🙋♀️ Frequently Asked Questions
Yes – you don’t have to use buttermilk, but these muffins won’t have the same sour flavor. This recipe is based on this Taste of Home recipe, so if you don’t want to use buttermilk, I would recommend using this recipe.
Yes! I tested these muffins with fresh blueberries (tossed in a little flour to keep them from sinking) and they were really good. I still like the honey/buttermilk flavor best though. My husband is convinced chocolate chips will be delicious also. About 3/4 cup of fresh blueberries is enough.
The inside is so fluffy, and the berries add a nice fruity tartness.
🥫 How to Store Buttermilk Muffins
Once cooled, these muffins should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature. They will last for 3 – 5 days.
They are best if reheated before eating – I like to warm them in the toaster or oven but you can also put them in the microwave for about 10 seconds. They are delicious when sliced in half with a little sliver of butter on them.
✏️ Helpful Tips
- Make sure that the melted butter has cooled down before combing it with buttermilk, or it will harden up the second it hits the cold milk. If this happens, you can save it by heating the whole mixture very slowly in a small saucepan over low heat just until the butter melts again. Make sure the heat is very low, or the egg will cook.
- Try this recipe with 3/4 cup of blueberries tossed in flour or my husband’s favorite – chocolate chips. I prefer the plain muffins, but he loves chocolate everything!
- Reheat these muffins when serving – they are so good nice and warm with a little bit of melted butter on them.
Other Breakfast Recipes
Apps & Snacks
Peanut Butter Perfect Bar Recipe
Main Courses
Authentic Spanish Tortilla (Egg and Potato)
Brunch & Breakfast Recipes
Easy Drop Biscuit Recipe
Brunch & Breakfast Recipes
How to Bake Eggs in a Muffin Tin
Looking for more ways to use up leftover buttermilk?
- Classic Southern Coleslaw (Similar to Raising Cane’s or KFC!)
- Buttermilk Fried Chicken Tenders
- Southern Cornbread
- Sweet Skillet Cornbread
- Cranberry Orange Muffins
Have You Tried This Recipe?
Please rate it and leave a comment below. I would love to hear what you think!
Buttermilk Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup butter melted and cooled (4 tbsp or ½ stick)
- ¼ cup honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.2 cups all-purpose flour, ½ cup granulated sugar, 3 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- In another bowl, combine egg, buttermilk, melted butter, and honey.1 large egg, 1 cup buttermilk, ¼ cup butter, ¼ cup honey
- Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
- Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups about three-fourths full.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, for about 10 – 15 minutes.
- Cool 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm.
Notes
🙋♀️ Frequently Asked Questions
Can you use normal milk in place of buttermilk?Yes – you don’t have to use buttermilk, but these muffins won’t have the same sour flavor. This recipe is based on this Taste of Home recipe, so if you don’t want to use buttermilk, I would recommend using this recipe. Can you add fruit to buttermilk muffins?
Yes! I tested these muffins with fresh blueberries (tossed in a little flour to keep them from sinking) and they were really good. I still like the honey/buttermilk flavor best though. My husband is convinced chocolate chips will be delicious also. About ¾ cup of fresh blueberries is enough.
🥫 Storage/Shelf Life/Reheating
Once cooled, these muffins should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature. They will last for 3 – 5 days. They are best if reheated before eating – I like to warm them in the toaster or oven but you can also put them in the microwave for about 10 seconds. They are delicious when sliced in half with a little sliver of butter on them.📋 Tips
- Make sure that the melted butter has cooled down before combing it with buttermilk or it will harden up the second it hits the cold milk. If this happens, you can save it by heating the whole mixture very slowly in a small saucepan over low heat just until the butter melts again. Make sure the heat is very low or the egg will cook.
- Try this recipe with ¾ cup of blueberries tossed in flour or my husband’s favorite – chocolate chips. I prefer the plain muffins, but he loves chocolate everything!
- Reheat these muffins when serving – they are so good nice and warm with a little bit of melted butter on them.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is approximate and is automatically calculated, so should only be used as a guide.
I made these gluten free with King Arthur flour (using same amount of flour) and a teaspoon of guar gum. I wanted them a little less sweet so I only put in 1/3 cup of sugar and about 2 heaping tablespoons of honey. I added a smidge more buttermilk to make up for the loss of liquid. I also added chocolate chips to half of them. Sublime!!
That sounds amazing!! Glad you enjoyed them!
I had 1/2 gallon of Buttermilk I wanted to use up, and I came across this recipe. I doubled it and the recipe was SO easy. I followed it exactly, but used Jumbo muffin tins/liners instead. I baked them for 20 minutes and they came out perfectly. This is a keeper. Thank you for submitting!
I’m so glad you liked the recipe! It’s such a great way to use up leftover buttermilk 🙂
These are the most delicious muffins I have EVER tried! I bake 100% gluten free and so I subbed the wheat flour with GF King Arthur Flour. One time I was out of honey and maple syrup, so I subbed it with sugar but then added 1 tsp of imitation maple flavor and 1 tsp on vanilla. Whenever I have too much buttermilk, I quadruple the recipe and use up the milk and freeze the batter. Whenever I am craving the soft, fluffy, mapley/honey muffins, I take them out, let the batter defrost for a couple hours and then pop them into muffin liners and 15 minutes later I have the most DELICIOUS muffins I have ever come across!! I can’t believe how underrated this recipe is. If I could rate it higher than five stars, I would! My family loves it too!!
These are so good!! This recipe is a keeper. Wondering if the freeze well
They freeze VERY well! I make them in huge batches when I have company coming, and I pull out whatever we need the night before – then we toast them in the morning and serve them with honey butter.
Can you make this with diabete sugar instead?
I haven’t tried, but someone let me know that they made them with coconut nectar and they baked up really well but they weren’t very sweet. They said that they were used to that so they enjoyed them!
Found this one afternoon in search of a quick bread that would go well with pulled pork. Less than 25 minutes later I pulled these beautiful golden gems out of the oven, ready to be served. They were hit at a dinner gathering that evening, AND relieved my worry about what to do with leftover buttermilk 🙂 Definitely a ‘make again’ recipe thank you! PS: any advice on trying them gluten free?
Yes! I made them GF with King Arthur Flour. It worked PERFECTLY! I always bake GF. GF substitutions work well unless it is yeasted dough. Don’t try to sub GF flour for breads, rolls, cinnamon rolls, etc. Just make sure to use a GF flour mix (because they include xanthum gum which is important in GF baking) such as Bob’s Red Mill, King Arthur, Cup4Cup, Better Batter, so on.
These muffins are super fluffy and perfect with chili. I added an extra 1/4 of butter by accident and they still turned out really well!
I’m so glad you liked them! Butter makes everything better 😆
I stumbled upon this recipe while looking for ways to use up leftover buttermilk (well, actually kefir, but close enough). And I am very happy I did. Doubled the recipe, baked both jumbo and normal sized muffins, sprinkled some cinnamon sugar on top as per Linda’s suggestion, and they came out perfect. The only deviation from the recipe was to use about 1/4 less sugar – European tastebuds 🙂 Definitely bookmarking this recipe, thank you! Oh – I’ve just caught my cat trying to steal a muffin from the table, so clearly this is good stuff 😉
This is so wonderful to hear! I am making a batch this week and I am going to try the cinnamon sugar addition. Don’t let your cat steal too many 😉
Great recipes. Easy to follow and make. Fluffy muffins that aren’t too sweet. Love it!
So glad you liked them!
Light, fluffy and very delicious! I added a bit of sugar with cinnamon on top prior to baking.
Yum! That sounds delicious 🙂 I will try that next time I make them!