These red velvet muffins are filled with ribbons of delicious cream cheese filling! They bake up fluffy, tender, and deliciously tangy.

What Makes These Red Velvet Muffins?

This might sound like a silly question, but I make loads of cupcakes and cakes.

And at first glance, you might think of these as the base of a red velvet cupcake! So, what ratio of ingredients makes this a muffin?

Muffins fall into the quick bread category because they don’t use yeast to rise. They bake up thanks to leavening agents like baking soda or baking powder.

Traditionally they’re also baked in a muffin pan. Some recipes bake them in liners, others have you grease the pan and bake them right in each little muffin cup.

I prefer making them in muffin liners because it makes for an easier clean up.

But if you don’t have liners on hand, you can grease your muffin tin with nonstick baking spray or pan release and bake these muffins right in the pan.

The traditional ratio for a quick bread or muffin recipe is 2 parts flour, 2 parts liquid, 1 part egg, 1 part fat.

This recipe is similar to that, but uses a few extra ingredients to give these muffins a tender, moist texture.

How to Make These Red Velvet Muffins

Let’s walk through each step of this recipe to make sure your red velvet muffins turn out as delicious as possible.

The first step is to preheat the oven to 425°F / 220°C and line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners.

We need the oven to be nice and hot when we pop the muffins in to give them that fluffy, signature muffin top.

Next, we combine the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl.

The dry ingredients are then mixed into the wet ingredients and stirred until the batter just comes together.

You should still be able to see a few chunks and the batter shouldn’t be perfectly smooth. If it is, you’ve over-mixed the batter!!

Next, make the cream cheese ripple! Cream together the cream cheese and sugar and mix until the ingredients are combined and mixture looks fluffy.

Divide the muffin batter evenly between the 14 muffin cups.

Scoop the cream cheese mixture on top of the red velvet muffin batter to create cream cheese swirls on top of each muffin.

Sprinkle a tablespoon of sanding sugar on top of each muffin.

NOTE: While you may be tempted to add white chocolate chips before you bake these, don’t do it! They will brown/burn as the muffins bake (trust me, I learned the hard way with the batch shown below).

Next, bake the muffins the muffins for 5 minutes at 425°F / 220°C to give the muffins a perfectly domed top.

Then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F / 175°C while keeping the muffins in the oven and the oven door closed. Continue to bake for an additional 23-26 minutes.

Remove the muffins from the oven and let them sit in the pan for 10 minutes to cool down. Then move them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Serve these muffins at room temperature! Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Substitutions & Swaps – Red Velvet Cream Cheese Muffins

Below are some swaps and substitutions that you can make in this recipe.

• All Purpose Flour – This recipe turns out best with AP flour, but you can use a gluten free flour blend or cake flour if that’s all you have on hand. I don’t recommend using straight almond flour though!
• Granulated Sugar – I do not recommend reducing the amount of sugar or changing the type of sugar, as it will change the texture of the cake layers.
• Cocoa Powder – For this to be a true red velvet recipe it has to use a little cocoa powder! I use unsweetened baking cocoa, but you can use Dutch-processed if needed.
• Eggs – If you have an egg allergy you can use flaxseed eggs or an egg replacer.
• Buttermilk – You can also use whole milk, or an alternative yogurt or milk (almond, soy, oat) if you’re dairy free.
• Plain Yogurt – You can also use full fat Greek yogurt, sour cream, whole milk, or an alternative yogurt or milk (almond, soy, oat) if you’re dairy free.
• Vegetable Oil – You can use any flavorless oil in this recipe. Canola or even sunflower oil would work great!
• Vanilla Extract – Other extracts can also be used in place of the vanilla extract, or you can omit it if you don’t have any on hand.
• Gel food coloring – Natural food coloring (either liquid or powder) or liquid food coloring can be used if needed.
• Cream Cheese – I find that using full fat cream cheese that comes in a block works best! You can also use Neufchatel cheese.

Making these Red Velvet Muffins in Advance & Storage Tips

Make your muffins in advance! If stored in an airtight container, they can last for 3 days at room temperature or up to a week in the fridge.

These red velvet muffins can also be frozen for up to a month. Let them to thaw overnight in the fridge, then bring to room temperature or warm them up in the microwave.

Tips for Making the Best Red Velvet Muffins

• Do not over-mix your batter! Mix until the flour has just been incorporated. There should still be some small chunks in the batter, and it shouldn’t be all the way smooth.
• Ingredients at room temperature mix together better. Set out any cold ingredients ahead of time.
• Use red gel food coloring to give these muffins a gorgeous red color.
• Use a cookie scoop to easily fill your muffin liners.
• Sprinkle additional granulated sugar or coarse/sanding sugar on top of your muffins to give them a perfectly crunchy muffin top.
• Follow the baking instructions to a T!! Baking the muffins at a higher temperature at the start of the process gives them that perfect domed muffin top.
• To make gluten free red velvet muffins, swap in your favorite gluten free flour blend for the AP flour this recipe calls for. Be sure to over-mix your batter and let it sit for at least 30 minutes before baking for best results.

Let Me Know What You Think

If you try this recipe for red velvet muffins, I’d love to hear what you think of it! Please leave a rating and comment below.

Don’t forget to tag me @chelsweets and use #chelsweets if you share on social media so I can see all your amazing creations!

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