12 Best Ways To Substitute For Milk In Muffins

Sharing is caring!

Last Updated on March 16, 2023 by Toya

Check out these 12 easy ways to substitute for milk in muffins. Most of these items are already in your kitchen so you won’t need to make a grocery store run!

A muffin is a small cupcake-shaped bread that people enjoy for breakfast or as a snack.

They’re usually made with flour, butter, sugar, salt, eggs, baking powder, and milk, which is the go-to for almost all muffin recipes.

However, you may not always have it available, or maybe you’ve recently changed your eating regime and you need something else that can work in place of milk.

As luck would have it, there are a lot of different ingredients that you can use as a replacement for milk in muffin recipes and I’ll gladly share them all with you below!

What are the best milk substitutes for muffins?

• Almond milk
• Coconut milk
• Oat milk
• Evaporated milk
• Heavy cream 
• Heavy whipping cream
• Half and half
• Cream cheese
• Sour cream
• Buttermilk
• Yogurt
• Condensed milk
• Water

Common ways to Substitute for Milk in Muffins

Almond milk

If you have almond milk available, you can use it in place of regular milk in your muffins. It’s a bit lighter than milk your muffins may be paler in color, the cooking time will be shorter since there is more water in almond milk and there will be a slight reduction in the sweetness of the muffins.

Otherwise, almond milk makes delicious muffins with can be substituted at a 1:1 ratio.

Coconut milk

Coconut milk is another easy alternative to milk for muffins. Coconut milk will add a nice richness and a sweet, nutty flavor to the muffins. But, it is an excellent cup-for-cup substitute for milk in a pinch.

Oat milk

Oat milk is the perfect milk substitute for muffins. It’s creamier, richer, and heartier than cow’s milk, but its flavor is subtle enough that it can be easily masked with baking spices and baking extracts. 

Oat milk is perfect for dairy-free baking, but also can be used to make any kind of muffin recipe. Use a 1:1 ratio of milk to oat milk if you need a good substitute for milk in baking muffins. You will not regret this choice. 

Evaporated milk

While evaporated milk is most commonly used as a substitute for cream, it can also work as a substitute for milk in muffin recipes even though it is thicker, denser, and creamier than regular milk and it tends to have a slightly caramelized flavor to it. 

Either dilute the evaporated milk with some water (½ cup evaporated milk and ½ cup water to replace 1 cup of milk) to make it closer to the consistency and flavor of milk. Or, use it right out of the can as a cup-for-cup substitute for regular milk.

Heavy cream

If you can get your hands on some heavy cream, then you can use it in place of milk in a muffin recipe.

It is a convenient substitute since most people tend to have some in their fridges, but also it will give you muffins a rich creamy texture that you will really appreciate. 

If you don’t mind the extra fat, richness, and creaminess you can pull off a 1:1 substitute.

However, if you do mind, you can dilute the heavy cream with some water. 2 parts water and 1 part heavy cream (for example ⅔ cup of water mixed with ⅓  cup heavy cream) will give you a nice consistency close to milk.

Heavy whipping cream

Like heavy cream, heavy whipping cream can be used to make rich, creamy muffins in the absence of milk.

You can use it cup for cup, but you can also dilute the heavy whipping cream with some water.

A good substitute for 1 cup of milk is a combination of  ⅓ cup of heavy whipping cream and ⅔ of a cup of water.  

Half-and-half

Yes, it is possible to make muffins with half and half instead of milk.

Half-and-half is often used to make baked goods, so using it in place of milk to make muffins is completely doable and will add a nice richness that the milk wouldn’t have otherwise added.

Half-and-half is 50% milk and 50% heavy cream, so it will lend some extra creaminess to a muffin recipe that originally called for milk. However, it is a good cup-for-cup substitute for milk in muffins.

And, if you don’t want extra creaminess, simply dilute the half-and-half with some water. For this, it is okay to mix ¾ of a cup of half and half with ¼ of a cup of water to substitute for 1 cup of milk. 

Cream cheese

Even though Cream cheese has a mild, sweet flavor with a slight tang, it can be used to make some really delicious cream cheese muffins. 

To use cream cheese to make muffins, you will first need to blend it with some eggs until it is more like a liquid. This is important, otherwise, you will have a hard time incorporating the cream cheese with the dry ingredients. 

If you’re using cream cheese as a substitute for milk in muffins, a 1:1 substitute ratio is recommended. 

Sour cream

Another excellent milk replacement for muffins is sour cream. Sour cream is often used together with milk in many muffin recipes, but it can be used on its own with great results. Muffins made with sour cream have a slight tang that elevates the flavor!

Sour cream is thicker than milk, so you may need to blend the ingredients to help everything combine properly. Otherwise, feel free to dilute the yogurt with a bit of water. 

Plain yogurt

Plain yogurt is tangy and thicker than milk, but it will work well as a sub for milk in muffins.

If you don’t mind the slight tang, use plain yogurt cup for cup in your muffin recipe. 

Buttermilk

Some of the best muffins are made with buttermilk. Therefore,e if you have no milk, but you have access to buttermilk, you can easily swap cup for cup. 

Buttermilk will lend a touch of tangy sourness that will help balance the sweetness of the muffins. Plus, buttermilk will help make the muffins light and fluffy. 

Condensed milk

This is very unpopular but as a last resort, you can use diluted condensed milk to make muffins instead of milk. I typically use ⅔ cup of water and ½ cup of condensed milk to replace 1 cup of milk and it does the trick.

Straight from the can, condensed milk is extremely sweet, so cutting out other sauces of sweetness is very important to ensure your muffins aren’t overly sweet and inedible.

And finally,  it is important to add a ¼ teaspoon of salt to your batter if you use diluted condensed milk. The salt helps to balance out the sweetness of the condensed milk.

Muffins with water instead of milk?

Lastly, there are times when you can use water instead of milk when baking muffins. Those muffins will be lighter but they’ll still be tasty. When using water as a milk substitute in muffins, it is recommended to also use some butter to add some richness and some extra flavor to the muffins. For every cup of milk a muffin recipe calls for, replace it with 1 cup of water mixed with 1 tablespoon of melted butter. 

Muffins made with milk alternatives

Here are a few simple ways to substitute for milk in baking pancakes. 

Sour cream blueberry muffins

 

Heavy cream cinnamon muffins

Check out these top substitutes for milk in pancakes too!