Nectarine Muffins Recipe

These nectarine muffins are tender, lightly spiced with ginger, and packed with juicy chopped nectarines. They come together in 35 minutes with simple pantry ingredients and make 18 muffins, which means plenty for the week ahead or the freezer.

This is the recipe to make when you have a bowlful of ripe fruit and want something easy and delicious to show for it.

Skip the Peeling

The great thing about nectarines is that they are simply fuzzless peaches. That lack of fuzz means one can skip the peeling.

Simply pit and chop the nectarines to toss into the muffin batter.

Freestone nectarines are super easy to pit and are ideal if you can find them. The pit will just pull right out of the fruitMost places that sell fruit for homecanners will have these varieties in stock. Clingstone nectarines will work but require that the pit be cut away from the fruit.

Want to Substitute Peaches?

Peaches could easily be substituted for the nectarines in this recipe. Do peel the peaches, however as the fuzzy peels are not going to leave the best mouth feel in the finished muffins. If you love baking with fresh peaches, my peach raspberry cornmeal muffins are another great summer option.

Variation Ideas

These basic muffins are quite good just as written, however there are some ways to switch it up and add even more flavor:

• Add up to ½ cup chocolate chips to the batter
• Stir in up to ½ cup of chopped, crystallized ginger
• Add up to ½ cup chopped nuts to the batter
• Add up to 1 teaspoon almond extract to the batter
• Top with a simple streusel

How to Serve

This is a simple grab and go breakfast if you want it. Pair it with a protein shake for a filling boost.

Serve it as part of a brunch with fruit, eggs, and bacon.

How to Store

Keep baked and cooled muffins in an airtight container where they should stay fresh for up to 4 days at room temperature.

The recipe does make 18 muffins which might be too much to eat before they go stale at room temperature.

For longer term storage, place the baked muffins into a freezer bag or containter and freeze. Thaw as needed. Use up within 6 months.

Troubleshooting

The nectarines sank to the bottom. Toss the chopped nectarines in a tablespoon of flour before folding them into the batter. This helps them stay distributed through the muffin rather than settling.

The muffins are too wet or gummy. Nectarines release juice during baking. Make sure you’re measuring 2 cups of chopped fruit and not overpacking the measuring cup. Also check that your baking soda and baking powder are fresh.

The muffins are dry. At 400 degrees these bake quickly. Start checking at 13 minutes. Pull them as soon as the tester comes out clean.

The muffins didn’t rise well. Check the freshness of your leavening. Also make sure the oven was fully preheated before the muffins went in. The initial heat burst at 400 degrees is what drives the rise.

The ginger flavor is too strong. The 1 1/2 teaspoons of ginger is a noticeable amount. Reduce to 1 teaspoon for a milder spice presence, or skip it entirely for a plain nectarine muffin.