NYC's 5 Best Muffins

Muffins-small rounds of sweet satisfaction--are one of the best breakfast foods around. Fast, easy on the wallet and delicious--plus they go great with coffee. Here are some worth waking up early for. By Sherry Mazzocchi.

See Also: NYC's 5 Best Coffee Shops | NYC's 5 Best Breakfast Restaurants

Some muffin purists dismiss bran varieties as being too good to be good for you. But the blackberry raspberry muffin baked from scratch at Blue Sky Bakery would easily change their minds. Slightly crunchy on the outside, the fresh fruit center is a warm surprise on the inside.

The generous size of the banana chocolate-chip muffin is its first attraction. The second is that it's still warm. The third is that combination of slightly melted chocolate with banana. The fourth...oh, it's already gone.

The sweetly crunchy coconut tops at Fika are served in muffin tins. They go perfectly with their smooth Swedish coffee.

The brunch menu at Sarabeth's offers a basket of homemade muffins with their legendary preserves. What better way to start your day? These delights make the restaurant's inevitable Sunday wait time worth it.

Order the pecan stickies and take extra napkins. The nuts are generous and the pastry is lip-smacking good. True, it's not technically a muffin. But if you worry about those things, try their buckwheat rosemary muffin with lemon marmalade.