Muffin Making Tips

Muffin Pans

A special metal baking pan, sometimes referred to as a muffin tin, with 6 or 12 cup-shaped depressions. Most often this pan is made from aluminum.

The sizes of muffin cups are:

Standard muffin cup is about 2 1/2 inches in diameter and holds 1/4 to 1/3 cup batter.

Giant or Texas-size muffin cup is about 3 ½ inches in diameter and holds 5/8 cup batter.

Miniature muffin cup is about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter and holds 1/8 cup or 2 tablespoons batter.

Muffin-top cup is about 4 inches in diameter but are only 1/2 inch deep.

Substituting a Different Size Muffin Cup

Substitute another size muffin cup for original size listed in recipe. If substituting a larger size muffin cup the recipe will yield fewer muffins and if using smaller size muffin cup the recipe will yield more muffins. The bake time will be changed also. Bake a larger muffin longer than the original time and smaller muffins a shorter time.

Tips On Baking Muffins

Grease muffin cups by spraying each cup with no stick cooking spray or using a paper towel dipped in shortening to grease each cup.

For rounded tops on muffins grease only the bottom of the cup and halfway up the side of the cup.

Use paper liners in muffin cups for easy clean-up.

If muffin cups are filled more than 3/4 full the muffins will have flat, “flying saucer” tops. If sufficient room is not allowed for muffins to expand before reaching the top of the cup the muffin will flatten on top.

If some muffin cups will remain empty during baking, put 2 to 3 tablespoons water in the unused muffin cups to keep the pan from warping.

If baked muffins stick to the bottom of the muffin cup, place hot muffin pan on a wet towel for about two minutes.

Source: Land O' Lakes

All About Muffins

Are You Eating Muffins or Cupcakes?

Hot breads are always a hit and muffins are one of the easiest to make. They are more quickly and easily made than biscuits and no kneading, rolling or cutting is required. They can be a savory, last minute dinner muffin or a sweet delicious breakfast muffin. Made using whole-wheat flour, wheat germ, bran, honey, fruits and nuts they can be very nutritious. But like the healthy granola craze which turned into candy bars, muffins also can quickly turn into cupcakes. Eating cupcakes for breakfast is your choice, but don't tell yourself you are eating healthy breakfast muffins. A recent magazine article revealed some muffins available in New York delicatessens were claimed to be low fat, but actually contained up to 23 grams of fat. That's more fat than two Egg McMuffins.

What is the Difference Between Muffins and Cupcakes?

Some say cupcakes have frosting. A basic formula for muffins is 2 cups flour, 2-4 tablespoons sugar, 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 egg, 1/4 cup oil, shortening or butter, 1 cup milk. When the fat, sugar and egg ratio in a recipe reaches double or more than this, you have reached the cake level.

Other Technical Difference Between Muffins and Cupcakes

The method of cooking is different for muffins and cupcakes. The muffin method is by far the fastest and easiest. Flour, sugar, baking powder and salt (all the dry ingredients) are mixed together. This is where the leavening can be uniformly dispersed into the flour. Sugar is mixed with the flour to prevent the flour from lumping when combined with the wet ingredients.

Making and Baking Muffins

In a large bowl, oil (or melted butter) and egg are beaten together to form an emulsion to disperse the fat more uniformly. Then the milk is stirred in. This much mixing can be done ahead and held. The two are combined just before baking.

To combine, cut and fold liquid into the dry ingredients. Mix only to combine. Batter will be lumpy but no pockets of dry ingredients should remain. The general rule is only 12 strokes.

Bake as soon as it's mixed. When filling cups, do not mix batter between scoops. Excessive mixing causes loss of leavening.

The Cake Method for Making Muffins

Sometimes muffins are made using the cake method, i.e. cream the fat and sugar, add eggs, add the dry ingredients and milk alternately. This is more time consuming but produces a lighter, more tender, cake-like muffin.

The Perfect Muffin

The perfect muffin has a thin brown crust, a slightly rounded top with a pebbled appearance and a moist, even interior. There should be no peaks, no tunnels which are usually caused by excessive mixing and too much liquid (muffin batter should not be fluid).

More Leavining is Not Better

Just because a recipe is in print does not mean that it is in balance. A guide for leavening 2 cups of flour in a recipe is either 2 1/2 teaspoons double acting baking powder, or 4 teaspoons fast acting baking powder, or 1/2 teaspoon soda plus 1 cup buttermilk (for the acid) and 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder. Excess baking powder and soda taste bitter.

Here Are a Few Tips For Altering Muffin Recipes:

Substitute 2 egg whites for one egg in the recipe. If these are stiffly beaten and folded in at the end it will produce a lighter muffin with less fat.

Use non-fat milk instead of whole milk.

Use salad oil in place of butter. In place of the fat in the recipe, use one-fourth of the oil and replace the other three-fourths with fruit purée such as applesauce. Jars of baby food fruits provide a quick choice of purées other than apple. Adding non-gluten grain products (bran, germ, oatmeal, corn meal) for part of the flour makes a more tender muffin.

Create Your Own Taste Sensations

Begin with the basic formula and change 1/2 cup of the flour to corn meal, bran, wheat germ, rye, oatmeal or leftover cooked cereal. Add 1/2 to one cup chopped apple, dates, prunes, raisins, apricots, figs, blueberries, cranberries, cheese, nuts.

Make your favorite muffin mixes by measuring the dry ingredients twice (or more ) into two separate bowls. Use one and package one with the list of wet ingredients to be added when mixing at a later date.

CUPCAKE

Definition:

A small, individual-size cake that's usually baked in a muffin pan. Sometimes the cupcake mold is lined with a crimped paper or foil cup. After baking, the paper or foil is simply peeled off before the cupcake is eaten.

Copyright (c) 1995 by Barron's Educational Series, from The New Food Lover's Companion, Second Edition, by Sharon Tyler Herbst

Preparing Cupcakes

Line cupcake pans with cupcake papers, or grease the pans.

When baking cupcakes, place pan in the middle of a preheated oven.

Set a timer so that you don't forget about your cupcakes.

Bake cupcakes for the minimum time suggested, then test them to see if they're done.

Cupcakes are done when you can insert a toothpick into the middle of one and it comes out clean and dry.

Always wear oven mitts when removing cupcake pans from the oven.

Place cupcake pan on cooling rack for at least 5 minutes.

Remove cupcakes from the pan and place them back on the rack to cool further.

Let the cupcakes cool completely before you decorate them.

Icing and Decorating Cupcakes

Before you begin icing and decorating cupcakes, make sure they are completely cooled.

If you're icing cupcakes, first brush them lightly with your fingers to remove any loose crumbs.

Place a dollop of icing in the center of the treat you want to ice. Using a table knife, make short strokes to spread the icing from the top of the dollop - this keeps crumbs from getting in the icing.

If your icing is difficult to spread, dip the knife in hot water.

Try using decorations other than candy, such as cereal, pretzels, chips, etc.

For special birthday cupcakes, ice each one, then place a hard candy ring or gummy ring on top and stand a candle in the center of each one.

Decorating Idea-Caterpillar Cupcakes