There are two types of muffins: English and American.
English Muffins are made from a yeast dough that is formed into rounds, cooked on a griddle, toasted, split and buttered. They are relatively flat with a golden-brown top and bottom and a light, spongy interior.
Muffinsbegan as a yeast bread but American muffins have evolved to be a cross between abread and a cake and a chemical leavener (baking powder/soda) is now usedinstead of yeast. A basic muffin recipe contains flour, sugar, bakingpowder/soda, eggs, fat, and milk (buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream). Fruit, nuts,chocolate, vanilla extract, spices, cornmeal, bran, oats are some of theflavorings that can be added. A streusel topping or glaze not only adds flavorand texture but can transform a plain basic muffin into something special.
The 'perfect'American Muffin is symmetrical with a domed top. The surface of the muffin should be bumpy and the volume of the batter should have almost doubled during baking. The muffin should feel light for its size and when cut in half its interiorshould be moist and tender with no tunnels. American muffins can be either sweet or savory and are traditionally served warm for breakfast.They are best eaten the day they are made or frozen.
There aretwo types of muffins: bread-likeand cake-like. Eachtype has its own technique for mixing the batter. Less sugar and butter makes abread-like muffin. A higher sugar and butter content makes a cake-like muffin.Once you determine which type of muffin you prefer, choosing recipes to trybecomes easier.
BATTERS
Thebread-like muffinbatter is made using the "muffin method". This batter can be assembled andbaked 'quickly', usually in 20-25 minutes. Only two bowls are needed to makethe batter. One bowl is used to mix all the dry ingredients together. Thesecond bowl contains all the wet ingredients. The fat used with the bread-likemuffins is usually in liquid form, either an oil or melted butter. When thewet and dry ingredients have been mixed together separately, then they arecombined. The important step here is not to overmix the batter.However, there is a tendency to over mix because the ratio of liquid to flour isquite high. But mixing too much overdevelops the gluten in the flour which will cause atough muffin with tunnels and a compact texture.Only 10 to 15 strokes are needed to moisten the ingredients and the battershould be still lumpy and you may still see a few traces of flour. Don't worry about these lumps as the batter continues toblend as it bakes and any lumps will disappear. Note: Over mixing the muffinbatter causes it to become very stringy. This is the gluten developing in theflour. Over mixing causes long strands of gluten to form making it hard for theleavener to work and causes long tunnels in the baked good.
Thecake-like muffinbatter is prepared using the same method as making a cake batter. The butter(room-temperature) and sugar are creamed together. The eggs are mixed in andthen the wet and dry ingredients are added alternately. The higher sugar andfat content in this type of muffin act as tenderizers thereby producing a richercake-like muffin with a softer crumb. The increased fat content also minimizesthe development of gluten which again helps to produce a muffin with a softercrumb.
PANS
Muffins andcupcakes arebaked in a muffin pan or tin made of steel, aluminum or cast iron. Make surethe pan you buy has rounded corners and seamless cups. Non-stick surfaces areavailable which enables easy removal of the muffins from the pan. Each pan canhave 6-, 12- or 24- cup-shaped depressions and range from mini- to jumbo insize. Mini muffin pans usually have 12 or 24 cup-shaped depressions. Eachlittle cup is about 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter and 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) deep andholds about 2 tablespoons of batter. The regular size muffin pans have 6- or12- cup-shaped depressions with each cup about 3 inches (7.5 cm) in diameter andholds about 1/2 cup or 4 ounces of batter. Jumbo muffin pans have 6 cup-shapeddepressions with each cup being 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter and 2 inches (5 cm)deep holding about 1 cup of batter each.
There arealso fluted muffin pans (also called bundt-lette pans) that come in 6- and 12-cup sizes made from heavy cast aluminum. Each of the 6 fluted muffin cupsmeasures 4 inches (10 cm) wide and 2 inches (5 cm) deep and holds 8 ounces (240ml) of batter. Each of the 12 fluted muffin cups measures 2 1/2inches wide (6.25 cm) and 1 inch (2.54 cm) deep. They can be used to bakeboth muffins and cakes when decorative individual cakes are desired.
Note: If using a dark coloredpan, reduce the oven temperature, stated in the recipe, by 25 degrees F. (This is because dark colored pans absorb more of the energy coming from theoven walls so they become hotter and transmit heat faster than light coloredpans.)
Paperor foil muffin cup liners are sometimes used to line the muffin pans. Theadvantage of paper liners is not only does it make clean-up easier but they alsohelp to keep the muffins moist and help prevent them from drying out.However, if you like your muffins to have a crust, do not use paper liners.Instead, spray the muffin pan with a non stick vegetable spray.
BAKING
Muffinsshould be baked in the center of a preheated oven and are done when a toothpickinserted in the center comes out clean and the edges start to come away from thesides of the pan, usually 20-25 minutes at a 350 - 400 degree F (175 - 205degrees C) oven.
Spoon themuffin batter into the muffin tin using two spoons or an ice cream scoop.Only fill each cup 1/2 to 2/3 full. Even during this step, handle the batter as little as possible as toomuch handling will cause a tough muffin. Fill any unused cupshalfway with water to prevent over browning of the muffins or warping of the pan.Turn the pan halfway during baking for even browning. Make sure you do not overbake muffins or they will be dry. When done, remove fromoven and place on a wire rack to cool slightly (5-10 minutes) before removingfrom pan.
PROBLEM SOLVING
Muffins have tunnels and are dry:
- batterwas over mixed (too much gluten development)
- overbaked and/or oven too hot
- too muchflour and/or too little liquid
Muffins have an uneven shape
- too muchbatter in each cup (fill only 1/2 to 2/3 full). Overfilling will cause muffinsto have "flying saucer" like tops.
- oventemperature too high
Tops are brown but muffin is notcooked through
- oventemperature too high
- oven racknot in center of oven
Muffin does not rise sufficiently
- oventemperature too low
- batterover mixed or incorrect amount of leavener
Muffins Stick to Pan
- pan wasnot prepared properly.
- letmuffins sit in pan too long after removing from oven. Try placing the pan on awet towel for a few minutes to loosen the muffins. Run a sharp edge around theinside of each muffin.
