Baking Muffins – Practical Tips

Secret tricks, tips, mostly common mistakes, best kitchen tools and baking forms.

In this muffins baking guide you will find all the information how to bake perfect and melting in mouth muffins.

Though to bake muffins is easier than to bake cake, a lot of us face with many challenges and because of that later we are affraid to try again. I have gathered the best information, so I can share with you and inspire for new inventions in the kitchen.

1. Follow the recipe.

It is very important to follow the recipe, especially if you are cooking for the first time. The recipe makers spend a lot of time trying and searching for the best taste, so they instantly check out a lot of variations. If you know the recipe, try to change one ingredient or action – this way it will be easier to track the process and undrestand what mistakes you are making.

2. Use only fresh ingredients.

If you that you won‘t feel the big difference between real chocolate and the product of chocolate or between vanilla sugar and natural vanilla extract, you are making a big mistake. Every ingredient has a big impact to taste. Choose only highest quality and fresh products.

3. Keep ingredients in room temperature.

All ingredients better and faster merge together if they are the same temperature. Ofcourse it takes a lot of planning: it is important to in advance (15 – 20 minutes) take out ingredients from fridge. This tip perfectly pays off when you are reaching for the best possible result.

4. Don‘t mix the dough for too long.

The main characteristic that you need to learn form the best chefs is the tenderness. If you want to make soft and wet muffins, you need to left some air bubbles in the dough, who will extend later in the oven. If you will mix ingredients for too long and too hard, later you will be dissapointed by hard as rock muffins. Choose slow speed of mixer and stop as soon as all ingredients are added.

5. Pay attention to the temperature.

Temperature needed and backing time depends on oven and chosen recipe. Optimal temperature is 160 – 200 degrees of Celsius. A lot of ovens are unpredictable or unevenly detributes heat, though temperature for perfect baked goods is particularly important. The best desicion if u don‘t want to make a mistake is to don‘t put muffins to over heated oven or not enough heated oven – check the temperature with oven‘s termometre.

6. Bake muffins in central area of oven.

For baked goods it is important that heat detributes evenly. Put muffins in central area of oven, this way you will avoid too much heat in one area. If your oven bakes unevenly, counterchange muffins. It is advised to not do that till 2/3 baking time is over.

Sometimes it seems that we make everything right: choose perfect ingredients, best baking form, counting time – but everything doesn‘t come out as we expected. Here is some mistakes that are commonly made in baking muffins.

1. Muffins are left in baking forms.

Consequence: over baked and hard muffins.

It‘s the most common mistake, for which muffins loose they softness and humidity. Metal baking form is hot, so it is important to take out muffins from it and put on the basis that is of room temperature, so they won‘t over bake. It is better to use silicon baking forms, because they cool off really fast, so we don‘t need to worry and we can leave muffins in those baking forms even when serving on the table.

2. Muffins are baked for too long.

Consequence: hard and dry muffins.

For standart size muffins to bake needs about 18 – 20 minutes, for bigger 24 – 26 minutes. Often baked goods are baked for too long, that‘s why they are hard and dry. The best way to check if muffins are baked – put toothpick in the middle of muffin and put it out. If it‘s clean – the muffins are baked.

3. In the forms you put too much ar too little dough.

Consequence: not enough or too much risen, without form muffins.

Muffins doesn‘t rise, runs out, looses form. If you want to avoid that, put in the forms not more than 2/3 of dough. Baking for a few times with the same form you will find optimal option. It is very handy to put dough with icecream spoon, because you will always take the same amount of dough.

4. Muffins are served not cooled enough.

Consequence: too crumbly and not stiffed muffins.

This mistake are common between most impatient bakers, they serve muffins as soon as they are taken out from the oven. It is important to wait at least 40 minutes to let muffins cool off and stiff. Remember that if the top of muffins looks cool, inside is still hot, so wait a bit till u can enjoy the result.

5. Muffins are decorated too early.

Consequence: Form and crispness lost and humidity loaded decorations.

Because of deficiency of time all beauty is ruined – muffins are decorated while they are still warm or too early. If muffins aren‘t cooled off, but decorated with creme, it looses it‘s elasticity because of heat and runs off. As well as muffins, decorated with biscuits or other decorations are left for more than few hours till serving, so decorations soak in the humidity and looses crispness. Decorate muffins few minutes before serving.