Look, I made something delicious.

About muffins. Everything here also applies to muffin-like quick breads.

Partially because some were curious as to what I’m learning in class, partially for me to look back on before my midterm exam.

Texture: A common problem with muffins, and other bread products made by the muffin method, is a dense or gummy texture. There are many possible causes to this.

Overmixing is quite easy to do with a muffin batter- when mixing, one should note that though the ingredients should be incorporated together just enough to make it a cohesive product, anything more is too much. A slightly lumpy batter isn’t a problem. A light touch is most important to having a fluffy muffin with a pleasing texture. (If you can mix everything loosely together and the batter comes out smooth… more power to you! But, don’t worry too much about it!)

The fat component should be liquid. (If you’re using oil, this isn’t a problem, but if you’re using butter, this means it needs to be melted, not just softened.) This is also important to keeping a light texture- an evenly distributed fat keeps the gluten (or other protein from the flour, if you eat gluten-free) separated, again, helping the muffin keep a light texture. This also ties in with the previous point- a liquid fat is quicker to incorporate, thus keeping you, the baker, from having to overmix.

Sifting is important. If you’re like me, you probably see “sift dry ingredients together” in many recipes and think, “Is that really necessary?” Often, it isn’t! But, for muffins, it is. (Again, to keep them from becoming too dense. Seeing a pattern, here?) Not only does it introduce air to your dry ingredients, it also cuts down on the time you take to incorporate everything- always a plus when you want to get everything mixed in as little time as possible. Sift at least once. It doesn’t hurt to do it twice.

Leavening depends on the other ingredients. Baking soda requires an acidic ingredient (such as orange juice) to work, baking powder does not. (If you know your chemistry, this should logically follow, soda reacts with an acid! It’s as simple as that.)

It is important not to overthink this! Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients. Then fold in something else, if the recipe calls for that. Optionally, you can add a topping. It’s really as simple as that. If you’re doing anything more complex than that for a simple muffin recipe, there’s a fairly good chance that you’re doing it wrong.

For ingredients to be loosely folded into the batter: Have you ever tried making a batch of blueberry muffins, only to have the fruit sink to the bottom? This happens often with frozen fruit, especially, but it can be an issue with any item heavier than your batter. You can combat this problem by tossing the ingredient in flour by introducing it to your batter- it will suspend more successfully that way.

An important note not directly related to muffins: Only three baking ingredients measure the same by weight and volume- eggs, water, and milk. If you’re serious about your baking, you should invest in a kitchen scale for measuring everything else. (If you’re not serious about baking… standard volume measures should work fine, because more likely than not, you’ll be following straight off the recipe, not modifying it to suit other purposes.)