43 Unexpected Muffin-Tin Recipes You've Never Tried (2024)

FAQs

Why do you fill empty muffin tins with water? ›

Using the blueberry muffin recipe from The Bread Bible, the unused empty muffin cups are half filled with water. According to Rose Levy Beranbaum, it “prevents the heat from being drawn to them and adds moisture”.

Use Cupcake Liners

Simply line a regular baking sheet with the cupcake liners and fill them with your muffin batter. The liners will help maintain the shape of the muffins as they bake, and you'll have perfectly shaped muffins without a traditional muffin tray.

Chilling your muffin batter overnight in the fridge is the BEST thing you can do for amazing muffins. It makes them more moist, tender, and TALLER! It's very similar to chilling cookie dough, which if you know me you know I'm obsessed with chilling cookie dough. Think of it like marinating.

The oven wasn't hot enough or the muffins weren't baked for long enough. An undercooked muffin will have a center that is too moist and it doesn't peak enough.

In a muffin mix that calls for water, can I substitute milk? A. We don't recommend using milk instead of water because the milk can make holes in the paper liners or the sides of the muffins.

The idea behind this tip is that if you sprinkle some uncooked rice in the bottom of the muffin wells, the rice will absorb the grease that comes out of the muffins or cupcakes while they're baking. What you're left with are pretty, grease-free liners.

Take any basic batter, from brownie batter to cake batter to muffin batter, and spread it onto a parchment-lined (or well-greased) sheet pan with high edges. Bake until just set and golden on the edges, then remove from the oven and let it cool.

Method 1: Paper cupcake liners can work without a cupcake tray, especially if you are careful not to overfill the liners. You can then place them in a snug pan that will keep 5-6 paper liners upright.

Melt a small amount of butter in a saucepan over low heat. After the butter is melted, remove from heat. Dip a pastry brush into the butter and use it to lightly coat each muffin cup. Make sure you get the bottom, sides, and corners of the cup.

The best bakery-style crumb muffins start with cake flour

Cake flour is more finely ground and has less protein, which leaves the muffins with a fine, light crumb and soft texture. Using cake flour is an easy way to avoid heavy, dense muffins even if you end up stirring just a bit too much.

Is it better to use oil or butter in muffins? ›

Oil & Butter: Oil produces a moist, tender muffin. Combine with melted butter for extra fat, moisture, and a little flavor. Milk: Milk adds plenty of moisture and lightens up the crumb.

Spices and Flavorings. Give your muffin or pancake mix an extra kick by adding a teaspoon or two of your favorite powdered spice. Some of my go-to additions are cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, and allspice. But have some fun and figure out what works best with your mix.

If the batter is overmixed, tunnels develop inside the muffins during baking and the texture changes from that of bread to cake. Top crusts turn out smooth and peaked. To produce first-rate muffins, begin by thoroughly blending the dry ingredients--flour, sugar, baking powder and salt--in a medium-sized bowl.

High heat encourages the muffins to rise quickly and create a nice dome. You can start baking them at a higher temperature, such as 425°F (220°C), for about 5 minutes, and then lower the temperature to the regular baking temperature for the remaining time.

Too much liquid – If there is too much liquid in the batter, the muffins will be very dense.

When placing your baking products into the oven, add 100-200 ml of water (depending on the size of the pan) into the baking pan or baking tray and quickly close the oven. This will create water vapour, which will settle on your baking products and give them the perfect look and crispiness you want.

If you've used all your batter but still have empty cups remaining in the tin, fill each empty cup with a few tablespoons of water. This will promote even baking, and can help keep the tin from warping as the muffins bake.

This myth says to fill the empty cups with water or you'll get uneven baking and your tin might warp. It does no harm, but it's a waste of time and has no effect whatever on the evenness of cooking.