Top of the muffin to ya (if you caught that Seinfeld reference, bonus points for you)! Today we are going into full-fledged muffin mode. We've got blueberry muffins, maple syrup banana muffins, chocolate chip muffins, poppy seed muffins, apple bran muffins, and even quirky brown sugar mini muffins. There's thousands of ways to make each muffin recipe unique, whether it be adding in bacon or even lemon peel, but every recipe follows the exact same mixing formula: the muffin method.
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As a breakfast and brunch staple, muffins are sweet and fluffy. Categorized as a quick bread, these baked goods get their distinctive muffin top rise from baking soda and baking powder. So grab your muffin tin and a large bowl- it's time to make some amazing muffins.
The Muffin Method
Whether you are making a mean batch of corn muffins or a healthy batch of oatmeal muffins, every single recipe follows the exact format. Deemed the muffin method, this mixing technique is to ensure that your muffins come out crumbly with a beautiful muffin top.
Today I am going to show you the method step-by-step using our Lemon Muffin recipe. It's the perfect breakfast for spring with hints of lemon. We topped the muffin with a fun and crumbly topping and finished off the muffin with a sweet lemon glaze. It really doesn't get any better than this.
Lyndsay Burginger
First things first, we have to prepare the muffin tin. You can either spray cooking spray into each of the muffin compartments or use paper liners. Personally I like to spray the muffin tin itself and ditch the liners simply because it's one more thing you have to buy.
Once the muffin pan is prepared, it's time to jump on over to the topping. Now, not ever muffin recipe has a topping like this, but it tends to elevate the muffin a bit more than if we kept it plain.
Lyndsay Burginger
To get the crumbly texture combine all-purpose flour, granulated sugar and pinch of salt in a small bowl. Melt some butter in a dish and add it into the bowl. Using a fork (or even your hands) crumble the mixture until large crumbs form. We are looking for large chunks here. Set it aside.
Next, you'll prepare the wet ingredients. The most important step in the muffin method is to keep the wet and dry ingredients separate until the very end, which makes the muffins crumbly rather than cake-like. We are making muffins here, not cupcakes.
Lyndsay Burginger
Using a hand mixer or even some arm power, whisk together your eggs until they are thick and frothy. This will make your muffins light rather than dense. Whisk in the sugar, oil, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla extract.
Stir in the sour cream until no white streaks remain. We want the wet ingredients to be fully incorporated before we introduce the dry.
Once the wet ingredients are ready, it's time to focus on the dry. Since we want to make all the ingredients interspersed throughout the batter and we do not want to over mix, the solution is to mix all of the dry ingredients first.
In a large bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt with a whisk. Once combined, pour the wet ingredients into the dry. This is important because if you do this the other way around you'll get stuck with pockets of flour in your muffins, and that's a no-no.
Lyndsay Burginger
Once the wet ingredients are added, use a wooded spoon or spatula to gently fold and combine the ingredients. We don't want to over mix this batter. The total time a mix should take is about 30 seconds. Less is more here, bakers.
Lyndsay Burginger
Pour (or scoop) the muffin mixture into the prepared pans about 3/4 of the way full. Overfilling muffin tins just leads to conjoined muffins and a mess to clean up afterwards.
Lyndsay Burginger
Sprinkle on the crumb topping we prepared earlier, and pop the muffins in the oven until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes depending on your oven. Once the muffins are out, let them cool in the muffin cups for about five minutes. Any more than this the muffins will start to stick to the tin and you'll need a jackhammer to get them out.
Place them on a wire cooling rack and let them cool completely. Well, almost completely, there's nothing better than a slightly warm muffin. Drizzle them with a glaze or eat them as is.
