| Muffins, you see most of them greeting you as | | | | expands during the baking process and equally to |
| you step into coffee houses, cafes or bakeries. | | | | ensure all muffins are equally baked finish. |
| There are many flavours of muffins to choose | | | | Fourthly, the oven needs to be preheated. This is |
| from; chocolate, blueberry, banana-walnut, | | | | so because preheating the oven makes the |
| pumpkin, cranberry, orange peel raisins and many | | | | muffin batter less dense and allows the batter to |
| more. You know how fragrant they are when | | | | puff up easier than when it has been sitting for |
| they are in the process of baking. You know how | | | | long time before baking. Think of it probably as |
| crisp their crusts are when they are piping hot | | | | like "too much water building up within the muffin |
| and most of all, you know how moist they can | | | | and thus it becomes to heavy for the oven to |
| be when they are or I should say in the case of | | | | make it puffed up". The preheating temperature |
| most muffins, when they are freshly baked or | | | | has to be correctly set, being not too high or too |
| heated. Well, if you love to eat muffins, you can | | | | low temperature, so as to ensure that the |
| either simply grab them off these bakery shelves | | | | muffins are baked evenly from top to bottom to |
| or buy them from coffee houses and cafes. | | | | centre. |
| But do you know that it is not difficult at all to | | | | Fifthly, watch how you bake your muffins in |
| bake muffins right in the comfort of your own | | | | terms of timings. Do a rough estimate of how |
| home? Whether you are using premixes or | | | | long your muffin, depending on the size big or |
| creating the dough from scratch, there are still | | | | small, needs to be baked. Of course, smaller |
| some things to look out for when you are baking | | | | muffins takes shorter time and larger ones take |
| muffins for yourself at home. The baking process | | | | longer time. Never use the trial-and-error method, |
| is also a crucial factor in deciding the quality of | | | | opening the oven door now and then to see the |
| how your muffins are going to be. For this article, | | | | progress of your muffins baking, when you bake |
| we assume that you already have the knowledge | | | | them. The muffins will lose heat and hence they |
| of the correct amount of ingredients to be used. | | | | will sink. The analogy is just like making ice from |
| Firstly, never use electric beaters. Using electric | | | | water; if you keep opening the fridge to see the |
| beaters will tend to over mix the muffin batters. | | | | progress of freezing, the time taken for the |
| It is preferred to do this by hand. Over mixing of | | | | water to become ice will become not just longer |
| batters are not desired outcomes when it comes | | | | but it wouldn't become exactly the ice you want. |
| to baking muffins. It leads to the batter being too | | | | Look through the oven door if you must observe |
| dense and crumbly (think of it like when you grab | | | | and right appearances of done muffins are golden |
| a handful of dry earth in the garden) and not light | | | | brown or looks hardened-crisp for double |
| and airy (think like baking sponge cakes). As a | | | | chocolate muffins at the edges. Use the toothpick |
| gauge, muffin batters that are properly mixed | | | | method to tell whether or not the centre is |
| (which means that the mixing is minimum and | | | | cooked; poked it in and it will come out clean with |
| non-electric) are little lumpy (yes, it may look like | | | | not much "mess" from the batter sticking on it. |
| you have screwed your mixing up but hey, this is | | | | Lastly, let your muffins cool in the muffin tins for |
| the "correct answer"!!). | | | | about 5-6 minutes. This time is just nice for |
| Secondly, be creative. Rather than following | | | | removal as it will not be difficult to remove nor |
| strictly to the recipe you have, why not try | | | | will it affect the muffins' texture. It's a just-nice |
| something new by introducing some forms of | | | | scenario here. Oh, different sizes of muffins that |
| creativity into them? Be bold and let you | | | | you baked will also have different cooling times. It |
| imagination and creative juice flow. Who knows | | | | is the law of heat radiation; the smaller the faster |
| you may create something out from it. | | | | it cools and vice versa. After removal, further |
| Thirdly, the muffin tins. Always remember to | | | | cooling is then to be done of the cooling rack |
| grease your muffin tins thoroughly and this means | | | | before finally storing or serving them for |
| the sides and bottom of the tins. If this step is | | | | consumption. |
| forgotten, well, after your muffins are baked, you | | | | Okay, that is all the points need to know in order |
| will have a hard time getting perfectly shaped | | | | to bake good muffins. It all boils down to good |
| muffins as their "skin" sticks to the sides and | | | | preparation, observation as well as proper handling |
| bottoms of the tins when you take them out. | | | | of equipments used for the baking process...and |
| Paper liners help to retain the freshness of your | | | | yes, as the old saying goes: "Practice makes |
| muffins longer. Filling the muffin tins requires being | | | | perfect. |
| two-third full as the batter will overflow when it | | | | |