Orange and Cardamom Muffin Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to moist muffins? ›

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.

Baking soda is most commonly used in cookie and muffin recipes. Baking powder, however, already contains an acid and a base and has a more neutral taste, which works great when baking cakes and bread.

Baking soda becomes activated when it's combined with both an acidic ingredient and a liquid. Upon activation, carbon dioxide is produced, which allows baked goods to rise and become light and fluffy (1).

Many muffin recipes use cooking oil instead of butter. Oil, being a liquid, distributes easily in the quick-mix batter and is readily absorbed into the baked muffin, producing a light non-greasy texture. Vegetable oil is ideal because its mild flavour doesn't compete with the main flavour of the muffin.

If there isn't enough egg, your batter or dough may not be able to hold its structure or could end up overly dry or dense. On the other hand, if there is too much egg, your baked goods could lose their shape due to excess liquid, or have a rubbery (or even overly cakey) texture depending on the recipe.

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.

Rest the Muffin Batter

The first, most hands-off way to make your muffins pop (literally) is to let the batter rest. Make the batter, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let the batter rest at room temperature for about 1 hour. If you're short on time, just 30 minutes can make a difference.

But if you want super domed muffins with seriously tall tops, rest the batter for an hour! This will allow the flour to hydrate and absorb the liquids in the batter more fully, leading to taller domes.

Baking soda is a leavening agent used in baked goods like muffins, which allows them to rise and become light and fluffy. Formally known as sodium bicarbonate, it's a white crystalline powder that is naturally alkaline. Hence, if we omit baking soda from a recipe then it will not rise.

What happens if you don't put baking powder in muffins? ›

Baking powder, in particular, is one of those ingredients you can easily run out of without noticing, but when it comes to baking, it does a very particular job, and can be difficult to replace. Most baked goods need a leavening agent to make them rise, and if you leave it out, your cake or your cookies will fall flat.

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.

Depending on what ingredients you're using, the batter will range from runny (like thin cake batter) to very thick (like drop-cookie dough). As a general rule, the thinner the batter, the lighter the muffins will be when baked. But don't be afraid to bake thick, gloppy batter.

Ideal Muffin Cooking Temperature

That being said, the standard oven temperature for baking desserts like quick breads and muffins is commonly set to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Setting your oven to this temperature will almost always produce a well-cooked muffin recipe.

Recently I discovered that if I use sour cream in place of milk in a muffin recipe, I get a super moist, fluffy muffin! The switch is very easy. If a recipe calls for 3/4 cup of milk, I simply use 3/4 cup of sour cream instead. Occasionally, I need to add a bit more sour cream to moisten the muffin batter.

Use a steamer

Steaming is a great way to add moisture to past-their-prime muffins. And according to a TikTok user, you should also be steaming your muffins when you bake them since the hot air and steam allow more time for the centers to rise, resulting in tender and airy muffins.