About Muffins

Contributor

By K. Proctor
eHow Contributing Writer

Rate:

(0 Ratings)

Muffins are a serving-size quick bread similar to cupcakes, but without the frosting and with a coarser crumb. Muffins usually have one dominant ingredient, such as carrots or blueberries, and often have a secondary ingredient, like nuts or raisins. Muffins may be topped by a streusel crumb topping, or sprinkled with nutmeg or cinnamon, or left plain. While you can make them at home, muffins can also be found in coffee shops, restaurants and bakeries, or pre-packaged in supermarkets.

Types

Muffins are either savory or sweet. Savory muffins such as jalapeno cheese muffins are less common than the sweet varieties. Popular muffin flavors are blueberry, cranberry nut, banana nut, pumpkin, oat bran, carrot, streusel, cornbread and apple, but there's virtually no limit to the kinds of muffins that can be made. For the base, muffins can feature white, refined flour or whole wheat flour. There are even gluten-free varieties of muffins made without wheat flour. Even low-carb muffins are possible when coconut flour is used as the base. Vegans can find egg-free and dairy-free muffins in some health food stores.

Features

Muffin recipes are easy to find in cookbooks and on the Internet. Muffin cookbooks have been popular since the 1970s, when muffins took off as a health food. Muffin ingredients include flour, oil, baking powder and/or baking soda, a liquid such as milk, yogurt or fruit juice, egg and flavoring ingredients such as spices, lemon flavoring, blueberries or nuts.

Prevention/Solution

Make tender, moist muffins by using these techniques: Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl and the wet ingredients separately in another bowl. Stir any nuts, dried fruit or berries in with the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and then add the wet mixture all at once. Delicately stir until just mixed. Immediately pour the muffin batter into greased or paper-lined muffin tins, filling each well to about 3/4 full. Place a few spoonfuls of water in any unfilled wells to prevent damage to the muffin pan. Bake according to the recipe instructions. Use standard sized muffin tins rather than mini-muffin pans or large muffin pans unless otherwise stated.

Function

Typically eaten with coffee as a breakfast food or snack, muffins will fill up your home with delicious smells. Serve them straight out of the oven warm, spread with butter or freeze the cooled muffins in freezer containers for up to two weeks, popping them in a preheated 300 degree oven for 10 minutes just before eating.

Benefits

Besides being quick to make, muffins can pack a powerful health punch. Because they're so delicious, kids will eat whole grain muffins eagerly and the addition of bran adds even more fiber. Make carrot or pumpkin muffins for a dose of beta carotene, or pumpkin seed and date muffins for a natural protein muffin powerhouse. You can safely lower the sugar in most muffin recipes by 2/3 to decrease the carbohydrates.