Are Your Muffins Actually Cupcakes? Tips for Bakery Style Muffins.

Many people assume the difference between a cupcake and a muffin is the icing, and while that partially true, what actually differentiates muffins from cupcakes is the crumb itself. Cupcakes are, well... 'cakey'. Maybe you have made muffins in the past and thought, these feel chewy and cakey instead of light, fluffy and crumbly. Cupcakes often have small holes/air pockets inside and feel a bit springy. Muffins have a different texture similar to a loaf. Moist and fluffy but still slightly dense. Muffins also have a larger dome or 'muffin top' where as cupcakes don't rise the same way. This is what differeniates a muffin from a cupcake. So how do you change the crumb when the ingredients remain nearly identical for both recipes? It comes down to how the ingredients are mixed together.

Cupcakes are essentially small cakes which start with the creaming method. Beating butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Doing this is how you trap the air within the batter giving it that chewy, soft tender cake like texture.

Muffins are more similar to a bread. Instead of creaming together butter and sugar, all the dry ingredients are combined together and then added to the wet ingredients. Sugar is mixed with flour and other dry ingredients to create a more dense, crumbly texture. The same ingredients creating two completely different textures based on how they are mixed together.

Many people assume the difference between a cupcake and a muffin is the icing. While that’s partially true, what actually differentiates muffins from cupcakes is the crumb itself.

Cupcakes are, well… cakey.

Maybe you’ve baked muffins before and thought they felt chewy or cake-like instead of light, fluffy, and crumbly. That’s because cupcakes typically have small, even air pockets throughout and a slightly springy texture when pressed. Muffins, on the other hand, have a completely different structure. Their texture is closer to a quick bread or loaf. They’re still moist and fluffy, but slightly denser with a more tender crumb. Muffins also tend to develop a larger dome. They form the classic 'muffin top' we all know and love, while cupcakes usually rise more evenly with a smoother surface.

So if the ingredients in muffins and cupcakes are often nearly identical, what actually changes the crumb?It comes down to how the ingredients are mixed together.

Cupcakes are essentially small cakes and use what’s called the creaming method. Butter and sugar are beaten together until light and fluffy before the other ingredients are added. This step traps air in the batter, which expands as the cupcakes bake. The result is a soft, tender texture with the fine crumb we associate with cake.

Muffins are mixed very differently. Rather than creaming butter and sugar together, the dry ingredients are combined in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. The two are then mixed together just until incorporated.

By mixing the sugar with the flour and other dry ingredients first, less air is incorporated into the batter and gluten develops differently. The result is a more structured crumb that is slightly denser, tender, and crumbly rather than cakey.

In other words, the same ingredients can create two completely different baked goods, simply based on how they’re mixed together.

Here's how you make the perfect muffin (not a cupcake in disguise).

1. Do not over mix the batter. It should be clumpy and lumpy. To much mixing will incorporate too much air changing the texture of the crumb.

2. Let batter rest before baking for a minimum of 15 minutes. This allows the fats to fully rehydrate and coat the flour. It also allows the gluten to relax. Limited gluten development results in a better muffin crumb.

3. Use oil. Every good bakery style muffin you have ever had was made with oil instead of butter. I recommend using both. Butter adds depth and flavour, oil helps to keep the muffins from getting dry. It will keep a muffin moist longer than all butter.

4. Only fill every other space in your muffin tin. This allows the heat to circulate around the muffins more easily giving you even baking and a better rise. It also ensures your muffins have room to dome and makes them easier to get out of the pan.

5. Overfill your muffin tin. If you want a large muffin, you have to use alot of batter. Fill each space just shy of the top. Don't skimp out.

6. High heat is necessary in order to get what is called an 'oven spring'. This is when the extreme temperature change shocks the batter and activates the rising agents immediately. It's one of THE most important steps in a tall bakery style muffin. If your oven is not at a high enough heat when you place the pan into the oven it won't get the same rise.

7. When adding inclusions like berries to your muffin, include them in the dry ingredients. You want the berries to be coated in flour to help prevent the dough from turning colour and to help prevent the berries sinking to the bottom while baking. Coating them in flour helps to suspend them in the batter.

8. Never make a muffin recipe that starts by 'creaming butter and sugar'.

With these tips anybody can make a delicious homemade muffin that is just as good, if not better than one from the bakery in just a few minutes.

Now that you know the difference a mixing method makes, it’s time to put it into practice. I'd love to see if you give these tips a try so feel free to share your results with me and let me know if you were able to make your own bakery style muffins.

Happy baking!