Big, Beautiful Muffins - Cooks Illustrated

Published January 1, 1997.

Cream butter and sugar for a tender, delicate crumb; use butter and plain yogurt for flavor and texture; and make enough batter to fill up the cups for big, shapely muffins.

The Problem

Have you ever tried to bake a batch of those jumbo muffins often seen in bakeries? If you follow most cookbook recipes, you won't get what you're looking for. We tried scores of recipes and found ourselves short of our goal.

The Goal

We wanted not a healthy muffin that would be part of our daily diet but a really great weekend muffin--a recipe that brunch guests would covet. We wanted a muffin with a rich full flavor and a thick, crisp crust protecting its fragile, tender crumb. We also wanted a real looker. We would settle for nothing less than a perfectly round, mushroomlike cap with a pronounced and crisp overhang.

The Solution

We began by testing mixing techniques and chose creaming, which produced the most tender crumb. This muffin was still too dry and savory for our taste, so we increased the butter and sugar. Liquids were up next, and we found that low-fat yogurt delivered the finest crumb and the most rounded and crusty top. To get that big mushroomlike cap, we increased the amount of batter by one-third.

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