Baking Muffins – To Water or Not to Water (2024)

FAQs

Baking Muffins – To Water or Not to Water? ›

Does adding water in the empty muffin cups really make a difference? Using the blueberry muffin recipe from The Bread Bible, the unused empty muffin cups are half filled with water. According to Rose Levy Beranbaum, it “prevents the heat from being drawn to them and adds moisture”.

Muffin FAQs

We recommend using water; however we know that some Makers prefer to use milk to make muffins. Using milk can change the texture of the muffin to be more like a cupcake.

Your muffins will come out exactly the same whether the empty cups are filled with water or not. Adding or not adding the water shouldn't effect your muffin pan, either, so go ahead and fill only half the muffin cups with batter if you like. For more tips on making muffins, see our video, How to Make Bran Muffins.

Filling a couple of the muffin cups with water before you bake won't just give you a tender crumb. It could also help even out your baking process in general, helping each cupcake bake all the way through instead of having a crumbly top and bottom and well-baked interior.

It is in the presence of water that gluten forms. Water serves as a solvent and dispersing agent (for salt, sugar, and yeast). Water is necessary for yeast fermentation and reproduction; softer doughs will ferment more quickly than dry doughs. Water is responsible for the consistency of bread dough.

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. Think of it like marinating.

Overmixing the batter.

When you overmix the batter, it crushes the air bubbles and ruins the fluffy texture. → Follow this tip: To ensure a batch of light, fluffy muffins, mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until just barely combined, and no more dry flour is visible.

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.

According to O. Corriher, the way to get a perfectly puffed up dome on your muffins is to increase your oven heat. She says that 400° should do it, no matter what the recipe says. The higher baking temperature means that the the outside edges of the muffin will set while the middle is still liquidy.

Should I put water in the oven when baking muffins? ›

The Verdict. The muffins that were baked with hot water did have bigger air pockets on the inside, resulting in a lighter and more airy texture. The height was compared with both muffins as well.

If you're wondering if a cupcake pan is the same as a muffin pan, the answer is yes! Though generally called muffin pans, they can be used to bake cupcakes, muffins and even savory items, like egg cups.

"If you've baked them to eat right away, we recommend storing cupcakes at room temperature," says LaMontagne. "But if they're for tomorrow, freezing them will retain their moisture much better than leaving them on a countertop overnight."

Baking tip #2: adding milk to your box cake mix in place of water adds a dense texture to your dessert leaving it moist and flavorful like a homemade cake. Or, if you prefer, you can add buttermilk, giving your cake a tangy flavor to balance out the sweetness.

Whole milk, which has a higher fat content, is often used in baking to add richness and flavor. It is also a good choice for creating a softer crumb in breads and cakes. Reduced-fat milk, which has less fat than whole milk, can be used to reduce the fat content of baked goods without sacrificing flavor or texture.

Additional protein and sugar (lactose) in milk adds more sweetness and a browner color to baked goods than water. Whole milk adds fat, which in turn creates a richer taste and softer crumb.