Zucchini Muffins 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.

Over-mixing the batter. You'll know that you've done this if the muffins also turn out tough and chewy. This prevents rising because the gluten network is too tight to expand around the gas bubbles.

The number one rule for successful muffins is: Don't over-mix the batter. Use a rubber spatula to quickly fold (gently stir) the liquid ingredients into the dry ones. A few streaks of flour still showing is okay, especially if you plan to add in extra ingredients like fruits and nuts.

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.

Melted butter, on the other hand, naturally solidifies when the muffins cool. As a result they have a slightly denser texture than muffins made with oil. And of course the buttery flavour is more dominant than oil, which is desirable for some flavours (e.g. Butter Pecan) but not all.

Using too few eggs will make your desserts dense, but using too many will make them rubbery. The explanation for this lies in the fact that eggs are made up of protein. As Fine Cooking explains, when the protein in eggs combines with the protein in flour, they produce the overall structure of the baked good.

The cookie dough scoops are for filling each cavity with muffin batter—to get tall domes, you'll need to fill each one with SIX tablespoons of batter. It works best if you're precise. Anything more will cause the muffins to overflow, and anything less will result in squat muffins.

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.

Using too much baking soda or baking powder can really mess up a recipe, causing it to rise uncontrollably and taste terrible.

Why do my zucchini muffins sink in the middle? ›

The most common reason for zucchini breadand other quick breads (and cakes) to collapse as they cool is the ingredients are too vigorously or quickly mixed, which incorporates lots of less stable air bubbles into the batter.

Don't peel the zucchini – Yes, it's tempting to remove the zucchini's skin, but there is no need to do that. Zucchini melts into the bread, so peeling is just an unnecessary step. Do grate the zucchini – I don't know about you, but when it comes to zucchini in bread, I want it there – but I don't want to see it.

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.

Overmixing is a common problem with muffins. First combine dry ingredients, mixing well. Then combine liquid ingredients, mixing well. Finally combine dry and wet ingredients, by hand, using only 15 to 20 light strokes.

Give the Muffin Batter a Rest by Mixing It in Advance

As muffin batter rests, the starches in the flour have more time to absorb the moisture from the eggs and liquid in the batter. As a result, the starches swell, giving the batter a thicker, more robust consistency.

Sour Cream or Plain Yogurt: Sour cream helps keep the muffins extra moist. If needed, you can use plain yogurt instead. Sugar: Use granulated sugar to sweeten these muffins. I used to use some brown sugar and some white granulated sugar, but brown sugar weighed the muffins down.

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.