Q&A for How to Troubleshoot Muffins

The muffins would rise higher. It's not bad; it's how commercial bakeries get such big muffin tops.

Turn the baking tray around in the oven so that the muffins facing the oven door are facing the direct heat. This will ensure consistency in your muffins.

If your muffins aren't baked through, the problem could be that the oven temperature could have been to low, the batter could have been overmixed, and/or the wrong amount of leavener was used.

I recommend either covering your muffins with plastic wrap while they're in the refrigerator or storing them in the freezer.

Cook it for two-minute intervals until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cook for no more than ten minutes extra.

Yes. They might not rise as much, but as long as they are properly cooked, they should be fine.

Insert a food thermometer into a muffin. If it’s at 150° F, the ham is done.

This is usually due to too much raising agent (baking soda etc) being added, causing the muffins to rise too much in the oven, then collapse in on themselves. Double check you are using the right quantities of the correct raising agents to make sure you get a perfect rise.

A rubbery texture in cakes is usually a result of over-mixing. Over mixing will activate the gluten in the flour, therefore your muffins will have a texture more akin to bread than cake. To fix this, make sure that you gently fold in your flour until it is just combined with no lumps or flour pockets.

There are a few potential reasons for this. As well as not being in the oven for long enough or on a high enough temperature, this could be due to the sugar content. Different recipes have different sugar ratios and more sugar will caramelise more and make your muffins more golden brown. You could try experimenting with different recipes to find one that works better.

These fruits (particularly banana and avocado) are very moist, so they release a lot of water when they cook. When they cook in your muffin batter, they will release that water and make your muffins soggy. For the banana and avocado, try chopping them up into small pieces and not overloading your batter by putting too much in. For the apple, again make sure it’s chopped nice and small, and lightly cook the apple before adding to your batter, and drain off any liquid released. Make sure not to cook too much before adding, as it will overcook in the oven and become mushy. An alternative is to use dried fruits, which will make it much easier to make perfect muffins.

Add less flour or don’t overmix. Adding too much flour can result in a sticky batter and crumbling when baked.

It is possible that you need to lower the temperature and bake it longer. Most likely the temperature you put is too high, which results in the outside browning but leaves the inside raw. Every oven is different - to test if yours is getting the temperature accurate to the dial's selection, use an oven thermometer.

Maybe your oven is not as hot as the one used to create the recipe. I would use a higher temperature for the next time.

It is possible that you didn't mix the batter enough, or that you added too much flour. If you are at a high altitude, you should be adding less flour than the recipe calls for.

A recipe for 12 regular muffins makes 6 large muffins. The cooking time normally needs to be adjusted up. If a regular muffin cooks for 10 minutes, add an additional 5-10 minutes for the larger muffins but keep an eye on them, to be safe.

The batter might have been unevenly mixed in your blueberry muffins, causing some not to rise. Also, did you fill the whole pan with batter? Sometimes uneven cooking can occur when not all holes in the pan have been filled in.