How to make muffins | Food-4Tots | Recipes for Toddlers (2024)
22 August 2009 | 153 comments Posted in cake/ muffin, Featured Articles, fruits, How to, Vegetarian, Western
I have been baking muffins for couple of months. Throughout thistrial and errorperiod, I learnt 2 important tips in making muffins which I like to share with you in this post. For those who are first timer at making muffins or those whose muffins are still turning out to be less than (or like mine initially, far from)perfect,the followingtips will definitely come inhandyin your next attempt.
There are 2 methods in making muffins – THE MUFFIN METHOD and THE CREAMING METHOD. There is no wrong or right answer in choosing either method. It depends on how much time you have, and what kind of texture you prefer for your muffins.
Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately, then stir them together until just combined (not lumpy free – so that the gluten in the flour will not be developed).
You do not need an electric mixer.A spatula will do a better job.
This methodis quick and easy.
Advantage: Both dry and wet ingredients can beprepared the night before. You can store the wet ingredients in the refrigerator and have them mixed with the dry ingredients in the morning. This will save you time on a busy morning and also get to enjoy fresh.
THE CREAMING METHOD:
Cream the butter and sugar until light (preferablyusing an electric mixer) and then add in the other ingredients. The objective is to drive the sharp sugar crystals through the butter creating tiny voids of air in the mixture. This will help the muffin to rise.
Advantage: sugar and fat are well-dispersed in the batter and the entrained air tends to make for a light, fine crumb in the muffins.
If you want to make your muffin’s top peaks,here are some simple guidelines to follow:
Measure the leavening properly- 1 tsp baking powder per 100g flour or ¼ tsp baking soda per 100g flour (+ sufficient acidity from a sour ingredient to react with it). I think if you follow closely the recipe, it will not be an issue.
Make sure dry ingredients are well mixed and the final batter is lightly mixed. The batter should be thick, “spoonable” not “pourable”
Fill the cups almost to the brim (90%). I had followed this tip but my muffins overflew before setting. So I filled them up until 80% and they turned out just fine.
Start off the oven hot – This sets the top crust quickly which allows the batter underneath to stay liquid, build up pressure and eventually burst up like a volcano. Typically, muffins are baked at 190°c – 200°c. But you can preheat the oven to 220 °c and then turn it down to the right temperature (200°c ) after puttingyour muffinsin. I think this is the most critical point to take note.
(Source:Ask The Foodie column by Chris Tan (The SundayTimes)and “The Secrets of the Dome”by The Prepared Pantry)
The muffin method ishighly recommendedif you want to teach your kids (including your husband) to learnhow to bake. But todayI am sharing a blueberry muffin recipe usingthe creaming method instead in this post. Why? The reason is simple. This recipe which adapted from my cookbook calls for smaller amount of ingredients (of course, you can double it if you want to bake more) and also comes with step-by-step illustrations.
This recipewas tried and tested by me for many times.So far,they had never disappointed me.I love the soft and moist texture of the muffinsproduced by thismethod, just like a mini butter cakebuta lighter version. These muffins taste reallydelicious andnot too sweetfor my taste buds. Now they are a great hit in my family!
I made a mistake of mixingthe blueberries into the batter and covered thetop of the muffin mould witha little bit ofbatter to hide the blueberriesas I thought it would yield a nicer looking muffins. But the cooked muffins proved me wrong. By right, I should follow thetip mentioned in note (1). Now I regret so much looking at my muffins as the blueberries were all hidden in the muffins. Well, I will try to improve the outlook of my muffins in my next attempt.
>> Click on PAGE 2 BELOW for blueberry muffin recipe……….
Chances are, you'd never turn down a freshly baked muffin — and neither will your baby or toddler. Whether mini or full-sized and cut into pieces, muffins are a guaranteed pleaser for new eaters that can serve up plenty of quality nutrition. Best of all, they'll work for every tot's menu.
When can you start baking with toddlers? Toddlers are ready to join you in the kitchen as early as about 18 months of age. You can start small, giving them easy tasks like whisking the flour and stirring the batter. As they grow older and gain more experience with baking, they can be given more responsibilities.
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.
There are two types of muffins: bread-like and cake-like. Each type has its own technique for mixing the batter. Less sugar and butter makes a bread-like muffin. A higher sugar and butter content makes a cake-like muffin.
Mix wet and dry separately. To prevent the mix from being overworked, first mix the wet ingredients together in one bowl and mix the dry ingredients in another. ...
For 9+ month olds, you can cut into bite-sized pieces so your baby can practice their pincer grasp. I do recommend continuing to serve big pieces of food so your baby can learn to take bites. When can babies eat muffins? As soon as they're ready to start solids, which is usually around 6 months of age.
Once your little one is weaning onto solid foods at six months old, it's fine to mix small amounts of cow's milk with your baby's food. However, you shouldn't give your baby cow's milk any earlier than this.
Using oil as a substitute for butter in muffins can result in a lighter and more tender crumb, but it may also produce a slightly different flavor, depending on the type of oil used. Applesauce can also be used as a substitute for butter in muffins, as it provides moisture and can help to keep the muffins tender.
Vegetable oil is ideal because its mild flavour doesn't compete with the main flavour of the muffin. My recipes generally specify 100ml vegetable oil per batch of 12, which is only 1½ teaspoons per muffin.
In a muffin mix that calls for water, can I substitute milk? A. We don't recommend using milk instead of water because the milk can make holes in the paper liners or the sides of the muffins.
Usually, babies can start eating muffins anywhere between 6-9 months. Since muffins are soft and tender, they make the perfect solid food for baby-led weaning. You want to make that for kids under 2, there's no added sugar (or very low) and they have only a very small amount of salt added.
Because of its round shape, introducing blueberries may have you a bit anxious. Not to worry! Once baked, these antioxidant-rich fruits get soft making them perfectly safe for babies. If you're doing baby led weaning, you can serve the whole muffin, slice in half or into strips.
Introduction: My name is Arielle Torp, I am a comfortable, kind, zealous, lovely, jolly, colorful, adventurous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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