By guest blogger Nicole Cline of Seasonly Creations
Today, we’re talking all things muffins. The mixing, the filling, the baking, the whole thing! Do you struggle getting your muffins to have high tops? How about making sure they’re moist? In this Orange Walnut Muffin recipe post, we’ll demonstrate how to make a moist, high-top muffin.
If you have: trouble getting your muffins to rise… muffins that come out too dry… a “gummy” texture after baking… Then read on! This post was written with you in mind. Now let’s get started.
The first thing you should know is that this muffin recipe makes six to seven large muffins. I have found that using a muffin pan with large cups (six instead of twelve) gets the results I’m looking for. Seasoned bakers probably know this but just in case you’re a newbie, dry ingredients and wet ingredients for simple batters are combined separately. Baking is a science and putting everything together without going through the necessary steps could result in over mixing, which usually leads to that “gummy” muffin texture. Nobody wants that.
So whisk your wet ingredients together, then your dry ingredients together (or vice versa).
Quick Tip: Crack your eggs on a flat surface instead of on the side of a bowl. This will result in less shells falling into your bowl (and last I checked, egg shells were not on the ingredient list!)
Time to combine your wet and dry ingredients together. Notice how I’m using the word “combine” instead of “mix.” When you put it all together, use a spatula or spoon to just combine the ingredients. It will be so, so tempting to mix until the lumps are gone, but lumps are good for muffins! How much “lumpage” is good? You don’t want any large pockets of dry flour. But you want some lumps so that you can achieve a “crumb” and not a smooth textured cake.
These next two tips will help you get a tall, cracked muffin top, so pay attention my baking buddies!
Tip #1: Bump up the oven temperature.
Luckily, I have this already included in the Orange Walnut Muffin recipe. I’m used to baking around 350 degrees, even 325 degrees at times. But in my experience, a higher temperature helps the muffins gain some additional height at 375 degrees.
Tip #2: Fill the muffin cups nearly to the top.
You’ve probably seen many recipes that instruct you to fill your muffin cup to 2/3 full. And while that may work out for those recipes, you won’t get that tall, cracked muffin top with this recipe. I won’t bore you with the details but essentially, each muffin recipe will have its own leavener (think baking powder and baking soda) to flour ratio. The ratio in this muffin recipe is just right, so fill those cups up!
Whew! That was a long but worthy explanation. After you’ve filled your cups and stuck the muffin pan in your preheated (375 degree!) oven, bake for 25-30 minutes.
Are you ready to up your muffin game?
- 2 3/4 cups flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 orange juice
- 3/4 cup walnuts
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a large muffin pan (six cups) with large paper liners and set aside.
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In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar by hand. Then add milk, orange juice and oil and mix until just combined.
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In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
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Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and mix with a large wooden spoon or spatula until just combined. Fold in the walnuts.
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Pour batter into each muffin cup liner nearly to the top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool for 15 minutes then serve immediately. Store in an airtight container.
