In this video, I demonstrate the three simple steps for mixing a batch of muffins.

Muffin mixing is quick and simple.

Have you ever made muffins that turned out like this?

Question: Why are these two muffins so different?
Answer: It was all in the mixing!

There seems to be confusion about muffins and cupcakes.

I’ve noticed some comments about butter and oil in the reviews at Amazon.co.uk, so it’s worth a mention here.

“You can please some of the people some of the time but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.” This certainly applies to sugar in muffins! Give the same muffin to different people and the responses will range from “too sweet” to “not sweet enough” or “just right”.

Here is the ever-popular Banana Muffin recipe, along with adjustments for different flours. Unlike cake batter, muffins require a light mixing technique to inhibit gluten development and produce a light texture. (High sugar and fat are the gluten-inhibitors in cake batter.) The light and brief mixing technique for muffins makes it possible to use either plain (cake) flour or strong (bread) flour. Since strong flour is more absorbent than plain flour, a little extra liquid is needed. With self-raising flour, baking powder should be omitted, but not soda bicarbonate or salt.

I recommend using 85g sugar (rounded ⅓ cup) for your first batch, until you find your preferred level of sweetness. This is equivalent to 1½ level teaspoons sugar per muffin.

For gluten-free and sugar-restricted diets, please see the notes below the recipe.

For photos of this recipe, please see “Muffin Method”. The photos will enlarge if you click on them.