How to Bake for Beginners: An Easy Cookbook for Baking the Basics by Mahy Elamin

Author:Mahy Elamin [Elamin, Mahy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rockridge Press
Published: 2020-02-17T18:30:00+00:00

ULTIMATE BANANA BREAD

CHAPTER FIVE

Quick Breads + Muffins

Baking a quick bread or muffins is an easy way to make something tender and delicious in no time. These recipes need only bowls, a whisk, and a rubber spatula—no electric mixer or other fancy tools required.

Keys to Baking Quick Breads + Muffins

•The secret to tender breads and muffins is a simple one: Keep the lumps in your batter! In other words, don’t overmix your batter. Overmixing a muffin or quick bread batter will develop the flour proteins (similar to kneading bread dough), which results in a chewy texture (like a sandwich bread) rather than a soft, tender bite.

•Lumps are the indicator that you have not overworked your batter. They will also create pockets of tenderness throughout the quick bread and muffins.

•You’ll notice quick breads and muffin recipes need two bowls—one for dry ingredients and one for wet ingredients. Each component (dry and wet) has to be mixed separately before being combined. Once you do combine them, however, minimal mixing is all that is needed. A rubber spatula is best to blend the batter together. Blend the batter until no more streaks of flour are visible, but lumps remain.

•When filling the muffin pans with batter, fill them about three-fourths full. This allows the muffins to rise to the top and form a beautiful dome.

•Each of the recipes in this chapter can be used to make either a quick bread or muffins—so, a quick bread recipe can easily be made into muffins and a muffin recipe can easily be made into a quick bread. You’ll just need to adjust the baking time. In general, a muffin pan filled with batter usually needs 18 to 22 minutes to bake; a loaf pan needs 55 to 60 minutes.

•Always bake muffins and quick breads on the top middle rack of the oven.

Checking for Doneness

There are a few tips to test for doneness. The easiest way to check for doneness is the toothpick method. During baking, you’ll notice muffins and quick breads rise well. Once the baking time is complete, that’s when you’ll do the test.

Insert a toothpick into the center of the bread or a muffin. Remove it, and if it comes out clean, or with only a few crumbs attached, it’s done. But, if the toothpick has raw batter on it, it needs a few more minutes in the oven. Then you can check it again.

Another method to check doneness is by touch. When you touch a baked muffin or quick bread, it should be springy to the touch. That means if you push gently on the surface of the muffin, it should spring back.

Storage Guidelines

Completely cooled muffins and quick breads keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. After that they start to dry out.

Muffins can also be wrapped well in plastic wrap and frozen to preserve their freshness. When you’re ready to enjoy them, simply remove them from the freezer and thaw at room temperature overnight or for 8 to 12 hours.

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