A Bakery Hack for Sky-High Muffins (2024)

Another muffin trick- toss you blueberries (or raisins, chips, any mix-ins) in a little flour before adding to the batter so they don't sink to the bottom.

Dionne September 10, 2021

I saved a tip on my pinterest board from thekitchenwhisper.net on bakery style muffins/how to achieve. Hope its okay to copy/paste. I was planning on trying her tip and I'll incorporate yours but wanted your thoughts too!
Adapted from her website -
Make from scratch batter and Cover your batter tightly and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (can go overnight as well). Preheat your oven to 425F. (Ignore the typical 350) and place muffins in top 1/3 of oven. Spray the top of your muffin pan with non-stick spray. Line the pan with cupcake/muffin liners. The batter will be thick, gently stir but don't overmix or deflate. Fill the muffin papers and leave about 1/8". If you have empty cavities in your muffin tin (not enough batter), remove the liner and add 1/2 cup water in each. Bake 6-9 minutes at 425. She says the high heat will cause the batter to have great oven spring or rapid rise for first few minutes. The muffins should be about a 1/4″-1/2″ above the paper. That’s the sign the heat can be turned down. Reduce heat to 350 but do not open door and bake for 6-10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out barely clean (crumbs are OK). *Note: this will depend on your actual recipe. Remove from oven and cool on rack a couple of minutes then remove from pan and cool on rack. This will prevent the sides from becoming soggy.

I also put a bit of water in the empty spaces in between.

Oh wow, interesting! I'd been taught ages ago to *not* let a batter leavened by baking soda or powder sit between mixing and baking. The reasoning being that the chemical reaction that results in leavening only has so much zing and you want it to be doing it's thing in the oven, not on the counter. Did this turn out to be a myth? Like not salting your dry beans when soaking?

My mom fills every other cup for her legendary popovers. But with muffins, you can get the same effect if they are overmixed. The tell tale sign is if there are large tunnel like bubbles in the muffins when you split them. I always avoid muffins at bakeries that look like this because I think they don't know how to bake correctly.

Lisa September 9, 2021

Who knew! Dang!

Bless you for sharing these tips, Justine. I actually just noticed that starting with a higher temp gives my muffins a boost, so I'm excited to try out Levain's little secret!

Right after reading your trick to leave every other muffin tin empty, I clicked on your video of the recipe for Zucchini muffins. Well, you filled every single cup. I guess it's a matter of "do as I say, not as I do".

I’m interested to try this with my favorite banana nut muffins recipe!

judy August 26, 2021

I started seeing references to letting quick batters sit for a while before putting them in a hot oven about 2 years ago. I have been doing the with my brownies and cakes since then, and even without the additional batter or in a smaller pan, they rise better, and the crumb is better. Traditionally, we have been taught (since early Joy of Cooking days in the 60's for me, to get quick batters in the oven quickly). But I now let them all sit and they come out much better. I have not thought too much about putting in more batter in a smaller pan, or in this case, fewer muffin cups, but certainly that would make for a higher rise as well. Another post here a while back also suggested using deeper pans, 3" for a better rise on cakes. I do not have any round pans, as I prefer square pieces of dessert. But my favorite size is actually 7x11"x3" for a 9x13 pan. Brownies are to die for. I currently do not have a mu fin tin, either, but have been making muffins in my 8x8x3" square pan. They come out like coffee cake. I had not thought too much about the pan size, or the volume/per pan. I am sure that this contributes to an overall better product. But you are right, one certainly does not get as many servings, or on the obverse, one can just cut them smaller to get roughly the same volume per serving, even though the actual size may appear to be a little smaller, the depth would make up for the low dimensions. I'll stat paying more attention t volume and pan size. I just know that my baked goods are much better for letting the batter sit. Oh, by the way, I have converted all my baking pans to Fat Daddies. They are amazing: many sizes and shapes available (less since pandemic--but still a bunch). Non-stick WITHOUT any coating, perfectly square and clean edges inside and out, release like a dream, clean-up is a breeze, with little scrubbing after a few minutes soak, and work equally well for baking and savory cookery. They do stain a little, but that is all....wonderful pans. I even get beautiful piecrust bottoms--no more soggy bottoms.....so much improvement in my overall baking without much change in technique, that I think these pans alone have contributed a lot to my improvement in the last year. As well as hacks like those mentioned in this article. thank you.