Follow these tried and true bakery secrets to make High Domed Bakery-style muffins with your favorite from-scratch standard size muffin recipe!
So how many of you have bought a muffin at a bakery and just were in awe of high they rose without really spilling over? They domed so beautifully almost like you were getting twice as much muffin for the price of one. BONUS, right?! One thing to keep in mind, this is for MUFFIN batter, not cupcakes. There’s a huge difference between cupcakes and muffin batters folks.
…and I’m sure you went home, decided to try it by adding more baking soda/powder to your mix and instead of filling them 1/2-3/4″ of the way full, you filled them to the brim.
…and I’m sure about 6 minutes into the baking you started to smell that smell. You know that the smell. The smell of your gorgeous batter overflowing the cupcake pans and onto your oven floor.
… and I’m sure you’ve said one to 672 swear words, damning that bakery for teasing you with their perfectly high domed muffins while you’re left to scrapping burnt batter off of your oven floor.
It’s pretty basic and you’re going to love me FOREVER once I share this bakery secret with you. Actually, since you’re gonna love me forever, wanna help me open my bistro? 🙂
So here goes…
Most from-scratch muffin recipes tell you to do the following:
- Preheat oven to 325-350.
- Fill 1/2-3/4 full
- Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean
Right?
Well, stop that! No, you can still make them that way but you won’t get high domed muffins.
Bakery Secrets to High Domed Muffins
There are 2 important steps here
-
Let the batter rest at least an hour or overnight in the fridge (preferred)
Do you know why you should let your muffin batter rest? During the resting period, starch molecules in the flour are absorbing the liquid in the batter.
This causes them to swell and gives the batter a thicker, more viscous consistency. Any gluten formed during the mixing of the batter is also getting time to relax, and air bubbles are slowly working their way out.
-
How you bake them temp-wise
By starting them off at such a high temperature is the initial high heat of 425 degrees F causes the batter to have greater oven spring or the rapid rise during the first few minutes of baking.
The higher heat creates a burst of steam that lifts the batter. Makes sense, huh?
Bakery-style High Domed Muffins – how do they do that?
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Ingredients
- Any from-scratch standard size muffin batter – try the Chocolate Chunk Zucchini Muffins!
Instructions
- Always use a From-Scratch muffin recipe, never boxed!
- Never use a mixer to incorporate your dry ingredients to your wet. Use a spatula or spoon. Do not over mix your batter.
- Cover your batter tightly and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (can go overnight as well).
- Preheat your oven to 425F. Yes, I know the recipe calls for 350 but trust me on this. I typically bake my muffins in the upper third of the oven. You see placing the muffins in the upper third of the oven it tends to be hotter and the heat more constant. You can most certainly use the middle rack as well if you want.
- Spray the top of your muffin pan with non-stick spray. Line the pan with cupcake/muffin liners.
- The batter will be THICK. You can gently stir it first. Just try not to deflate it. Fill the muffin papers almost ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP OF THE PAPER. (just leave about a 1/8″ from the top). Yes I know, it’s spilled over before but this works.
- 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. 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 (DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR TO DROP THE TEMP.. sorry for the YELLING.. lol) 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 the oven and cool in the pan on a rack for 1-2 minutes.
- Remove the muffins (they will be hot) from the pan and cool on the rack. Do not leave them in the pan to cool completely as the bottoms and sides will become soggy. Leaving them in the pan builds up too much moisture.
Notes
- I do NOT use boxed muffin mixes – ever nor would I recommend using this technique on a boxed mix.
- The reason why this works is the initial high heat of 425 degrees F causes the batter to have greater oven spring or the rapid rise during the first few minutes of baking. The higher heat creates a burst of steam that lifts the batter.
Do I have to use paper liners? They always get wet on the bottom. I like to bake directly in the pans
Hi Hope,
I’ve not tried it without but if I recall, many have and with great success. I like to use the liners from a commercial standpoint. Plus I hate washing muffin pans 🙂
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Tried this ever so excitedly.. they burned. 😑 I’m not sure what the issue is for me but even lowering the temp 25°, turning temp down halfway through or using combination steam baking didnt work for me. Yes, I tried and tried and failed.. x3.
Bee,
I never use steam baking for cakes, muffins, or cupcakes. For breads yes but never cupcakes or muffins. Have you checked the temp of your oven is by using a thermometer? It sounds like it’s running hot. And you said you only lowered the temp 25 degrees. This process calls for lowering it 75 degrees. It sounds like you didn’t reduce the heat enough OR possibly your oven is not registering the correct temp.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
I am a gluten free baker… do you think this would still work? Obviously without the gluten in the batter it’s not the same process so was wondering how I can get them like this!!
Hi Stephanie!
When I make gluten free muffins I still let the batter rest about 30 minutes to an hour. I’ve not tried overnight though.
A big part of why we test it is to allow the flour to hydrate. Obviously there’s no need to let gluten relax but allowing it to rest did give me the same bakery-style results.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
This was an excellent hint and I am thankful to you FOREVER!
Did you ever get to open your bistro?
★★★★★
Thank you! We had every intention to open it up when we moved to AZ however given that we relocated in the middle of a pandemic we opted to wait.
We’re now in discussions of looking for a place now.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
I used this with my favorite bran muffin recipe. Amazing!
Thank you for all the helpful tips!
I am going to bake blueberry muffins today!
Any tips on blueberries eg frozen, dried or fresh (expensive). I will let you know how they turned out.
❤️ Elana
Thanks for the tips! Have 2 ripe bananas calling to become muffins with tops!
Hi. I’m in the UK and don’t really get on with the cup measuring method too well. I find the two sets I’ve got measure things differently, and I know accuracy is important. Is there any chance you could convert this recipe into grams please? I’m dying to try your recipes, but the cup method hold me back. Thank you so much. Chrissy x
This post has no recipe but rather instructions on how to create high-domed bakery muffins.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Hello Chrissy, I tend to use the internet in order to convert cups to ounces, it’s very quick via your mobile. Best of luck!
Thank you for these tips. My husband loves my muffins but I want to have those nice domed tops. I also bake for a lot of bake sales, and the dome makes the muffin more appealing. Haven’t tried making any recently but it’s on my radar screen!