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.
Mable says
Have tried this 4times,the muffins come out squatting as they always do,filled the cups 3/4 full and followed all instructions.
TKWAdmin says
Hi Mable!
I’m so sorry to hear that you’re having trouble with getting mile-high muffins. Tell me about the batter/recipe you’re using. Maybe I can help you trouble shoot it.
Also a few housekeeping questions:
1 – make sure your oven is reading accurately at the right temp (an oven thermometer can easily test this for you). (this has happened to me)
2 – make sure your leavening agents are not expired/old (this has happened to me)
3 – your batter – if you over mix/beat it, gluten will form and the muffins will not rise.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Christie says
I am SO excited to try this method! From the looks of the other Replies, it looks Foolproof! But Why do these tall muffins look so Straight Sided (a Good thing)? And when you let the batter rest, is that IN the mixing bowl or already scooped into the pan? Lastly, can you recommend a good Crumble and LARGE sugar crystals to sprinkle on top of Muffins? The Crowns are my favorite part! Do those “muffin top”, flat pans work? I have never tried mine.
I Just Found your site tonight and can’t Wait to explore!!!!!
Thanks for everything!!!!!
TKWAdmin says
Hi Christie!
Yeah!!! Welcome to the TKW Family!!! These muffins were made in a normal 12-muffin tin pan. The batter rests in the mixing bowl, never in the scooped pan.
For sugar crystals I love the sanding sugar (http://amzn.to/2c5KCwG)
As for a streusel topping go with this topping (http://amzn.to/2c5KCwG)
I have a muffin top pan but honestly I never use it for muffin tops. It’s awesome for shaping cookies and brownies 🙂
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Becky says
Do directions change at all when using jumbo muffin tins??
TKWAdmin says
Hi Becky,
Yep but you will have to bake at bit longer since they are way bigger than standard muffins. I don’t make the jumbo muffin ones that often as I’ll eat them all 🙂
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Raffaella says
I failed. I followed everything as it was written. I used my cupcake vanilla recipe but they rose up as mushrooms with sides touching the pan. Some of them had browned sides since they were touching the top of the cupcake pan. THey do not look like the picture on top of this discussion. They look like mushrooms tops.
I am so disappointed. They also touched each other during the baking so I had to cut the part were they were attached.
TKWAdmin says
Raffaella,
Ah honey I’m so sorry this didn’t work out for you. The reason why the recipe failed you is because you used it with a cupcake recipe, not a muffin recipe. This recipe is for MUFFINS, not cupcakes. Cupcake batter is different than muffin batter in many areas. Yes they have similar ingredients but the amounts differ and that leads to one item turning out as a cupcake and the other turning out as a muffin. I would never use this tip on a cupcake nor would I advise it. Plus cupcakes shouldn’t be high-domed; that’s what the frosting is for.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
corrie says
I’m going to try this out right now. I am so tired of our little hockey puck muffins. Thanks for all the tips!!!!
TKWAdmin says
Best of luck Corrie! I’ve been making mine this way for decades (God.. did I just age myself???) and they turn out perfect every time. LOL hockey puck muffins! I’ve made my fair share of those in my days!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Nicole says
Hi! I tried this a few times with various recipes, including a coconut flour one which yields very dense muffins, and the results were amazing! My cupcakes looked very professional and beautiful. Thanks a million!
TKWAdmin says
Thank you so much Nicole! That’s great to hear about coconut flour; I had not tried that yet. Thanks!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
MugZ says
Wow, wow, wow! These tips produced the best looking muffins I’ve ever made.
No more flat sunken muffins for me ha ha.
Thanks a million!
TKWAdmin says
That’s awesome to hear MugZ! You are most welcome 🙂
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Jess says
I was a little disappointed to see that so many people left comments of “these look amazing can’t wait to try them yay!” and then never came back to share their success or failure. So I went ahead and tried this out tonight, and keep in mind I’m an abysmal baker. I had very little hope, but followed the non-recipe portion of this post (with just a totally different recipe for protein-blueberry-pecan muffins). Turned the oven to 425º, popped them on the top rack for 10 minutes, then turned the oven down to 350º without opening it for another 15 minutes or so (these were jumbo-sized muffins). I used applesauce instead of butter, which is so dense that it makes very flat muffins no matter what you do.
And lo and behold, perfect muffins. They’re huge, they’re tall, they’re beautiful, they look like something from Starbucks. I can’t believe it. I’ve been Snapchatting the hell out of these things for the past 5 minutes.
Bravo, TKW!
TKWAdmin says
Jess thank you so much for taking the time to not only follow my steps on how to make these but also to come back and leave comments. I really, really appreciate that! So again, thank you!
Yes these ‘steps’ work on every muffing (at least the ones that I’ve made and trust me, I’ve made hundreds of types).
I’m not on Snapchat but please feel free to share on our facebook wall, twitter or instragam (tagging #thekitchenwhisperer)
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Lisa says
I am DEFINITELY trying this! I have always wished to be able to make high-domed muffins. To me, my homemade muffins always looked deflated (but were still tasty). Thanks for sharing your wisdom!
TKWAdmin says
Hi Lisa!
Yeah this is definitely the secret. This is the only way I make my muffins, regardless of the style or flavor. I love a fat muffin top (well, except the one around my waist). LOL
Let me know how it works for you!
Best Kitchen Wishes!