INTRODUCTION

If my memory does not fail me, this is my 23rd muffin recipes and people always asked me why my muffins are  so fluffy looking and in a dome shape. I told them is it not muffins should like a muffin with a dome shape? They said they have tried recipes and most looked like a cupcake and some are rather chewy..

One reader who have even written to me telling me that she is very good at preparing chiffon cakes and ogura cake but failed miserably at making muffins. She is puzzling as I kept repeating making muffins is fast and easy.

Since a number of Facebook members have feedback that they failed miserably in the preparation of muffins, I started to search for muffin recipes. All  these while, I have never used other’s muffin recipe because I started to learn baking by preparing muffins. Therefore, i designed more than 20 muffin recipes on my own.. I found that many recipes called for the creaming method and to use a mixer to mix the batter and that totally contradict to my belief of muffins preparation.

I learned my  muffin preparation from old cooking book and if you have such books, they will call for the use of a fork or a knife blade and 2 bowls and that is essentially is enough for the preparation. Muffins are fluffy because of the airy structure. Airy structure can only be achieved if minimal gluten is formed while stirring and that is why knife or fork are used. The simple fork  ensure that the wet and dry ingredients are mixed properly without the need to get a smooth batter.

After preparing ogura or chiffon cakes, members have the tendency of over mixing the batter resulting the formation of too much gluten. They have the habit to mix the batter until there are smooth but old recipes will tell you ‘LUMPS ARE ACCEPTED’ and it is these lumps that contribute to the moist and fluffy muffins. As you stir, the smooth batter is an indication of gluten formation. Unlike other cakes, muffins have more flour and hence more likely to form gluten with such uniform stirring.  

For this illustration, I have used homemade nutella and if you are interested in doing some homemade nutella which are rather easy, you can refer to this post: Hazelnut Cocoa Bread Spread aka Nutella Copycat Recipe (榛果可可酱） or clicking on the picture below.

If you are using homemade nutella, I can tell you these muffins are rather healthy because all the oil were secreted by the blended hazelnuts. However, I am unable to tell you if it is healthy or not if you use store bought nutella. For homemade nutella, you will need to add some sugar since I did not add any sugar to the homemade version but for store bought nutella, only minimal sugar sugar is needed for the recipe. 

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: About 8 medium size muffins

• 150 grams of nutella (homemade or store bought)
• 120 grams of sugar (50 grams for store bought nutella)
• 150 grams of self raising flour
• 150 grams of pecan nuts or other nuts of you choice
• 3 eggs
• 50 grams of fresh milk

STEPS OF PREPARATION

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 degree Celsius

• in a bowl, put the nutella, milk and eggs. Use a whisk to whisk until well combined. Set aside.

• In another bowl, sift in the flour , add the sugar and nuts, stir until well combined and make a well in the centre.

• Add the liquid ingredients, use a FORK or SPOON  to stir until well mixed. A bit lumpy is acceptable for muffins. Over stirring or mixing will result in chewy muffins as gluten have developed.

• Fill up the muffin cup to at least 80% of the muffin cup and bake at the pre-heated oven of 180 degree Celsius for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Timing is for estimation and depends on your muffin cup size . If it tends to brown too quickly, after 10 minutes, you can reduce the temperature to 165 degree Celsius and continue to bake until cooked.

CONCLUSION

To me, with homemade nutella, it is a much healthy recipe than my other muffin recipes. Remember not to over mix the muffins and   there is no need to have a smooth batter, lumpy batter are acceptable for the recipe.

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have nice day. Should there be any imperfections in my blog layout, bear with me and I am trying hard to rectify it. In the event that you are a follower of Guaishushu at http://kwgls.wordpress.com, please do follow this new blog Guaishushu1 at https://www.guaishushu1.com.

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