I finally stopped overmixing my muffins after a bakery owner called me out

I used to mix my batter until it was completely smooth, no lumps at all. A bakery owner in Portland watched me do it at a class last month and said I was ruining the texture before I even put them in the oven. She told me to stop when there's still dry flour visible and just fold it 10 times max. I tried it with a batch of blueberry muffins the next day and they came out way taller and softer. Now I leave my batter lumpy on purpose. Has anyone else had a stubborn habit that a pro had to break them of?

2 comments

2 Comments

gibson.oliver1mo ago

...and honestly I was one of those people who thought lumps meant I was being lazy. I figured smooth batter was the whole point, like it showed you cared about the final product. But that Portland baker was right, I tried her method with some chocolate chip muffins and they actually domed up instead of being flat and dense. Its weird because my brain still tells me to keep mixing until its perfect but the results dont lie. Now I dump the dry ingredients in, fold it maybe eight times, and walk away even if it looks wrong. The texture change is massive, I wish someone had told me this years ago.

betty_reed611mo ago

Oh yeah, I felt real smart when I used to beat my pie dough until it was smooth as glass. First time I made a pie for my aunt she took one bite and asked if I was making crackers instead of crust. A baker at the farmer's market told me to stop manhandling the dough and just leave the butter chunks visible. My first attempt after that looked like a disaster but it flaked up so good my aunt actually asked for the recipe. I still overmix stuff out of habit sometimes. I caught myself creaming butter and sugar for almost 10 minutes the other day before I remembered to stop.