Kitchen Tip Tuesdays--More Muffin Talk!

For this week's kitchen tip, I thought I would talk more about making muffins! Several left me questions after last week's kitchen tip on muffins that I thought I would take the time to answer them in one post for all to see!

One said that she had trouble getting her muffins out of the pans and asked if I used liners or what did I do?! Well first off, I do use muffin paper liners. I get them from my local Gordon Food's Marketplace. They sell white ones in packs of 500 for just under $4.00(the last time I bought them about 3 months ago!). Secondly, I make sure that I don't fill the muffin wells too full, I try to only fill them about 1/2-3/4 full. Thirdly, when they are done baking and need to be taken out of the muffin pans....I take them out of the pans immediately using tongs and place them on cooling racks. Taking them out of the pans immediately means there is less chance of the muffins sticking to the pans.

Another asked how long do the muffins need to bake? It depends on the recipe! I have an orange juice muffins that cooks at 400° for 20 minutes. But then my banana bread muffin recipe bakes at 350° for about 30 minutes. If I am converting a quick bread recipe that calls for loaves to muffins, I use the oven temp that is stated in the recipe and I divide the time stated in half.(for example, recipe says bake 1 hour @ 350° then for doing muffins bake it at 350° for 30 minutes) To check for doneness, I have a Pampered Chef Cake Tester that I use. It is a long thin piece of stainless steel...longer than a toothpick so that can not get lost/stuck in the muffins! :)

I don't usually use a basic mix, however, there are many quick bread recipes that you can change the fruit or the liquid in without too much difficulty. It is fun to experiment! :) At the same time, I do have two basic mixes that I use on occasion....you can find them here and here!

The last question has to do with freezing baked goods and wondering how long they last and how to store them!? I have talked before about freezing foods and I have found that with my baked goods, if I let them cool til they are just cool(about an hour) and then put them in freezer bags and put immediately into the freezer they will last a good 4 months and still be fresh tasting when thawed. I usually just stick all the muffins into a freezer bag...usually 18 regular size muffins will fit into a gallon size ziploc freezer bag. The other 6 muffins of my batch of 24 muffins, I usually leave out for the family to munch on for a snack. :) I have also taken the time to individually wrap the muffins before sticking them in the gallon size bag so that they are quick grabs for hubby's lunch.

I hope that this clarifies how to make muffins out of quick bread recipes! For more good tips and ideas head over to Tammy's Recipes!