My blueberry muffins taste good and rise nicely, but the inside has long vertical tunnels rather than an even, tender crumb. I mix the wet and dry ingredients by hand until I can't see flour, then fold in the berries. I may be stirring more than I realize. Is tunneling mostly a sign of overmixing, or can oven temperature and an overly wet batter cause the same thing?
Muffins that taste good but develop long tunnels
- baking
- muffins
- taste
- good
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4 replies
Tunneling is usually from overmixing in my kitchen. If the batter gets worked too much, the muffins rise in big streaks instead of setting e...
Tunneling is usually from overmixing in my kitchen. If the batter gets worked too much, the muffins rise in big streaks instead of setting evenly.
I think oven temp can matter too, but overmixing is the first thing I'd suspect. A batter that's too wet can make the crumb a little weird, though not usually in the same tall-tunnel way.
I’ve had batter that looked fine but still baked up with tunnels because I was stirring in the berries too aggressively. Those extra turns c...
Yeah, the mixing is the main culprit most of the time. Fold just until the flour disappears, and stop earlier than feels natural.