Muffins are fluffy, but crumbly
I just made muffins, which turned out to have a great flavor and density, but are very crumbly.
I followed this recipe, and made the following substitutions:
- 1/2 cup of flour --> coffee flour
- 3/4 cup milk + 1/4 cup coffee --> 1/4 cup milk + 1 cup coffee
The recipe also calls for the butter to be melted before mixed. I'm currently thinking that both the small amount of fat (1 stick of butter), and consistency (melted as opposed to cold/room temp) is probably causing the crumble.
Are there any ways I can make the recipe less crumbly without increasing the amount of fat or oil? Or only doing so slightly?
Best Answer
It looks like you substituted fully a third of the total flour in the recipe with coffee flour. Admittedly I have never used (or even heard of) coffee flour before, but I bet it does not come out as sticky as regular all-purpose flour when mixed with water (or milk, coffee, etc.)
You can make paste (for sticking up posters and wallpaper) with wheat flour and water, so if your muffins came out crumbly and wouldn't stick together, I would suspect the coffee flour, or rather a lack of wheat flour. That novel ingredient does sound like an interesting idea, but one third of a critical component like flour might be too radical.
Both the milk and the coffee in the recipe are primarily water (at least for structural purposes), so I doubt if that substitution was your problem. As far as the butter, one stick sounds like a reasonable amount to me, and lack of fat doesn't usually cause crumbliness.
It would be a good experiment to make the muffins as specified once, just to see what they are supposed to be like, and then start substituting (conservatively at first) in the next batch.
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Quick Answer about "Muffins are fluffy, but crumbly"
Why Are My Muffins Moist But Crumbly? Your muffins can turn out moist but crumbly if you overmix the batter or add too much flour. Muffins that are moist but crumbly can also be caused by using ingredients with different properties, such as using all-purpose flour when self-rising flour is required in a recipe.How do you make muffins not crumbly?
For baking you need to use a product that is a minimum of 70% fat. Spreads with less fat contain more water, resulting in dry, less tender muffins. Remember that one stick of butter or margarine is equal to 1/2 cup and not 1 cup. If you confused the two, you will be cutting the amount of fat used by half.Why are my muffins too fluffy?
Overmixing the batter. When you overmix the batter, it crushes the air bubbles and ruins the fluffy texture. \u2192 Follow this tip: To ensure a batch of light, fluffy muffins, mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until just barely combined, and no more dry flour is visible.What makes baked crumbly?
A cake is crumbly because of using too much flour, overmixing cake batter, not adding enough shortening, or not adding enough sugar. Flour contains gluten which, in excessive or small amounts, can change the structural integrity of the cake by making it crumbly and moist.Why are my muffins dense and dry?
Too much leavening \u2013 If there is too much baking soda or powder in the batter, muffins will rise temporarily, then collapse. This causes them to become dense. For every cup of flour, you only need 1 teaspoon of baking powder or 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda.WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY CUPCAKES? How to Get Perfect Cupcakes Every Time | Cupcake Jemma
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