The Muffin Topping Mistake You Are Probably Making

Bamboozled by why your blueberry muffins aren't bakery-worthy? You might be making the mistake of failing to scatter over a sugary muffin topping onto your batter before baking.

While the fluffy middle of a vanilla-scented muffin is ambrosial, it's the heavenly topping that turns a simple baked good into a show-stopping culinary phenomenon. Sweet with caramelized flavor, the best muffin tops have a crunchy texture that complements the light and airy crumb of the body of the muffin beneath it. And it's this inviting texture that gives a basic homemade muffin a professional look and moreish classic crunch that hits those appetizing textural notes.

The perfect time to top your muffins with sugar is just before you pop them in the oven. The sugar will adhere to the sticky batter and crystallize as it bakes, creating little zones of crunch across the surface while the muffin batter rises. But which sugar makes the best muffin topping? It has to be a raw form of sugar, such as turbinado sugar or demerara sugar. These varieties have a golden color and toffee-like flavor because they have a higher concentration of molasses than other types of sweetener, like white granulated sugar. Key to lending baked goods a delicious caramel-y taste, they also have a coarse texture that doesn't clump or readily dissolve into wet batters. This means you can scatter a generous sprinkling over a muffin without worrying that the crystals will melt into the batter and alter its consistency.

A simple, pared back scattering of demerara sugar will elevate your muffins in one easy move. But why not take the opportunity to boost their flavor further? Consider combining the sugar with a dash of cinnamon, lemon zest, or powdered ginger to lend your topping a touch more character. You could even balance the sweetness of the brown sugar with a tiny sprinkle of salt. This move will bring out the existing flavors in your bakes, whether they be fluffy and moist chocolate chip muffins or snickerdoodle crumb muffins. Then bake your muffins at a higher temperature for the first few minutes to help them rise before lowering it to prevent the sugar from burning while the middle continues to cook.

If you have a little more time on your hands, consider combining your sugar with butter, and flour to create a chunkier streusel-like or crumb topping — its claggier texture can be sprinkled over in chunkier nuggets to create a hefty layer of crunch. Plus, you can mix in extras, like chopped nuts.

Are your baked goods still failing to make the grade after topping them with sugar? Troubleshoot some of the other mistakes you might be making with your muffins, such as over-mixing the batter or using expired leaveners.