Ok, I did a search on the web. Anyone ever heard of Cook's Illustrated Master Recipe for Basic Muffins? Have you made them?
Clare

Master Recipe for Basic Muffins
This is a Cook's Illustrated recipe. Included 3 varations: Mocha Chip, Lemon Blueberry & Lemon Poppyseed
Makes 12 large or 24 medium (regular) muffins.

3 C all-purpose flour
10 T unsalted butter, softened
1 T baking powder
1 C minus 1 T sugar
½ tsp. baking soda
2 large eggs
½ tsp. salt
1½ C plain low-fat yogurt

Vegetable cooking spray or additional unsalted butter for greasing muffin tins
1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 375°. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl; set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in one-half of dry ingredients. Beat in one-third of yogurt. Beat in remaining dry ingredients in two batches, alternating with yogurt, until incorporated.
3. Spray muffin tin with vegetable cooking spray or coat lightly with butter. Divide batter evently among cups. Bake until muffins are golden brown, 25-30 minutes (less for medium muffins). Set on wire rack to cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove muffins from tin and serve warm.

Variations:
Mocha Chip
Dissolve 3 T instant espresso powder in yogurt and fold 1 C chocolate chips into finished batter. (I've never actually tried this with the espresso powder--it's great with just the chips, though!)

Lemon Blueberry
Add 1 tsp. grated lemon zest to butter-sugar mixture and fold 1½ C blueberries that have been tossed in 1 T flour into finished batter.

Lemon Poppy Seed
Add 3 T poppy seeds to dry ingredients and 1 T grated lemon zest to butter-sugar mixture. While muffins are baking, heat ¼ C sugar and ¼ C lemon juice from 2 small lemons in small saucepan until sugar dissolves and mixture forms light syrup, 3 to 4 minutes. Brush warm syrup over warm muffins and serve. (Don't skip the syrup--it adds a great kick to the muffins!)

That sounds like it might not be too heavy. If you used milk instead of yogurt that might lighten it up also.

I was confused by your question. I was thinking...OK, cupcakes are lighter than muffins, but muffins are not as sweet....why not make a cupcake batter, but cut back on the sugar?

Nancy

wizardnm - You are right, maybe they were really cupcakes and they were just called muffins.

I read on another web search that buttermilk or yogurt is what makes them light. I thought I would give them a try, maybe for breakfast tomorrow. Will let you know.
Clare

Hi Clare. Have you made Sol's dirtbombs yet? Not sure if it's what you're looking for...

They are very light and wonderful.

Dirt Bombs
Yields: 12 muffins*
3 cups AP flour, minus 3 tablespoons
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cardamon
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk **
Topping ***
¾ cups unsalted butter, melted
½ cup granulated sugar
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 400º F. Place the rack in the center position. Generously grease a 12-cup standard muffin pan.
Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cardamon into a mixing bowl. In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl down half way through. Mix in the eggs. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk in two additions, mixing gently by hand to incorporate all the flour. The batter will be on the stiff side, but airy. DonÂt over mix or beat the batter as this will make the muffins tough. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, without smoothing the tops. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. As soon as the muffins are cool enough to handle, turn them out onto a wire rack.
Add the melted butter to a bowl. In another bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon.
Dip the muffins (top, sides and bottom) in the butter, using a pastry brush -if necessary- to cover areas not buttered by dipping. Immediately roll the muffins in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Serve warm or at room temperature.
*I've made this twice, and both times, this recipe has yielded 16 muffins instead of 12.
**I substituted whole buttermilk for whole milk because I always have it on hand and prefer it for baking.
*** The amounts listed for the sugar and cinnamon are not quite enough to coat all the muffins, so I recommend you double it.
Sol

Here is a link that might be useful: dirt bomb thread

Cook's Illustrated Basic Muffins Recipe came out very light and fluffy. I made the blueberry one and it was great. The tops rose to over an inch above the pan. You never know when you try a new recipe online, but I give this one thumbs up.

stacy3 - thanks for the recipe. What a funny name! I will give them a try in the future.
Clare

You might also try using cake flour instead of all-purpose to get that fluffy texture. I recently made a lemon cake recipe that my husband said tasted like a bakery muffins. It could easily be adapted for muffins. I got this out of the old classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia.

Lemon Cake with Glaze
6 oz. (1 1/2 sticks) of butter
3 large eggs
1 c. sugar
1 grated rind of 1 lemon or orange
1 1/4 c. cake flour
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan. Beat room temperature butter into a smooth mayonnaise-like cream. Set aside.
2. Blend the eggs and sugar with the lemon or orange peel for a minute at low speed, then increase speed to high and beat for 4 to 5 minutes more until mixture is pale, fluffy, and looks like whipped cream.
3. Measure out the flour and sieve or sift onto wax paper. With mixer speed on low, gradually add flour to egg mix; just mix until blended (only 15-20 seconds). Rapidly incorporate the butter into the egg mixture until just blended.
4. Turn batter into prepared pan; bang pan lightly on table to deflate any bubbles.
5. Bake in oven for 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
6. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve, or glaze or fill middle with Lemon Glaze below.

Lemon Glaze
1 c. confectionerÂs sugar
1 T. lemon juice
grated rind of one lemon
1 T. hot water 1 egg
2 T. butter
1 T. cornstarch
Beat all ingredients together over medium-high heat until mixture thickens and comes to the boil. Continue beating over low heat for 2 minutes.

kayoh _ thanks for the suggestion about cake flour. And thanks for the Lemon Cake recipe. I will give it a try. I love anything lemon.
Clare

Clare, I've seen them called Cake Muffins too. My recipe for Cake Muffins is still packed away at this point but I've been using the Jordan Marsh recipe in the mean time and it is very good. You can use any kind of fruit that you'd like not just blueberries. And I sift all the dry ingredients.

Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins

For many years, BostonÂs Jordan Marsh made the very best blueberry muffins. They were rich and sweet  almost like a cupcake. Now that MacyÂs has taken over Jordan Marsh, the only way to get these treats is to make them yourself.

1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 cups blueberries, divided
2 tablespoons sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix until blended.

Sift dry ingredients and add alternately with milk. Mash 1/2 cup berries and stir in gently.

Add the rest of the berries that have been rolled in a little flour to keep them from sinking.

Fill well-greased muffin cups. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake 25-30 minutes. Cool in pan at least 10 minutes before serving.

NOTE: These muffins spread out, so make sure that you grease around the edge of each muffin cup so that they will not stick to the pan.

Makes 24 muffins

Michelle

Michelle - thanks for the recipe. I will add it to my collection.

I found some other good tips on making muffins in my web search. I had known about most of these in the past. I found this information on several websites and consolidated it here.

If anyone else has some tips to add please list them.
Thanks.
Clare

TIPS
Sift all dry ingredients. Measure flour accurately. Sift with the other dry ingredients.

Don't over mix. Put all dry ingredients in one bowl and all the wet in another. Create a well in the dry ingredients and barely mix in the wet. Use very few strokes and don't worry about lumps.

Mix by hand. Never use a mixer or it will create too much gluten. Mix by hand and resist the urge to make the batter look uniformly mixed. Little clumps of flour are good.

Cake method vs Muffin method. Cake method is creaming the butter with the sugar, and the muffin method is when wet ingredients are added to the dry.

Buttermilk or Yogurt. Use these instead of milk to make a lighter crumb.

Baking Powder. Most muffins recipes call for baking powder. It works with the heat of the oven to cause lift which helps to create a light crumb. Make sure it is fresh not old. Fresh baking powder should be good for three to six months once you open the container. To test the vitality of your baking powder, add a teaspoon of it to a third of a cup of hot water. If it foams and bubbles, it has enough oomph left. If it just sits there, it's time to run to the store or you can make your own. Combine a tablespoon of baking soda with 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar and 1-1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch. It may not have the same potency as a good store-bought double-acting baking powder, but it will serve in a pinch.

Substitutions. Using applesauce or prune puree in place of oil or melted butter often causes leadenness.

Grease only the bottoms not the sides. If you grease the sides, the muffins may not rise as well and this will make them dense. Or use muffin papers.

Make sure the oven is hot enough. Especially in the beginning of baking. You want a blast of heat the first 10 minutes to make the lift happen. Some people set the oven 25 deg. hotter than the recipe calls for and then turn it down to the proper temp. when you put the pan in the oven. Do not open the door to check on the muffins during the first 10 minutes. (I used my convection oven setting and it may have helped with the lift.)