View source for Muffin

{{Short description|A part-raised flatbread or a quickbread}}
{{Other uses}}
{{redirect|Blueberry muffin|the newborn baby condition|Blueberry muffin baby}}
{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
[[File:02116jfMuffins in Philippinesfvf 02.jpg|thumb|Three flavors of muffin: [[blueberry]], [[chocolate]], and [[chocolate chip]].]]


A '''muffin''' is a type of individual-sized [[baked good]]. It is often a small, sweet [[quickbread]] or [[cake]] in a cup-shaped container. It may be named for additional ingredients, e.g., "blueberry muffin". 

While quickbread "American" muffins are often sweetened, there are savory varieties made with ingredients such as cornbread muffins and cheese muffins, and less sweet varieties such as traditional bran muffins. The quickbread muffin originated in North America during the 19th century.

== Etymology ==
One 19th-century source suggests that ''muffin'' may be related to the Greek bread {{Lang|el|maphula}}, a 'cake baked on a hearth or griddle', or from Old French {{Lang|fro|mou-pain}} 'soft bread', which may have been altered into {{Lang|fro|mouffin}}.<ref>''Notes and Queries: Medium of Inter-Communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc.'', Volume 1, Oxford University Press, 1850. p. 253.</ref> The word is first found in print in 1703, spelled ''{{Not a typo|moofin}}'';<ref name=Thorseby>R. Thoresby in a letter dated 27 Apr. 1703 and quoted by J. Ray in 1848. [[Vide (Latin)|''vide'']]: [https://archive.org/details/correspondenceof48rayj ''The correspondence of J. Ray, consisting of selections from the philosophical letters published by Dr. Derham and original letters of J. Ray in the collection of the British Museum'' (1848) p. 425]</ref> it is of uncertain origin but possibly derived from the Low German {{Lang|nds|Muffen}}, the plural of {{Lang|nds|Muffe}}, meaning 'small cake', or possibly with some connection to the Old French {{Lang|fro|moufflet}} meaning 'soft', as said of bread.<ref name="oed">{{Cite OED|muffin}}</ref><ref name=Harper>{{Cite web | last = Harper | first = Douglas | title = Online Etymology Dictionary | url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=muffin | access-date = 30 April 2006 }}</ref> The expression ''muffin-man'', meaning a street seller of muffins, is attested in a 1754 poem, which includes the line: "Hark! the shrill Muffin-Man his Carol plies."<ref name=Harper/>

==Quickbread muffins==
{{Infobox food
| name             = Quickbread muffin
| image            = [[File:NCI Visuals Food Muffins.jpg|250px]]
| country          = United States
| course           = Traditionally breakfast
| type             = [[Quick bread]]
| main_ingredient  = [[Flour]], eggs, [[leavening]], [[vegetable oil]], [[sugar]]
|minor_ingredient=Blueberries, chocolate, poppyseeds, or bran|alternate_name=American muffin}}
Quickbread muffins (sometimes described in Britain as "American muffins"<ref name="AM">[http://www.cakebaker.co.uk/american-muffins.html American muffins] at cakebaker.co.uk; retrieved 3 Sept 2017</ref>) are baked, individual-sized, cupcake-shaped foods with a "moist, coarse-grained" texture.<ref name="WCSF">Wrigley, Colin W; Corke, Harold;  Seetharaman, Koushik; Faubion, Jonathan. ''Encyclopedia of Food Grains''. Academic Press, 2015. p. 33-34</ref> Muffins are available in both savoury varieties, such as cornmeal and cheese muffins, or sweet varieties such as blueberry, [[chocolate chip]], lemon or banana flavours. Sweetened muffins range from lightly sweetened muffins to products that are "richer than many cakes in fat and sugar."<ref name="WCSF" /> They are similar to [[cupcake]]s in size and cooking methods, the main difference being that cupcakes tend to be sweet [[dessert]]s using cake batter, often topped with sugar icing (American frosting). Muffins may have solid items mixed into the batter, such as berries, chocolate chips or nuts. Fresh baked muffins are sold by bakeries, [[List of doughnut shops|donut shop]]s and some [[fast food]] restaurants and coffeehouses. Factory-baked muffins are sold at [[grocery store]]s and [[convenience store]]s, and are served in some [[Coffeehouse|coffee shops]] and [[cafeteria]]s.

===History=== 
Recipes for quickbread muffins are common in 19th-century American cookbooks.<ref name="Lettice">{{cite book |first=Lettice |last=Bryan |title=Kentucky Housewife |publisher=Applewood Books (reprint) |location=South Dartmouth, Massachusetts |year=1839 |page=[https://archive.org/details/kentuckyhousewif0000brya/page/309 309] |isbn=1-55709-514-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/kentuckyhousewif0000brya/page/309 }}</ref><ref name="beecher">{{cite book |title=Miss Beecher's domestic recipe book |first=Catharine Esther |last=Beecher |publisher=Harper |year=1871 |page=99}}</ref> Recipes for yeast-based muffins, which were sometimes called "common muffins" or "wheat muffins" in 19th-century American cookbooks, can be found in much older [[cookbook]]s. In [[Fannie Farmer]]'s ''[[Boston Cooking-School Cook Book]]'', she gave recipes for both quick bread muffins and [[English muffins]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Farmer |first=Fannie |title=Boston Cooking-School Cook Book |url=https://archive.org/details/bostoncookingsc00collgoog |year=1896 |publisher=Little, Brown & Company |location=Boston, Massachusetts |isbn=1408632292}}</ref> 

Over the years, the size and calorie content of muffins has changed: the <q>3-inch muffins grandmother made had only 120 to 160 calories. But today's giant bakery muffins contain from 340 to 630 calories each.</q><ref name="nbc">{{cite web |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/6307384/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/t/think-muffins-bagelsare-healthy-think-again/#.XWrRuONKjIU |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517030707/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/6307384/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/t/think-muffins-bagelsare-healthy-think-again#.XWrRuONKjIU |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 17, 2014 |title= Think muffins and bagels are healthy? Think again In some cases, you may be better off eating a doughnut|last=Collins |first=Karen |date=22 November 2004|website=NBC News |access-date=31 August 2019 }}</ref>

===Manufacture===
Quickbread muffins are made with flour, sieved together with [[bicarbonate of soda]] as a [[Leavening agent|raising agent]]. To this is added butter or shortening, eggs and any flavourings (fruit, such as blueberries, chocolate or banana; or savouries, such as cheese).

Commercial muffins may have "modified starches", corn syrup (or [[high-fructose corn syrup]]), xanthan gum, or guar gum to increase moisture content and lengthen shelf life (these gums can also make added solids, such as chocolate chips, disperse more evenly in the batter).<ref name="WCSF" />

=== Bran muffins ===
[[File:Applesauce oat bran muffins (42274838985).jpg|thumb|Oat bran muffins]]
'''Bran muffins''' use less flour and use [[bran]] instead, as well as using [[molasses]] and [[brown sugar]].<ref name="WCSF" /> The mix is turned into a pocketed muffin tray, or into individual paper moulds, and baked in an oven. Milk is often added, as it contributes to the appealing browning appearance.<ref name="WCSF" /> The result are raised, individual quickbreads.<ref name="AM" /> The muffin may have toppings added, such as cinnamon sugar, streusel,<ref name="WCSF" /> nuts, or chocolate chips.

===Poppyseed muffins===
[[File:Cranberry-Mohn Muffins on plate.jpg|thumb|[[Poppyseed]] muffins on a plate]]
'''Poppyseed muffins''' (or '''poppy seed muffins''') contain poppy seeds. Poppy seeds were already popular in most parts of the world for their taste and texture&mdash;as well as the [[narcotic]] characteristics of the [[opium poppy]] plant they are harvested from. In modern times, growing poppy seeds is a difficult business for American farmers, due to the risk of [[heroin]]—which is derived from poppies—being produced.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}} Other countries have fewer difficulties with permitting the growth of poppies for the seeds alone, which have very low (but not zero) levels of [[opium]] [[alkaloids]], such as [[morphine]]. As other countries began imitating the American muffin, the occasional use of poppy seeds to flavor them spread as well. Although poppy seeds cannot be used as a [[narcotic]] due to very low levels of opium alkaloids,<ref name="erowid">{{Cite web |title=Erowid Poppy Vault : Legal Status |url=https://www.erowid.org/plants/poppy/poppy_law.shtml |access-date=2022-08-03 |website=www.erowid.org}}</ref> they do have enough that [[drug test]]s often report [[false positive]]s after a drug-free person eats a few poppyseed muffins.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Poppy-seeds: codeine, morphine and urinanalysis |url=https://www.opioids.com/poppyseeds/urinalysis.html |access-date=2022-08-03 |website=www.opioids.com}}</ref> In one reported case the [[UAE]] jailed a man for four years after poppy seeds from a roll he had eaten at an airport were found on his clothes.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2008-02-08 |title=Tourists warned of UAE drug laws |language=en-GB |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7234786.stm |access-date=2022-08-03}}</ref>

[[Lemon]] is commonly paired with poppyseeds in muffin-making.

===Nutrition===
Harvard University's Nutrition Source states that while many fruit muffins may seem "...to be a better breakfast than their donut neighbors" at your local coffeeshop, with their "...often refined flours, high sodium, and plenty of added sugar...and large portion size, they're far from the optimal food choice to start your day."<ref name=Makeover>{{cite web |url=https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/muffin-makeover/ |title=The Great Muffin Makeover |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=hsph.harvard.edu |date=18 September 2012 |publisher=Harvard University |access-date=31 August 2019 }}</ref> Consumers think that commercial muffins are a healthier choice than donuts; however, according to Registered Dietician Karen Collins, yeast or raised donuts have from 170 to 270 calories each (cake doughnuts have from 290 to 360 calories), while large bakery muffins have from 340 to 630 calories each and 11 to 27 grams of total fat.<ref name="nbc" /> "Most muffins are deceptively high in fats", with up to 40% fat content, which many consumers are not aware of.<ref name=WCSF/>

The type of muffin can have a big impact on its fat and sugar content; one major fast food chain's low-fat berry muffin has 300 calories, whereas the same restaurant's chocolate chunk muffin has 620 calories.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eatingwell.com/article/80487/the-best-worst-fast-food-muffins/ |title=The best & worst fast-food muffins |last=Thompson |first=Matthew |publisher=Eating Well |access-date=31 August 2019 }}</ref> Harvard's Nutrition Source recommends smaller-sized, whole-grain muffins with reduced sugar content, liquid plant oil instead of shortening or butter, and added wholesome foods such as nuts (or nut flour), beans (or bean flour), or fresh fruit or vegetables.<ref name=Makeover/>

=== Muffin tops ===

The muffin top is the crisp upper part of the muffin, which has developed a "browned crust that's slightly singed around the edges".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thespec.com/living-story/9219673-do-you-know-the-mmmuffin-man-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-90s-muffin/ |title=Do you know the Mmmuffin Man? The rise and fall of the '90s muffin |last=Liu |first=Karen |date=13 March 2019 |newspaper=The Hamilton Spectator |publisher=The Spec |access-date= 31 August 2019}}</ref> They were the focus of a 1997 ''[[Seinfeld]]'' sitcom episode, "[[The Muffin Tops]]" (episode 21 of season 8), where the character [[Elaine Benes|Elaine]], who only eats the tops when she buys a muffin, realizes that a bakery selling just the tops could be successful. Once the business is running, she has to figure out what to do with the muffin bottoms, which proves difficult.

In 2018, McDonald's restaurant announced they were planning to sell muffin tops as part of their McCafe breakfast menu.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mcdonalds-muffin-tops-way-to-reclaim-breakfast-customers/ |title=McDonald's looks to muffin tops to reclaim breakfast customers |last=Gibson |first=Kate |date=27 June 2018 |work=CBS News |access-date=24 August 2019}}</ref>

===Bakeware and baking aids===
[[Image:Muffin pan.jpg|thumb|right|A typical muffin pan]]
[[Muffin tin]]s and muffin pans are typically metal bakeware which has round bowl-shaped depressions into which muffin batter is poured. Muffin tins or pans can be greased with butter or cooking spray, to lessen the issue of batter sticking to the pan. Alternatively, muffin cups or cases are used. Cups or cases are usually round sheets of foil, or silicone<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hormel.com/kitchen/glossary.asp?id=35798 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040122204458/http://www.hormel.com/kitchen/glossary.asp?id=35798 |archive-date=2004-01-22 |title=Hormel Foods |access-date=2007-04-19}}</ref> with scallop-pressed edges, giving the muffin a round cup shape. They are used in the baking of muffins to line the bottoms of muffin tins, to facilitate the easy removal of the finished muffin from the tin. The advantage to cooks is easier removal and cleanup, more precise form, and moister muffins; however, using them will prevent a crust from forming.

A variety of sizes for muffin cases are available. Slightly different sizes are considered "standard" in different countries. Miniature cases are commonly {{convert|1|to|1.25|in|mm|abbr=on}} in diameter at the base and {{convert|.75|in|mm|abbr=on}} tall. Standard-size cases range from {{convert|1.75|to|2|in|mm}} in diameter at the base and are {{convert|1.25|to|1.5|in|mm|abbr=on}} tall. Some jumbo-size cases can hold more than twice the capacity of standard cases. Australian and Swedish bakers are accustomed to taller paper cases with a larger diameter at the top than American and British bakers.<ref name="Smith2010">{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Lindy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=avVsJ5drkGMC&pg=PA7 |title=Bake me I'm Yours... Cupcake Celebration |publisher=David & Charles: Newton Abbot |year=2010 |isbn=9780715337707 |page=7}}</ref>

===Gallery of quickbread muffin flavors===
<gallery>
File:Pumpkin muffin (31373163026).jpg|Pumpkin muffins in muffin cups
File:Chocolate muffin bake.jpg|A chocolate muffin
File:Home made muffins.jpeg|Home-made berry muffins
File:Vegan lemon poppyseed muffins (4276812235).jpg|A [[vegan]] [[lemon]] [[poppyseed]] muffin
File:BlueberryMuffin.jpg|[[Blueberry]] muffin, a common flavor
</gallery>

==As symbols==
American muffins appear as state symbols in three US states:
*The [[maize|corn]] muffin is the official state muffin of [[Massachusetts]].<ref name="North">{{Cite web |title=CIS: State Symbols |url=https://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cismaf/mf1a.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040930232540/http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cismaf/mf1a.htm|archive-date=30 September 2004|website=www.sec.state.ma.us}}</ref>
* The [[blueberry]] muffin is the official state muffin of [[Minnesota]].<ref name="North" />
* The [[apple]] muffin is the official state muffin of [[New York (state)|New York]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=New York State Muffin - Apple Muffin |url=https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/new-york/state-food-agriculture-symbol/apple-muffin |access-date=2022-08-03 |website=statesymbolsusa.org|date=26 May 2014 }}</ref>

==See also==
* {{portal-inline|Food}}
* [[American cuisine]]
* [[Breakfast foods]]
*[[Croissant]]
* [[Cruffin]]
*[[Crumpet]]
* [[Cupcake]]
* [[Dessert]]
*[[Donut]]
* [[Jiffy mix]]
* [[List of baked goods]]
* [[Mantecada]]
*[[The Muffin Man]]
*[[Scone]]

==References==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wiktionary|muffin}}
{{Cookbook|Muffin}}
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{American bread}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:American breads]]
[[Category:British breads]]
[[Category:Quick breads]]
[[Category:Sweet breads]]
[[Category:Snack foods]]