refrigerating muffin batter overnight

thomas keller says it hydrates the flour = moisture muffins. my notes don't say if he advises this for all batters or just for some. a fast google on refrigerating muffin batter seemed to prefer baking asap. hoping a seasoned muffin baker can inform based on experience. eventually i'll do my own experiment and b able to judge.

alan
  • Posted by: alan
  • December 3, 2020
  • 6951 views
  • 1 Comment

1 Comment

Lori T.
Lori T. December 3, 2020
Some of it will depend on the sort of leavening used in the recipe. Those which rely strictly on baking soda do need to be mixed and baked rather quickly, because baking soda reacts immediately. If you don't bake fast, you lose that lightening power and end up with pucks. On the other hand, if your recipe uses baking powder, you can refrigerate your batter for a few days. The more days it sits, though, the more volume you will lose- so after I would guess about 3-4 days, you also end up with potential pucks. The rest will allow more even hydration of your flour, as well as relaxing any gluten development, which in turn leads to more "puff" in the oven. I do mix up muffin batter in the evening, to bake off next morning. I'm not a morning person by nature, so doing it this way lets us all enjoy a nice warm muffin before heading out the door, without me having to keep "baker's hours".
 
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