Muffin

baking · dessert · breakfast · quick-bread

Cup-shaped container. Muffins are baked in special cup-shaped molds that give them their distinctive dome-topped shape. These little containers help the batter bake evenly and make muffins easy to eat by hand.

Super fast to make. Muffins are called quick-breads because they come together way faster than other breads. Instead of yeast that needs time to rise, they use baking powder or baking soda to make them fluffy and light.

Flavor mix-ins. You can add almost any ingredient to muffin batter to change the flavor. Popular choices include blueberries, chocolate chips, bananas, nuts, or even pumpkin puree.

Between cake and bread. Muffins are kind of a mashup between cake and bread, which is why they taste sweet but have a slightly different texture than regular cake. Some muffins are more cake-like and others are more bread-like depending on the recipe.

Eaten worldwide. People enjoy muffins in many different countries, though the style might change based on what local flavors they like. English muffins are actually quite different from the American sweet muffins we usually think of.