Why were my banana muffins hard?

Question

The top of my muffin came out a little hard, and the whole muffin wasn't soft enough. My recipe had

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cup sugar
1 cup of vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 ripe bananas.

Without seeing the recipe for clarification, it's a little tough to say. But it sounds like the oven temperature was too high, and they were baked for too long. Would you mind posting the recipe? — ganache, Aug 01 '13 at 04:07
Baking time and temperature? Did you mix for a long time? Were they overbrowned or just too hard? — Cascabel, Aug 01 '13 at 04:42

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 01 '13 at 09:13

In the given recipe, assuming generously that the bananas came out to 1 3/4 c, the total water is:

Approximately 12 oz from banana
Approximately 3 oz from eggs

With three cups of flour, assuming a 4.5 oz cup of flour, this is a ratio of 0.9 : 1 flour to water by weight.

Compare to a similar banana muffin recipe (this one from the Food Network):

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups smashed bananas (about 4 to 6 bananas)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cups chopped walnuts

The water content of this recipe is approximately:

 4 oz from milk
 2 oz from eggs
 14 oz from banana

Again, with a 4.5 oz cup of flour, the flour to water ratio is 0.56 : 1 flour to water by weight.

Note that the recipe used has a much higher flour : water ratio, making a much drier and stiffer batter. It sounds like nearly a dough. It also has a relatively huge amount of sugar and oil.

My guess is the original recipe was not well designed and tested. It is highly likely that:

The recipe you have used simply has a very low hydration of the flour, which would contribute to poor texture
The low hydration encouraged overmixing, which developed gluten and created toughness

You have not indicated time or temperature or muffin size, but it is also likely that they were overbaked.

I would suggest finding a quality recipe as a base. Also, chocolate chips are great in banana muffins, but that is a separate issue.

Why were my banana muffins hard?

1 Answers1