Muffins are simple quick bread that are traditionally baked from a batter prepared from a mixture of egg, milk and melted shortening or oil stirred into sifted flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. The optimum proportion of ingredients, mixing, and baking results in a "standard" muffin" with good volume and a slightly rounded, golden brown, pebbly top. Although the interior crumb is coarse, it should be uniform and tender.

Due to the proportion of liquid to flour, gluten develops with only slight mixing. The amount of mixing that is optimum for muffins is just enough to blend the dry ingredients and liquid ingredients but not enough to produce a smooth batter. When lifted with a spoon, the batter should break and separate easily. Mixing the batter beyond the optimum amount results in a smoother and less lumpy batter. The increase in gluten development prevents the muffin from rising in the early part of the baking period resulting in a lighter slick crust with a duller appearance and a top which is not rounded but has peaks, tunnels or holes through the center of the muffin.

The influence of mixing may be magnified or minimized by selection of the different flours. Cake flour with less gluten forming protein not only is less likely to form tunnels during mixing, but will product a more tender muffin than hard wheat flours. Changing the proportion and type of egg, milk, fat or baking powder also influences muffin quality. Many of the muffins made today have a high proportion of fat and sugar. In some ways, muffins are similar to the one-bowl cake of old.