The muffin method has many virtues, chief among them that it's very fast and can be done — and is indeed better done — without the use of a machine. It's my belief that machine mixing is the chief cause of the inferior muffins mass producers churn out, and why so many bigger bakeries (when they don't use mixes) employ the creaming method, which results in cupcake-like muffins instead of the real thing. Here we have large bowl A, which contains our dry ingredients, thoroughly sifted and blended so as to evenly distribute the leavening (you can use a whisk or even a food processor if you want to get really obsessive).

Next we have medium bowl B, containing all my miscellaneous wet ingredients, including sugar, whisked together. Why is sugar considered a "wet" ingredient in the baking world? Because it dissolves so quickly in anything watery. Here I should emphasize that all your wet ingredients MUST be at room temperature. All of them. Got that? All. Of. Them. Room temperature. The lot.

Now then, spatula in hand, we apply bowl B to bowl A.

And begin to fold, gently, scraping from the bottom and flipping over the top...lightly. The trick here is to fold only as much as it takes to moisten all the dry ingredients and no more. For this double batch of muffins I folded for about 45 seconds, until there were no more large pockets of flour to be found.

Here you can see there are a few small areas of unmixed flour, right around the edges. This is the time to stop folding:

With the mix more or less blended, now's the time to add any other items to your muffin (or pancake or quick bread) batter, in this case blueberries. Fold them in only to the point they are evenly distributed, no more.

Fill your molds with batter and bake.

That was pretty darn easy, wasn't it? For an indication of how well you've mixed, pay attention to the behavior of your leftover batter as you wash out your bowl. If the muffin or quick bread batter simply dissolves in the faucet stream, you've got a superior product to look forward to. If it puts up a fight or leaves slick, stringy and/or rubbery deposits on your wash cloth or sponge, you'll want to ease up on elbow grease next time, killer.

How did I do on these? A near perfect muffin crumb, irregular holes with a few large ones (indicating a slightly uneven mix of leavening), but no "tunnels" caused by gluten formation. I think I'll put the kettle on.

"Overmixing" is a term that's generally applied to batters versus doughs. It means that the mixture has been agitated to the point that the gluten in the flour has been developed. Most often it's pancake batters and muffin batters (things made via the muffin method) that are said to be overmixed, though cookie and cake batters can be overmixed, so can biscuit doughs, though I always think of that as "over-kneading". Call me a hair-splitter, I won't deny it.

What are the telltale signs of overmixing? For virtually all types of baked goods, know an overmixed product by its tough texture, the result of stretchy, developed gluten. Where muffins are concerned, overly large and/or long holes, or "tunnels", are one of the telltale signs. The reason, because developed gluten networks trap and hold expanding steam. Where there is little developed gluten, much of the steam produced by a baking muffin escapes out the top and sides. In an overmixed muffin the steam has a much harder time escaping, and so forms bubbles. This, as you might expect, increases the volume of the muffin, which is why a small slightly domed, even flattish muffin is always to be preferred over one with a prominent, conical peak. For the visual thrill of such a dramatic rise is invariably paid for by a rubbery interior.

No it's not some odd, pastry-based form of birth control. It's one of the simpler of the Big Five mixing methods, something every baker should know. Simply put, the Muffin Method is a technique whereby two mixes are created: a mix of wet ingredients (eggs, soft or liquid fat, milk and sugar) and a mix of dry ingredients (flour, leavening and flavorings like cocoa powder). Once they are prepared — and the oven is preheated — the two are combined and stirred together very briefly before the finished batter is panned and baked.

So what are the advantages of the Muffin Method for making things like muffins? Chiefly tenderness, since so little blending means very little activated gluten.