Q1: What is the absolute, number one secret to a moist and tender, not dry and tough, muffin?

The secret is to not overmix your batter ! Once you have combined your wet and your dry ingredients, you want to fold them together until they are just barely combined. A few small lumps of flour are perfectly okay! Overmixing the batter will overdevelop the gluten in the flour, which is the number one culprit behind a tough, dense, and dry muffin.

Q2: What is the best way to create the "mummy bandage" effect with the frosting?

The secret is to use a flat, basketweave-style piping tip . This type of tip will allow you to pipe beautiful, flat ribbons of frosting. Simply pipe the frosting back and forth across the top of the muffin, slightly overlapping your lines and changing the angle to create that classic, rustic, crisscrossing mummy bandage look.

Q3: Can I make these Halloween muffins ahead of time for a party?

Yes, this is a perfect make-ahead party dessert! You can bake the muffins and prepare the frosting up to 2 days in advance. It is best to decorate the muffins on the day of your party for the freshest and most impressive result.

Q4: How should I store frosted muffins with a cream cheese frosting?

Because the frosting is made with cream cheese and butter, the finished, decorated muffins should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator .

Q5: Can I make this recipe without a stand mixer?

Of course! You can easily make both the muffin batter and the frosting in a large bowl with a good electric hand mixer .

Mummy Muffins (The Perfect Halloween Treat!)

A festive and fun recipe for ‘Halloween Blueberry Mummy Muffins.’ This treat features a moist blueberry muffin, made with a blend of all-purpose and whole-wheat flours and buttermilk, with the blueberries crushed into the batter to give it a purple hue. The cooled muffins are then decorated with a rich cream cheese frosting, which is piped in flat, crisscrossing ribbons to look like mummy wrappings. The ‘mummy’s’ eyes are creatively made from fresh blueberries with small candy eyeballs attached.

Author: Grace

Ingredients

For the Muffins:
2 cups fresh blueberries
Nonstick cooking spray
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg plus 3 large egg yolks, beaten
For the Frosting:
2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
For the Eyes:
24 blueberries
24 small candy eyes

Instructions

Make the Muffins: Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly coat a standard 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray.
In a medium bowl, crush 2 cups of blueberries with a potato masher or fork.
In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, apple pie spice, and salt.
To the crushed blueberries, add the buttermilk, melted butter, lemon zest and juice, vanilla, egg, and egg yolks. Stir until combined.
Gently fold the wet blueberry mixture into the dry flour mixture until just combined. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the muffins cool completely on a wire rack.
Make the Frosting and Decorate: In a medium bowl, beat the room-temperature cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer on high speed until light and creamy, about 5 minutes. On low speed, gradually add the confectioners’ sugar. Then, increase the speed to high and beat for about 3 more minutes until stiff.
Transfer the frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch flat tip.
Leaving a small space for the eyes, pipe the frosting in crisscrossing ribbons from left to right across the top of a cooled muffin to mimic mummy wrapping.
To make the eyes, use a small dab of frosting to ‘glue’ a candy eye onto each of the 24 blueberries. Then, use more frosting to ‘glue’ two blueberry ‘eyes’ onto the unfrosted part of each muffin. Repeat for all muffins.

Notes

Special Equipment: A pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch flat tip is recommended for creating the mummy wrapping effect with the frosting.
Crushing the blueberries before adding them to the batter ensures the muffins have a beautiful purple color throughout.
It is crucial to let the muffins cool completely before frosting to prevent the cream cheese frosting from melting.

Find it online: https://www.eatswithsoul.com/mummy-muffins/