The One Thing Alton Brown Does to Make Perfect Muffins

Everyone has their own platonic ideal of muffins. For certain Seinfeld characters, it’s just the top. For my children, it’s the soggy part right around the blueberries. For Alton Brown, it’s all about making a larger muffin top — and no, you don’t need a new muffin tin to do it. Brown always has an intriguing trick for dishes, and this one for folks who love those tops is no different.

In his first book, Brown explains that he made a softer, more cupcake-esque blueberry muffin. For his second one, it was a bit more rustic. But by the time he put this recipe up on his website in 2015, he’d thought better of both of those styles. “I decided … a hybrid is just right.” But most importantly, he decided to up the portion. “Not because we need bigger muffins, but because everyone likes a muffin top.”

The recipe itself is interesting, and includes two egg yolks, as well as two whole eggs, yogurt, and orange zest. But the trick to his recipe is using a standard-size muffin tin — which usually holds about half of a cup — and scooping an entire cup of batter. For those of you playing along at home, that’s a muffin that is half muffin top!

Get the recipe: Over the Top Blueberry Muffins from Alton Brown

You’ll have to make sure you spray the entire muffin tin with nonstick spray, since your tops will go everywhere. He also has you bake a ramekin with any extra batter, so nothing goes to waste.

And! You’re not done yet, as Brown has one last sneaky trick in this recipe: When you’re done baking the muffins, he has you remove them from the oven and immediately turn them upside down to cool. It’s a key step, he says, to prevent mushy muffin bottoms — “which nobody, and I do mean nobody, likes.”