The Best Way to Eat a Muffin
While just about everyone who eats carbohydrates can agree that muffins are delicious (what's not to like?), almost no one can agree on the best way to eat them. Through a little research among fellow muffin connoisseurs, it seems there is an infinite number of ways to devour such a small baked good.
Some muffin-eaters are staunch advocates of the top-down approach (eat the top first, no matter what), with some discarding the bottoms altogether.
Others argue in favor of the "scoop and shovel" method (ripping down into the muffin for larger, crumblier bites), but their adversaries contend that this results in very little muffin retention (also known as crumbs in lap).
To toast or not to toast? Popular opinion indicates that corn muffins should always be toasted, the one maxim almost all muffin lovers can agree upon. But whether to halve or quarter the muffin — or cut it into eighths — brought about a fresh batch of dissention. Dunked in coffee, slathered in cream cheese or buttered and grilled, muffins are like your mother's chicken soup recipe: Everyone thinks their way is best.
In conclusion? There's no correct way to eat a muffin (except mine, of course — toasted and quartered, for maximum butter surface area).
Suzanne is a recipe editor and is halfway through a culinary program at The French Culinary Institute. She regularly eats muffins — and spies on others eating them, as well.
