Why do I always end up messing up my muffin recipes? Help, please!!!!?

Hi! I love baking. Whenever I try to make muffins, they come tasting ok, but have a HARD bottom and also have a hard crust around the top. Last time, I made my muffins without muffin cups and it came out DELICIOUS, no hard parts or anything. But, when I use paper cups, it comes out hard, and ';OK'; tasting. What am I doing wrong? What should I do? Help!!!! *Thank you so much!!!!* =)Why do I always end up messing up my muffin recipes? Help, please!!!!?
I never use paper cups for muffins...they're for cupcakes only here! lol





Hard bottoms usually means either over-mixing, or over-cooking. When you use the liners, the muffins are slightly smaller and require slightly less bake time than those made without the paper liners. Try baking them for a shorter amount of time, or just skipping the liners. And always make sure you mix just enough to moisten all the ingredients; do not try to mix out all the lumps. Lumps are good.Why do I always end up messing up my muffin recipes? Help, please!!!!?
Are you using the proper muffin method? I suggest looking into Alton Brown's ways of making muffins.





Part 1:





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-D7zwa1v鈥?/a>





Part 2:





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZJBXftTn鈥?/a>
Could be over beating the mix, that will result in hard muffins.