Okay, so I think I am cursed because every time I bake cupcakes, they sink in the middle, although they are fully cooked. I doesn't matter what recipe I used (scratch or doctored mix), how much I adjust the cooking time and temperature, or what mixer I use (hand-held or KA). I have checked to make sure my oven have accurate temps also. Everything is fine there. I used to bake great cupcakes not so long ago. This problem has just occurred the last two times I've made cupcakes.
Everything else I cook in my oven turns out fine. Cakes are nice and even and bread bakes up high. It is only the cupcakes that are disasters. My kingdom for a nicely domed cupcake!
Could it be my cupcake pan??? Granted, it isn't brand new, but it has worked fine in the past. Could it be the weather??? The humidity was high on both failed cupcake bakings, but I have central air and a home dehumidifier. I'm truly stumped. Any advice is greatly appreciated!
A couple of things to check...
For starters, there are two kinds of muffins, cake-like and traditional (dense in structure.) Each require different mixing methods, the cake-like are mixed like most cake recipes using the creaming method (fat and sugar mixed together, eggs added one at a time, then dry and liquid added alternatively.)
The traditional method is mixed by hand, never a mixer. It is basically dumping the dry ingredients over the wet and gently "folding" with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon the two together. In the end, you should still see pockets of flour or sprays of flour, then pour into muffin tin.
So, it depends on what type of muffin recipe you have. Most follow the traditional method which means you are over beating it with mixers and this will cause your muffins to sink into the middle.
Hope that helps.
Are you using those AWEFULL cupcake liners that are designed to be used without the cupcake pan? The are foil on the outside and a reg paper cup on the inside. My girlfriend recently made some cupcakes for the two of us to decorate and when I saw them I almost died...They were the most unshaply and sunken cupcakes I have ever seen! I can't belive how bad they were.
Nope, I just used the regular paper cupcake liners, although I was tempted to try the foil ones for this last cupcake debaucle. Thanks for the warning!
This may be a case of overbeating. I did try to minize the mixing for this last ruined batch. I made hummingbird cupcakes last night (scratch recipe) and I did expect the cupcakes to be more dense due to the fruit and nuts. When I took them out of the oven, the cakes were slightly domed and I thought everything was fine. I let them cool off for a few minutes before I removed them from the pan and when I came back, they had sunk. The same thing happened two weeks ago with a doctored chocolate mix (I used the extender recipe from this site). I'm going to bake another batch of cupcakes tonight and mix it less and see what happens. I'll let you know how they turn out.
I occasionally have this same problem.. can't figure it out either. I usually try to remove the cupcakes from the pan as soon as they come out of the oven. I feel they keep their shape better. I think it may be the "cupcake devil" playing havoc with us 
Whew!! Thank goodness I'm not alone. I have the same issues myself with cupcakes. My layer cakes turn out allright and when I make banana bread for my sister it rises just fine. The last several batches of cupcakes I have made, all sink. I don't open the oven door while they do their thing or nothing. I take them out, they're fine. After letting them rest....it's all downhill from there. I'm at a loss 
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