topic Re: ABC Muffins in Recipes

ABC Muffins

LuvSoCal — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 04:41:49 GMT

I have been trying a few recipes I saw in a DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) cookbook that I recently purchased at the bookstore.

The above mentioned recipe caught my eye, and I thought they would be nice to have on hand when I have a craving for something a little sweet. It calls for just 1/4 cup of brown sugar, although, I substituted pure maple syrup.

The ingredient list includes diced apples, a mashed banana and finely shredded carrots. In addition to regular flour it calls for 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour which I did not have, so, I thought why can't I just use another 1/4 cup of the regular?

It was awful. Now, to be fair to the recipe, I put the batter in a loaf pan because I don't have a muffin tin that will fit in my toaster oven ( I never use my regular oven). I figured I would just bake for longer than what the recipe called for. It was extremely mushy.

Where did I go wrong?

Re: ABC Muffins

JeanLouiseFinch — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 09:02:26 GMT

Some possibilities to consider:

The maple syrup swap made the batter more wet, to begin with.

Whole wheat flour and all-purpose white flour isn't an even 1:1 swap and then keeping everything else the same. The recipe may have required remaining ingredients to be adjusted up or down when you changed the flour.

You didn't bake it long enough. Thr time in the oven for a loaf should have been doubled, or very close to it. Did you do a toothpick test?

Does your toaster oven heat accurately?

Re: ABC Muffins

Knit-Chick — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 16:47:21 GMT

@LuvSoCal Hi! The other thing I thought of was the sugar. I have Swerve brand brown sugar. Maybe use something like that instead of a liquid?

I'm always looking for ways to cut back on sugar, but really need something sweet to munch on in the afternoon. I've tried recipes and it can be so frustrating when they don't turn out! I recently tried a 'healthy' version of Starbuck's lemon loaf. It came out grainy and awful. I should have known better! Butter and sugar just makes things taste good LOL Good luck!

Re: ABC Muffins

ValuSkr — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 16:55:48 GMT

When baking, I'm not confident enough to go free-form. But I commend you for trying.

Re: ABC Muffins

JeanLouiseFinch — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 19:20:08 GMT

@Knit-Chick wrote:
@LuvSoCal Hi! The other thing I thought of was the sugar. I have Swerve brand brown sugar. Maybe use something like that instead of a liquid?

I'm always looking for ways to cut back on sugar, but really need something sweet to munch on in the afternoon. I've tried recipes and it can be so frustrating when they don't turn out! I recently tried a 'healthy' version of Starbuck's lemon loaf. It came out grainy and awful. I should have known better! Butter and sugar just makes things taste good LOL Good luck!

@Knit-Chick Since I'm keto, I only use alternative sweeteners. I think you might get better results by using a powdered version of your chosen sweetener. There are many I like, but I have noticed with Swerve in some recipes it can have a cooling effect. Allulose is good for baked items.

Re: ABC Muffins

LuvSoCal — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 05:00:38 GMT

@JeanLouiseFinch @ValuSkr @Knit-Chick Ladies, thank you for the input. I am going to try it one more time making the suggested adjustments.

I did do the toothpick test in the center, and it came out clean. This was after I left it in the oven approx 10 minutes longer than what the recipe called for. Next time I will bake for twice as long and cover the top with foil before it gets too brown.

I will get a small bag of the whole wheat flour to see if that helps. It should.

I have Swerve and never thought to use it.

A baker (or cook) I am not and should know better than to go rogue in the kitchen!