Pumpkin muffins gone wrong

[livingdeb]

I tried an experiment involving a silicone mini muffin pan, a sort of random pumpkin muffin recipe, cutting said recipe in half, and a microwave.



I cut all the ingredients in half except the pumpkin. Oops. They didn't rise so great. They feel a bit more rubbery than anyone would like. The house sure smells good, though.

(Grieve, I will be sharing the recipe for chocolate pie, right after I experiment with a few more things to see if they work. You won't be wanting this muffin recipe just yet either.)

Comments

[fraeuleinchen.livejournal.com]

When I brought up my Friends' Page just now, and saw your photo, I thought "How did someone get a picture of the pumpkin muffins I made this weekend?!" Seriously, mine look very similar to yours. I made twelve regular sized muffins (in a conventional oven, but also in a silicone muffin 'tin') and then a sheet of a dozen mini-muffins (conventional metal baking tin, greased with butter). The mini-muffins rose better, probably aided by the heat distribution afforded by their small size, and by not being bogged down by their size... My regular-sized muffins were also dense and a little rubbery. Now that I know your experience was similar, I think that what it comes down to is that pumpkin quick-bread recipes tend to be dense and rubbery. I think the conventional quick-bread recipes have lots of sugar and also a lot less of the interesting, flavorful ingredients than one would like, so the result is well-risen but very sugary, rich bread with a hint of whatever it is that governs the name of said bread (like most zucchini or carrot bread recipes); that said, those are yummy too.

My recipe used a 15oz can of pumpkin for the 12-muffin recipe.

In any case, I've been eating my muffins with a bit of SmartBalance or butter, and that makes them quite palatable.

[sallini.livejournal.com]

I agree with you on conventional quick-bread recipes. My pumpkin muffins - I actually make two kinds, one that is made with rye flour and one that features apple chunks - are sort of rubbery also, but definitely not too rubbery to be delicious, esp. with a bit of Brummel & Brown on them.

I have never attempted making muffins in the microwave, and despite my general favor toward microwave cooking, it sounds sort of frightening and wrong. Of course, I would also have thought that making snickerdoodles in the microwave was frightening and wrong if I had not done so with such startling success at an impressionable age.

In general, I find that silicone bakeware rules the school.

silicone bakeware & microwaving cookies

[fraeuleinchen.livejournal.com]

Do you use your silicone bakeware without any 'greasing' before adding whatever it is you're baking? I have used the muffin tins this way with success, but I suspect it's only because I do tend to make muffins on the solid end of the spectrum.

Are you at all worried about the effects of possible 'leaching' of chemicals into the baked goods? I tend to just assume that the 'authorities' have taken care of this - i.e. ruled out any ill effects - before allowing the products to be manufactured and sold, but that is probably a very naive assumption...

Would you be willing to share your microwaved snickerdoodle recipe/method?!

Re: silicone bakeware & microwaving cookies

[sallini.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen the recipe in about 20 years, but maybe my mom still has the cookbook it was in. Will let you know if I find it.

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

Fraeuleinchen, I used 1.5 cups of canned pumpkin (instead of 3/4 cup) for one cup of flour and 1 teaspoon of baking powder, or the 17 minimuffins you see.

I didn't butter my pan (nor was there butter, or any fat, in the muffins) and the muffins popped out no problem. I don't worry about silicone leaching into the food because a) I don't like to worry about such things but also, now that you mention it, b) knowing that silicone is inert. Isn't it?

Sallini, I agree that microwaved baking sounds horrible, but I'm not having success with my ovens and I really miss baking. (The big oven has a broken thermostat and has only three temperatures: room temperature, preheating, and very hot; the microwave is probably just too small for proper air circulation when I stick things in like pies and trays of muffins.)

So I reminded myself that the real problem is with things not browning and I decided that maybe I could live with that. And googling microwave muffins gave results.

To both of you, yes I am eating the muffins anyway. I split them, put them in the toaster oven, and have them with trans-fat-free margarine and milk for breakfast. Unless I have free breakfast at work. With corn muffins.

Also, pumpkin muffins are generally rubbery? Sounds like a challenge to me!