rlc912 said:
follow-up question:
i LOVE panera bread's muffies. (which are really just muffin tops)
i tried it in a muffin pan by cooking on slightly lower heat for less time. they were awful. tips?
I'm confused. What are panera bread's muffies. And I would suspect that as you cooked with less heat for a shorter time, you would have come out with gooey muffins. To know what went wrong, we need more information as to what you did besides what you've already given us.
Muffin batters are members of the quickbread family of baked goods. They rely on baking powder or and acidic ingredient such as buttermilk, along with baking soda to create the leavening (rising of the batter). The batter is usually semi-liquid, or plastic in nature and relies on heat to set the protiens, evaporate the extra moisture, and creat the final crumbly texture we so love in out muffins.
The secret to any quickbread is to use the correct ratios of egg, water (or milk, buttermilk, juice, etc.) leavening agent, and fat. The fat provides a moist texture. But if too much is used, the final product will be oily in texture, litteraly. If too little is used, the final result will be something that will require great quantities of liquid to wash, or choke down.
Generally, the ratios are:
1 cup flour
2 to 3 tbs. cooking oil
2/3 to 3/4 cup liquid
1/2 tsp. salt
Sugar or Splenda, Stevia, etc. (amount depends on what you are making)
1 large egg
Spices (cinamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, etc.) has no bearing on texture
If you include ingredients such as applesauce, apple pieces, peach chunks, etc., use a little less water and a tsp. less oil. You can substitute 1/4 cup applesauce for the oil in many recipes.
As for heat, if you decrease the temperature, you will need to increase the cooking time. This is handy when you want to increase the size of a recipe. The heat takes longer to reach the batter center and can overcook the product's outer layers if cooked at the regular temperature called for in the recipe. Lowering the cooking teperature and cooking longer will prevent that occurance. The downside is that it takes longer to get the job done.
Another great thing about quickbreads (and this family includes cakes) is that to increase a recipe, you mearly multiply all ingredients by the same number. If you double the flour, you double everything else along with it.
Seeeeeeya' Goodweed of the North