I baked a batch of raspberry white chocolate muffins today, recipe
courtesy of the innkeeper at the B&B we stayed at this past weekend and
unfortunately it tasted nothing like what we ate at the B&B! I'm pretty
confident that the recipe (well, ingredient list) that the innkeeper
gave was what he used and if something was missing from the list, then
it was an oversight more than an unwillingness to share the secret recipe.

Anyway, here are the differences between his and my muffins:

MINE
very light in colour
more flavourful
upon first bite I thought I could taste butter but no butter in the recipe

HIS
much more brown than mine
somewhat "crusty" on the exterior as if there were more sugar and fat in it
sweeter
buttery
tasted more full-fat than mine even though I used exactly what he said
to use

The ingredients we
all purpose flour
whole wheat flour
baking powder
baking soda
sugar
eggs
vanilla
oil
whole milk
buttermilk


The recipe didn't call for salt - does salt help brown quickbreads at
all? It called for both baking soda and baking powder. Also, while
there was no butter in the ingredient list, I thought the muffins tasted
buttery. It does call for buttermilk, though. I followed his
ingredient list and the instructions he gave me to a T as he explained
the recipe to me.

So, anyone have any idea what could be missing? I know I didn't add
amounts - didn't want to give his recipe away without his permission.

N.

I assume you have just not included white chocolate or raspberrys in the list
of ingredients but did include in your muffins.

The buttermilk should make them more buttery, perhaps you didn't have the same
type buttermilk.

The crusty top does seem like he used more sugar.

On 15 Sep 2004 03:02:35 GMT
(Cake Wmn) wrote:

> I assume you have just not included white chocolate or raspberrys in the
> list of ingredients but did include in your muffins.
>
> The buttermilk should make them more buttery, perhaps you didn't have the
> same type buttermilk.
>
> The crusty top does seem like he used more sugar.


My thought was that the crust difference could be due to flour measuring
differences and over-mixing.

too much or too little flour will obviously affect the texture. The
other point - traditionally when making american muffins, the flour and dry
leavening agents are mixed fully and then the rest of it is just sort of
dumped together into a lumpy mix. This can result in a crusty texture on
the top.

Eric Jorgensen wrote:
> My thought was that the crust difference could be due to flour
measuring
> differences and over-mixing.
>
> too much or too little flour will obviously affect the texture. The
> other point - traditionally when making american muffins, the flour and dry
> leavening agents are mixed fully and then the rest of it is just sort of
> dumped together into a lumpy mix. This can result in a crusty texture on
> the top.

Eric gets the prize for the closest answer without going over!

I made another batch this a.m. (yup, at 4:00 am...) and the end result
was "pretty close to the same" as the innkeeper's muffins as my husband
put it.

I changed a few things in my technique:
- I spooned the flour into the measuring cup instead of scooping the
flour with the m. cup
- I added the fruit and chocolate to the dry mix first
- I added the wet ingredients last, mixing only until the liquid was
incorporated into the dry ingredients
- I also added a pinch of salt - don't know if that made a difference.

I had also increased the preheating temp of my oven to 400F and when I
was ready to put the muffin tins in, I decreased the temp to the
recipe's baking temp. I read that tip here.

The muffins were nicely browned and crusty on the exterior and fluffy on
the inside. What a huge difference from my first anemic batch of muffins.

I think the flour measuring and mixing made the biggest difference. Not
sure if anything else did, but I won't be changing anything the next
time I make these.

Thanks all!

N.

"spamalicious" > wrote in message
news:7Cd2d.20005$z_3.3055@trndny07...
> Eric Jorgensen wrote:
> > My thought was that the crust difference could be due to flour
> measuring
> > differences and over-mixing.
> >
> > too much or too little flour will obviously affect the texture. The
> > other point - traditionally when making american muffins, the flour and
dry
> > leavening agents are mixed fully and then the rest of it is just sort of
> > dumped together into a lumpy mix. This can result in a crusty texture on
> > the top.
>
> Eric gets the prize for the closest answer without going over!
>
> I made another batch this a.m. (yup, at 4:00 am...) and the end result
> was "pretty close to the same" as the innkeeper's muffins as my husband
> put it.
>
> I changed a few things in my technique:
> - I spooned the flour into the measuring cup instead of scooping the
> flour with the m. cup
> - I added the fruit and chocolate to the dry mix first
> - I added the wet ingredients last, mixing only until the liquid was
> incorporated into the dry ingredients
> - I also added a pinch of salt - don't know if that made a difference.
>
> I had also increased the preheating temp of my oven to 400F and when I
> was ready to put the muffin tins in, I decreased the temp to the
> recipe's baking temp. I read that tip here.
>
> The muffins were nicely browned and crusty on the exterior and fluffy on
> the inside. What a huge difference from my first anemic batch of muffins.
>
> I think the flour measuring and mixing made the biggest difference. Not
> sure if anything else did, but I won't be changing anything the next
> time I make these.

I didn't follow this thread, but if no one mentioned it yet, you might try
using one of the low gluten AP flours popular in the south, such as White
Lily.

"spamalicious" > wrote in message
news:7Cd2d.20005$z_3.3055@trndny07...
> Eric Jorgensen wrote:
> > My thought was that the crust difference could be due to flour
> measuring
> > differences and over-mixing.
> >
> > too much or too little flour will obviously affect the texture. The
> > other point - traditionally when making american muffins, the flour and
dry
> > leavening agents are mixed fully and then the rest of it is just sort of
> > dumped together into a lumpy mix. This can result in a crusty texture on
> > the top.
>
> Eric gets the prize for the closest answer without going over!
>
> I made another batch this a.m. (yup, at 4:00 am...) and the end result
> was "pretty close to the same" as the innkeeper's muffins as my husband
> put it.
>
> I changed a few things in my technique:
> - I spooned the flour into the measuring cup instead of scooping the
> flour with the m. cup
> - I added the fruit and chocolate to the dry mix first
> - I added the wet ingredients last, mixing only until the liquid was
> incorporated into the dry ingredients
> - I also added a pinch of salt - don't know if that made a difference.
>
> I had also increased the preheating temp of my oven to 400F and when I
> was ready to put the muffin tins in, I decreased the temp to the
> recipe's baking temp. I read that tip here.
>
> The muffins were nicely browned and crusty on the exterior and fluffy on
> the inside. What a huge difference from my first anemic batch of muffins.
>
> I think the flour measuring and mixing made the biggest difference. Not
> sure if anything else did, but I won't be changing anything the next
> time I make these.

I didn't follow this thread, but if no one mentioned it yet, you might try
using one of the low gluten AP flours popular in the south, such as White
Lily.

Eric Jorgensen wrote:
> My thought was that the crust difference could be due to flour
measuring
> differences and over-mixing.
>
> too much or too little flour will obviously affect the texture. The
> other point - traditionally when making american muffins, the flour and dry
> leavening agents are mixed fully and then the rest of it is just sort of
> dumped together into a lumpy mix. This can result in a crusty texture on
> the top.

Eric gets the prize for the closest answer without going over!

I made another batch this a.m. (yup, at 4:00 am...) and the end result
was "pretty close to the same" as the innkeeper's muffins as my husband
put it.

I changed a few things in my technique:
- I spooned the flour into the measuring cup instead of scooping the
flour with the m. cup
- I added the fruit and chocolate to the dry mix first
- I added the wet ingredients last, mixing only until the liquid was
incorporated into the dry ingredients
- I also added a pinch of salt - don't know if that made a difference.

I had also increased the preheating temp of my oven to 400F and when I
was ready to put the muffin tins in, I decreased the temp to the
recipe's baking temp. I read that tip here.

The muffins were nicely browned and crusty on the exterior and fluffy on
the inside. What a huge difference from my first anemic batch of muffins.

I think the flour measuring and mixing made the biggest difference. Not
sure if anything else did, but I won't be changing anything the next
time I make these.

Thanks all!

N.

On 15 Sep 2004 03:02:35 GMT
(Cake Wmn) wrote:

> I assume you have just not included white chocolate or raspberrys in the
> list of ingredients but did include in your muffins.
>
> The buttermilk should make them more buttery, perhaps you didn't have the
> same type buttermilk.
>
> The crusty top does seem like he used more sugar.


My thought was that the crust difference could be due to flour measuring
differences and over-mixing.

too much or too little flour will obviously affect the texture. The
other point - traditionally when making american muffins, the flour and dry
leavening agents are mixed fully and then the rest of it is just sort of
dumped together into a lumpy mix. This can result in a crusty texture on
the top.

spamalicious wrote:
> I baked a batch of raspberry white chocolate muffins today, recipe
> courtesy of the innkeeper at the B&B we stayed at this past weekend and
> unfortunately it tasted nothing like what we ate at the B&B! I'm pretty
> confident that the recipe (well, ingredient list) that the innkeeper
> gave was what he used and if something was missing from the list, then
> it was an oversight more than an unwillingness to share the secret recipe.
>
> Anyway, here are the differences between his and my muffins:
>
> MINE
> very light in colour
> more flavourful
> upon first bite I thought I could taste butter but no butter in the recipe
>

Well, I should learn better than to post on a frazzled brain. My
muffins were certainly not more flavourful than those of the innkeeper -
flavourLESS is more like it. And there was no butter taste in my
muffins either.

Thanks for the suggestions so far - I'll have to experiment again.

N.

spamalicious: wrote

> spamalicious wrote:
>> I baked a batch of raspberry white chocolate muffins today, recipe
>> courtesy of the innkeeper at the B&B we stayed at this past weekend

well, I hope you find what you are looking for.

I have been using this recipe for years, from the Landolakes website:

http://www.landolakes.com/mealIdeas/...?RecipeID=9981

Quite good, my guests seem to inhale them.

HTH,

Petra in Hamburg, Germany

spamalicious: wrote

> spamalicious wrote:
>> I baked a batch of raspberry white chocolate muffins today, recipe
>> courtesy of the innkeeper at the B&B we stayed at this past weekend

well, I hope you find what you are looking for.

I have been using this recipe for years, from the Landolakes website:

http://www.landolakes.com/mealIdeas/...?RecipeID=9981

Quite good, my guests seem to inhale them.

HTH,

Petra in Hamburg, Germany

"spamalicious" > wrote in message
news:qnN1d.5630$yJ3.2076@trndny08...
>I baked a batch of raspberry white chocolate muffins today, recipe courtesy
>of the innkeeper at the B&B we stayed at this past weekend and
>unfortunately it tasted nothing like what we ate at the B&B! I'm pretty
>confident that the recipe (well, ingredient list) that the innkeeper gave
>was what he used and if something was missing from the list, then it was an
>oversight more than an unwillingness to share the secret recipe.
>
> Anyway, here are the differences between his and my muffins:
>
> MINE
> very light in colour
> more flavourful
> upon first bite I thought I could taste butter but no butter in the recipe
>
> HIS
> much more brown than mine
> somewhat "crusty" on the exterior as if there were more sugar and fat in
> it
> sweeter
> buttery
> tasted more full-fat than mine even though I used exactly what he said to
> use
>
> The ingredients we
> all purpose flour
> whole wheat flour
> baking powder
> baking soda
> sugar
> eggs
> vanilla
> oil
> whole milk
> buttermilk
>
>
> The recipe didn't call for salt - does salt help brown quickbreads at all?
> It called for both baking soda and baking powder. Also, while there was
> no butter in the ingredient list, I thought the muffins tasted buttery.
> It does call for buttermilk, though. I followed his ingredient list and
> the instructions he gave me to a T as he explained the recipe to me.
>
> So, anyone have any idea what could be missing? I know I didn't add
> amounts - didn't want to give his recipe away without his permission.
>
> N.

My suspicion is that he gave you a different recipe than his own.
~Peggy

Seems like you got the recipe figure out. Just wanted to add my two
cents.

Baking temp has a lot to do with browning and fast rise. Raising the
temp to 400 is a good idea for home bakers making muffins.

I suspect he is using a professional oven that is MUCH hotter than
what we use at home. 350 in a professional convection oven is
probably close to 400 for home appliances.

Also to note, different flour brands will definitely change the final
product. I only bake with King Arthur, unbleached white flour. I
love it!

Julie
http://www.bakingbits.com

I assume you have just not included white chocolate or raspberrys in the list
of ingredients but did include in your muffins.

The buttermilk should make them more buttery, perhaps you didn't have the same
type buttermilk.

The crusty top does seem like he used more sugar.

I assume you have just not included white chocolate or raspberrys in the list
of ingredients but did include in your muffins.

The buttermilk should make them more buttery, perhaps you didn't have the same
type buttermilk.

The crusty top does seem like he used more sugar.

spamalicious wrote:
> I baked a batch of raspberry white chocolate muffins today, recipe
> courtesy of the innkeeper at the B&B we stayed at this past weekend and
> unfortunately it tasted nothing like what we ate at the B&B! I'm pretty
> confident that the recipe (well, ingredient list) that the innkeeper
> gave was what he used and if something was missing from the list, then
> it was an oversight more than an unwillingness to share the secret recipe.
>
> Anyway, here are the differences between his and my muffins:
>
> MINE
> very light in colour
> more flavourful
> upon first bite I thought I could taste butter but no butter in the recipe
>

Well, I should learn better than to post on a frazzled brain. My
muffins were certainly not more flavourful than those of the innkeeper -
flavourLESS is more like it. And there was no butter taste in my
muffins either.

Thanks for the suggestions so far - I'll have to experiment again.

N.

"spamalicious" > wrote in message
news:qnN1d.5630$yJ3.2076@trndny08...
>I baked a batch of raspberry white chocolate muffins today, recipe courtesy
>of the innkeeper at the B&B we stayed at this past weekend and
>unfortunately it tasted nothing like what we ate at the B&B! I'm pretty
>confident that the recipe (well, ingredient list) that the innkeeper gave
>was what he used and if something was missing from the list, then it was an
>oversight more than an unwillingness to share the secret recipe.
>
> Anyway, here are the differences between his and my muffins:
>
> MINE
> very light in colour
> more flavourful
> upon first bite I thought I could taste butter but no butter in the recipe
>
> HIS
> much more brown than mine
> somewhat "crusty" on the exterior as if there were more sugar and fat in
> it
> sweeter
> buttery
> tasted more full-fat than mine even though I used exactly what he said to
> use
>
> The ingredients we
> all purpose flour
> whole wheat flour
> baking powder
> baking soda
> sugar
> eggs
> vanilla
> oil
> whole milk
> buttermilk
>
>
> The recipe didn't call for salt - does salt help brown quickbreads at all?
> It called for both baking soda and baking powder. Also, while there was
> no butter in the ingredient list, I thought the muffins tasted buttery.
> It does call for buttermilk, though. I followed his ingredient list and
> the instructions he gave me to a T as he explained the recipe to me.
>
> So, anyone have any idea what could be missing? I know I didn't add
> amounts - didn't want to give his recipe away without his permission.
>
> N.

My suspicion is that he gave you a different recipe than his own.
~Peggy