Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

There are two reasons to alter a recipe to incorporate whole wheat flour. One is that you have to for health reasons and the other is that you want to. Frankly, I want to, and it's not only for health reasons. White flour doesn't have the same flavor as whole wheat. In fact, it has little flavor at all which makes it great for cakes and cookies that are mainly bringing you their added flavors (chocolate, vanilla, etc.) plus sugar and butter.

For muffins though, and I mean standard breakfast muffins, not dressed down cupcakes, I like the flour to pull its own weight a little on the flavor front. Breakfast muffins, to me, ought to be somewhere between a cupcake and piece of whole wheat toast. Not so light as one and not as heavy as the other.

I searched for recipes that looked like they might suit my needs and came up with quite a lot of promising candidates. The one I settled on as a base for my recipe was at "Eat Better America". I didn't follow the recipe exactly because I wanted to use 100% whole wheat flour rather than a brown and white flour mix. I also didn't want to use honey because I don't like the texture it gives baked goods. I also skipped the brown sugar topping in favor of boosting the overall sweetness with some granular Splenda and added vanilla and cinnamon to the batter for more flavor.

Here was the recipe I made:

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

• 1 cup low fat milk (full fat is also okay)
• 1/4 cup Canola oil
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1/4 cup granular Splenda (or just use white sugar)
• 1 medium egg
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 cup frozen blueberries (not thawed!)

Whisk the milk, egg, oil, brown sugar, Splenda (or white sugar), salt, cinnamon, and vanilla together in a large bowl. Sift or evenly spread the flour over the liquid ingredients and gently push the flour into the liquid with a spoon. Do not mix! Just try and get the flour pushed down a bit into the liquids. Withhold the baking powder at this stage. Allow the flour to rest and absorb the liquids for about an hour or so. I let mine sit for 90 minutes, but you can do it overnight in the refrigerator if you don't want to sit around looking at your watch. This resting period will contribute to a lighter muffin with a better texture despite using whole wheat flour.

After the flour has rested and absorbed some of the liquid, sprinkle the baking powder over it and gently mix until the ingredients are moistened. If you over-mix it, you'll work the gluten in the flour too much and have tough muffins. It helps to use a folding or cutting method rather than to stir.

Grease 6-9 muffin tins. Note that you'll probably get less of a rise but bigger muffins if you load all of the batter into 6 tins. I used 9 individual metal cups to bake mine. Start preheating your oven to 210 degrees C. or 410 degrees F.

After the flour and baking soda have been cut in (the batter should be a bit lumpy), gently fold in the frozen blueberries. Note that using frozen ones will prevent you from having purple muffins. Spoon the batter into your greased muffin tin. For 9, I put about 2 tablespoons of batter into each cup.

Bake for 20-30 minutes until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Note that the timing really depends on a lot of factors including the type of muffin pan or tins you use, whether or not you put the tins on a baking sheet or directly on your oven rack, and what sort of blueberries you use (and how frozen they are when they go into the oven). Mine took about 35 minutes, but I had to put my tins on a ceramic baking sheet which takes a long time to heat up. I imagine that is much longer than most people will require.

The muffin I sampled and cut in half for picture-taking saw more of its blueberries fall to the bottom than some of the others.

The muffins turned out very well. The texture was light and tender, though when it was fresh the one I sampled had some of the telltale graininess that I associate with whole wheat baked goods. This is related to the fact that my whole wheat flour is not pastry flour, but rather larger grain, higher gluten whole wheat bread flour. This graininess disappears after the baked goods I make with this particular flour sit overnight and the moisture gets absorbed more thoroughly. I had half of a muffin plain and half with margarine. It was quite good both ways.

One thing that irritated me was that the original recipe said that there was enough batter for 12 regular muffins and that the tins would be full. My tins are regular size, and 9 of them were only half full. I didn't do anything that would reduce the volume of the recipe. In fact, I may have increased it a tiny amount since I added an additional quarter cup of milk, sugar, and Splenda as a substitute for the honey. The only way a dozen tins that would be filled would be if they were mini muffins. I don't know why people lie on these types of recipes, but I'm guessing it relates to keeping the calorie counts more impressive.

Speaking of calorie counts, these muffins as prepared according to my recipe and with making 9 muffins are 195 calories each. If you use sugar or whole milk (or make 6 big muffins), that'll bump up a bit per muffin.

by Shari (Orchid64)

Best Pancakes Ever

Sometimes I just want to eat something because I like it rather than it being good for me. This is pretty much the case all of the time for my husband when it comes to things like pancakes. While I will compromise and eat whole wheat pancakes at least half of the time to make sure that I'm not overdoing the white flour, he has no interest in such compromises. Honestly, I don't blame him.

For quite some time, I've had a print-out of a recipe from Joy of Baking that I've used for pancakes. The printed recipe is starting to seriously show its age, and I have no confidence that the Joy of Baking site will remain forever (though it has been around for a very long time!), so I'm going to repeat my version of the recipe (which is slightly modified) here for posterity. I have more confidence that Blogger will be around for ages rather than an individual cooking site.

The main changes I've made in the original recipe are for expedience and to make thicker pancakes. The Joy of Baking version calls for melted butter as the fat component and I just use Canola oil. Since pancakes are always buttered anyway, I just don't see the point of fussing with using melted butter in the batter. I'm sure it would lend more flavor, but not enough for the added effort. It also calls for a full cup of milk and I reduced that to 3/4. In fact, I think it might be better if your like thicker pancakes to drop that down to 2/3. Sometimes, I also add about a 1/4 tsp. vanilla or a dash or two of cinnamon to the batter, but the syrup I make (yes, I make my own syrup) now contains vanilla so I haven't been bothering.

Here's the recipe:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tbsp. white sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp. Canola oil
• 3/4 cup milk

Beat the egg, oil, salt, sugar, and milk (and vanilla if using) together until completely blended. Sift (or sprinkle) the flour and baking powder (and cinnamon if using), over the wet ingredients. Mix it until well-incorporated, but not necessarily until lump-free. A few small lumps are fine. You don't need to over-mix.

Heat a non-stick griddle or skillet over medium-high to high heat. Make sure it is thoroughly heated then add sufficient butter to coat the bottom of the pan. You can make any size pancake you like, but I usually use 2 tablespoons of batter for each pancake. The important point is flipping them at the right point. If you flip them too soon, they will break apart. If you flip them too late, they won't be fluffy. If you flip them twice, they will be tough. Flip them when the edges are slightly dry and bubbles just start to pop through the top of the center.

This makes about 10 pancakes that are 4 inches in diameter. It's usually more than my husband and I can eat in one sitting so I either put the remaining batter in the refrigerator and use it the next day or cook up all of it and put the remaining pancakes (usually 3 of them) on a wire rack to cook then reheat them in foil in the toaster oven.

You can also make homemade "pancake mix" using this recipe by putting together all of the dry ingredients and using about 1 1/4 cups of mix with 1 egg, 3/4 cup of milk and 2 tbsp. oil. I usually mix up the dry stuff the night before and leave it in a covered plastic bowl and just add the wet ingredients in the morning, but I only do one back at a time rather than prepare a lot of mix.

by Shari (Orchid64)

Baked Oatmeal

I have a love-hate relationship with oatmeal. Actually, it's mostly a "hate" situation, to be honest. My main consumption of oatmeal comes from hiding it in baked goods like bread so that its gluey, gloppy nature does not have a chance to manifest itself.

Yet oatmeal still beckons to me on several fronts. It's dirt cheap when you buy it in huge boxes of the plain stuff at Costco. It's also better for you than most other things you can eat for breakfast because it has a low glycemic index and good amounts of fiber and protein. If it just didn't feel like gruel or prison food, I'd try to choke it down more often.

To that end, I've tried various baked oatmeal recipes on occasion and found that they were lacking. I finally came across one that works (for me at least), but I don't remember exactly where it came from so I can't credit the creator. Of course, all of the recipes you see scattered around the internet are hardly unique. Most people are just taking other people's work and passing it off as if they just whipped it up off the top of their heads, so I don't feel too guilty about not linking to the recipe.


Don't get me wrong about the desirability of this dish. It's still oatmeal. It's in no way going to compete with a doughnut or a danish, but it is less disgusting than conventional oatmeal. It has a somewhat "cakey" texture to it and the oatmeal isn't gluey. It's nice enough, mind you, but mainly it's a delivery method which is far less objectionable than usual.

Baked Oatmeal:

• 1.5 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 tbsp. melted butter
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 packets heat stable artificial sweetener (optional - I used Splenda)
• 1 tbsp. honey or syrup (for serving)
  

Mix everything together and pour into a lightly greased baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees F. (180 degrees C.) until firm and set in the middle. Serve with about a tablespoon of honey or syrup drizzled over the top. Makes 3 modest or 2 large servings.

I didn't actually use a greased dish. I just tossed everything into a glass baking dish, stirred, and baked. I wouldn't do that with a metal baking dish though, and I did have a bit of a hard time getting the residue off of the top part (though it didn't stick to the glass at all on the bottom). You can make this ahead and just keep it in the refrigerator for a day or so. I just warmed mine up a bit in the microwave for about 30 seconds before eating and it was quite good.

by Shari (Orchid64)

Burning Rings of Fire

Ahh, doughnuts... I realize that I wax hyperbolic about any number of treats in this forum (corn, cheesecake... oh, and pie, I suppose. Almighty king of cuisine that it is, after all.), but despite the fact that I have rather strong fondness for doughnuts as well, I've resisted attempting them for some time now. This is due to the very simple fact that making them from scratch scares me. There are few enough dishes that I'm unwilling to take on, and even fewer that I adore eating and still avoid, but doughnuts have resided at the top of that list since the idea first managed to lodge itself ever-so-gently in the back of my mind.

I have several reasons (or excuses, perhaps) for this irrational fear; after all, making home-fried doughnuts involves what would be considered a rather large amount of oil that burns like the fire of a thousand suns the moment it splatters onto my hand (as is, of course, inevitable when I do any amount of frying). Furthermore, I have trouble believing that I can surpass the culinary genius that I can experience firsthand in any donut shop for the meager price of ~$7 per dozen with any variety of sprinkles and glazes (not to mention fillings!). But perhaps first and foremost on my list of hangups with these doughy halos relates to the mass genocide of gassy little creatures that make all that is doughnut possible: yeast.

I've never worked with yeast in the past. It's one of those peculiar things that I read about, I understand (to some extent), and even have ready in my pantry--I simply never take that next step to start working with it. I suppose this is due in part to the fact that having never worked with these little bastards before, I really don't have a solid understanding of how to tell when things have gone wrong. With a steak, I can smell and see charring and know that I should reduce the heat. With brownies, I can see an overly-smooth batter and know that I'm going to be eating chocolate bread for a week. With chicken, I can just tell myself I'm going screw it up anyway so there's no sense worrying about it (at which point I make a quick trip to my local sandwich shop, hanging my head in shame. "Hi Shawn!" they'll say, "cooking chicken again, eh?" "Yeah..., just give me the usual.")

With yeast-dependent recipes, on the other hand, I know absolutely nothing, except that my recipe will never end up like the pictures I see online when I follow recipes stolen from others (hi Joy! I did try to warn you I'd be appropriating this one too!). And while I went into this experiment knowing that this was inevitable, I felt that it was time to conquer the fear. Glaring at my tiny packet of instant yeast, I ripped it open in one swipe, determined that I would be ruled by my emotions no longer.

... Naturally, my first opening attempt was a little overly-vigorous and I emerged coated in a fine layer of my would-be enemy. Grabbing a second packet and resolving to be on the lookout for more such trickery in the future, I set to work.

Yeast-Risen Doughnuts
(as "adapted" from Joy the Baker)

Ingredients
1 Package of instant-rise yeast
3 1/4c Flour
1c Milk
1/4c Room-temperature butter
3 Egg yolks
4tbsp Sugar
1tsp Salt
1/2tsp Cinnamon
1/2tsp Nutmeg*
1/2tsp Ginger*
1qt Vegetable oil

*I took some creative liberties with the flavorings, but as you'll see later, it really didn't make a difference.

Procedure
1) In a mixer bowl, mix the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, until well blended. Note that since I'm using instant-rise yeast, it will theoretically work without giving it a soak in warm water. Subsequent experiments have shown me that while this is true, the rise is much faster if you give it a bath anyway. Tempermental bastards, no?

2) Once the ingredients are homogenized, add the milk, butter, and egg yolks and mix with a dough hook attachment until the mess comes together. Continue mixing at medium speed for ~5 minutes.

3) At this point, you are left with a highly attractive looking lump of dough:

Look at 'em... you know they're up to something...

4) Sprinkle the surface somewhat liberally with flour and cover the bowl with a towel. Set it in a reasonably warm place to start rising (I found that the top of the fridge worked perfectly) and leave it there for about 2-3 hours, or until it has approximately doubled in volume.

5) Sprinkle a countertop with a dusting of flour and turn your engorged yeast lump out onto it. Gently spread it with your hands into a rough circle.

6) Use a rolling pin to roll the circle into a larger circle until it is between 1/4 and 1/2 of an inch thick.

7) Using a pastry ring (or biscuit cutter, or ... um... a tin can or something), cut out doughnut-sized rounds. Use a smaller ring to cut out the holes.

I'm not sure how one would cut holes when using a can, but I trust you can figure something out.

8) Re-roll the dough as desired to get more doughnuts. It's worth noting that the second and third rollings will not be as light as the first batch unless the dough is given more time to rest. Since I'm impatient, I just cut them all at once and said to hell with it.

9) Set the freshly cut doughnuts (and holes!) on a lightly floured baking sheet to rest for about 30 minutes. Coincidentally, this gives you just enough time to start heating your oil in a large heavy pot or skillet. Be sure it reaches at least 350F (or ripples lightly when left standing still) before attempting to start frying.

10) After the oil has come to temperature, carefully drop the doughnuts into the oil, one at a time. Do not attempt to fry more than 3 at once or the oil temperature could drop lower than we want and create soggy doughnuts.

They start browning rather quickly. Be sure to watch them carefully.

11) After about 2-3 minutes, flip the doughnuts with a slotted spoon (or, even better, chopsticks!) and allow to fry on the other side for another 2 minutes.

It's rather easy to tell when they're done... they should really be doughnut-colored.

12) Remove the doughnuts using the same spoon or chopsticks and place them on a wire rack to drain and cool. Repeat steps 10 and 11 with the remaining doughnuts and holes.

13) Glaze with whatever you desire; I'd make recommendations, but I wasn't entirely pleased with how my glaze turned out. I'd recommend finding a recipe that sounds intriguing for that aspect and steal it from there instead. (I used the one from Joy, as borrowed from Alton Brown; it was tasty, but came out very runny and never really firmed up as much as I'd have liked.)

You can see right through the chocolate coating in this version.

This is after I refrigerated the glaze for ~20 minutes and re-dipped the doughnuts. Much better, but still too soft to the touch.

Lessons Learned
Emerging from my epic battle only slightly scathed (damn that oil!), I discovered that the fear had vanished in the surge of triumph. I had destroyed my enemy in classic fashion, allowing no survivors and only slight casualties as a consequence. Still, the yeast had the last laugh; my doughnuts tasted exactly like a loaf of bread, and only the glaze had any chance of changing this. Heavy doses of chocolate and peanut butter calmed the yeast's overpowering taste, but I could hear the bastards laughing all the way down. Next time, I'm making chemically-leavened doughnuts, and to hell with these damn microorganisms. I'll save them for breads and pizza.