OT- Muffin Recipe help

[dixiedragon]

I really want a healthy muffin recipe that doesn't taste like dirt. And isn't a HUGE PITA like King Arthur Morning Glory Muffins.

I found this recipe that looked good:
http://www.foodista.com/recipe/P4S54QJW/banana-coconut-oatmeal-bread

And tweaked it:
3/4 C cake flour
1/4 C coconut flour
1/4 C whole grain pastry flour
1/2 C brown sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp Penzey's Cake Spice
1 T coconut oil
2 eggs
3 over-ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup rolled oats (ground in food processor)
Coconut on top
1/4 C greek yogurt (I added this at the last minute b/c the batter seemed dry).

The muffins actually TASTE pretty good, but they are dry and dense. How can I make them moister and fluffier?

 

[shunt2011]

I would add some unsweetened applesauce and maybe some baking soda. Those may help with moisture and fluffiness. Just a bit more moisture may keep them from being so dense.

 

[dixiedragon]

Instead of apple sauce, what about another banana? I ask b/c I my local supermarket sells their over-ripe produce for cheap, so I got like over-ripe bananas for $1 and froze them. And I have no applesauce.

Maybe another banana and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda?

 

[shunt2011]

That may work just fine too. I'd give it a try for sure.

 

[Consuela]

Also! For light and fluffy muffins: I found that I was overmixing the batter... Once I discovered that it was okay to have lumps, and it was okay to be "just mixed" my muffins are a million times fluffier now.

Also.... when adding things (like berries, or chocolate chips etc...) I add those straight to the dry mixture before combining. (I used to mix my wet with dry THEN add the berries/chips, so like, lots more mixing than necessary).

I found it helped with fluffiness....

 

[Cactuslily]

Just wanted to add, I love Amy's healthy baking blog. She has great tasting recipes, and is great about replying to questions. Your recipe looks so good! I also use unsweetened applesauce in lieu of most sugar. I have an almost fat free chocolate cake that my kids like better than full fat.

 

[IrishLass]

From the looks of things, you definitely need more liquid and leavener in your recipe.

When I bake cakes and muffins, I like to look at each ingredient as being a ratio of each other. I have better success at improvising, tweaking, or creating new recipes when I see things as ratios. Here are the muffin ratios from my notes based on my favorite muffin recipe:

-1.25 teaspoons baking powder for every cup flour in the recipe (but if I'm using an acidic ingredient like buttermilk or chocolate, etc..., I'll need to add some baking soda to the mix to get a proper rise, so this is what I do: for every teaspoon of baking powder in my recipe, I substitute this combo instead: 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/4 tsp. baking soda)
-1 egg per every cup flour in the recipe
-Equal parts of fat to egg in the recipe, whether oil or butter. One-fourth cup of oil is roughly equal to one large egg, so for every large egg, I use 1 /4 cup oil, or 2 oz. butter.
-1/2 cup milk or other liquid ingredient per every cup flour (buttermilk, sour cream, yogurt, etc...)
-Sugar is variable (for what it's worth, I use 1/3 cup (64g) granulated sugar per every cup of flour in my muffin recipe).

If substituting bananas or apple sauce for the oil/butter, for best results, reduce the fat by only 1/2 and use the rest of your fat amount as the fruit puree. If the batter looks too dry, you can then add more puree.

If subbing in whole grain flours for all-purpose, increase the liquid amount in the recipe by about 1 tbsp. for every cup whole grain flour that you sub in.


IrishLass

 

[PinkCupcake]

I agree with the other posts that you need some leavening to lighten things up. For moistness and sweetness, I sometimes use frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed but without water added. If you use it, you will probably want to reduce the sugar in the recipe.

Your muffins sound delicious!