Baking Part III
Pumpkin Muffins

Muffins are a popular American quick bread.  Biscuits and scones are made from a soft dough which has about 3 parts flour to 1 part liquid.  Muffins and quick breads are made from a batter; a batter has a higher proportion of liquid, about 3 parts flour to 2 parts liquid.  Muffins are usually richer and sweeter than biscuits and scones.  Also, they can be made with a variety of flours in lots of different flavors.  Pumpkin muffins are a fitting treat for Thanksgiving and harvest festivals.  They go really well with hot apple cider.  I am giving you two versions: regular and low calorie (low sugar and low fat).  The regular version has a better texture - it is more moist and has a better crumb - but also has more oil.

Basic Muffin Procedure

1.  Mix dry ingredients.
2.  Mix liquid ingredients, including fat or oil.
3.  Gently fold liquids into dry ingredients - mix until dry ingredients are
     moist.  Do not mix too much; batter can look lumpy.
4.  Scoop batter into pan and bake at once.

Chemistry Note for Pumpkin Muffins:  Baking soda combines with the acidic pumpkin puree to help leaven the muffins.  The double acting baking powder adds additional leavening action.

Regular Pumpkin Muffins

Wet Ingredients
4  eggs
1-3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree (small can)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1-1/3 cups sugar  

Dry Ingredients
3  cups all-purpose flour
1  tablespoon cinnamon
2  teaspoons double acting baking powder
2  teaspoons baking soda
1  teaspoon salt
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
Pinch of ground cloves (optional)

brown sugar

Makes about 2 dozen regular muffins and 10 giant muffins.  If you use only part of a muffin pan, fill the inner cups with batter and the outer cups 1/3 full of water.

Place rack in middle of oven.  Preheat oven to 375º and oil muffin pans, including top around each cup.  Use a paper towel dipped in vegetable oil.  Nonstick tins require only a slight oiling.

Beat eggs slightly.  Add sugar, vegetable oil, pumpkin, and beat well.     Blend dry ingredients together.

Then fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients just until you get a wet smooth batter.  Do not over mix; you do not want to activate gluten in the flour causing toughness.

Fill muffin tins 2/3 full; sprinkle tops with brown sugar.  Bake for 15 - 20 minutes:  check regular size muffins after 15 minutes, giant muffins after 20 minutes. For giant muffins, after 10 minutes, turn oven down to 350º.  The muffins are done when the tops spring back or a toothpick comes out clean.

Variation:
Add two cups of raisins.

Low Calorie Pumpkin Muffins

Wet Ingredients
1  egg
1  cup canned pumpkin puree
2  tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2  cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2  cup sugar  

Dry Ingredients
2  cups all-purpose flour
1/2  tablespoon cinnamon
1/8  teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1  pinch ground cloves
1/2  teaspoon double acting baking powder
1/2  teaspoon baking soda
1/2  teaspoon salt

Makes a little over a dozen regular muffins and 6 giant muffins.  If you use only part of a muffin pan, fill the inner cups with batter and the outer cups 1/3 full of water.

Place rack in middle of oven.  Preheat oven to 375º and oil muffin pans, including top around each cup.  Use a paper towel dipped in vegetable oil.  Nonstick tins require only a slight oiling.

Beat egg slightly.  Add pumpkin, vegetable oil, low-fat buttermilk, sugar, and beat well.

Blend dry ingredients together.  Then fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients just until you get a wet smooth batter.  Do not over mix; you do not want to activate gluten in the flour causing toughness.

Fill muffin tins 2/3 full.  Bake for 15 - 20 minutes:  check regular size muffins after 15 minutes, giant muffins after 20 minutes.  For giant muffins, after 10 minutes, turn oven down to 350º.  The muffins are done when the tops spring back or a toothpick comes out clean.

Chemistry

There are three ways baked goods are leavened; i.e., caused to expand or rise:  (1) chemicals, (2) living organisms - organic method, (3) air and steam - physical method.  (When water turns to steam, it expands to 1,600 times its original volume.)  Quick breads, biscuits, muffins, and scones use chemicals, air, and steam.  Baking soda and baking powder are the main chemical leaveners.  

     Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate.  
     Baking powder is a mixture of (a) baking soda, plus (b) an acid with which it
     can react, such as cream of tartar, calcium acid phosphate, and sodium aluminum
     sulfate, plus (c) cornstarch to keep the primary ingredients dry.  1 teaspoon of
     baking powder contains 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda.

Both are basic (alkaline) and will interact with an acid - such as buttermilk, sour cream, honey, molasses, brown sugar, fruit or vegetable sauce, fruit or vegetable juice, chocolate, or the acid already in baking powder.  When combined with the moisture in a batter, the alkalis and acids produce carbon dioxide, a gas. The carbon dioxide expands when the bread or muffin is baked.  The expansion is one of the factors which causes the baked good's size and also texture, known as "crumb."

Double-acting baking powder produces a reaction twice:  (1) first, in the presence of moisture in the batter and (2) second, when heated.  It acts twice because it contains two different acids:  (a) one that dissolves rapidly in water, such as cream of tartar, and (b) one that does not, such as sodium aluminum sulfate; it dissolves when the batter gets hot.

The expansion caused by chemical leaveners is very rapid, so these baked goods are called "quick breads."  Yeast, by way of contrast, is a slow acting leavener.  Because the production of carbon dioxide takes place once moisture meets baking powder or baking soda, it is important to bake such items right away; otherwise, the carbon dioxide will escape, hindering the food's ability to rise.  Foods with double acting baking powder can sit longer and still rise, due to the second chemical reaction producing carbon dioxide that takes place during baking.

Some baked goods, such as sweet rolls, use both yeast and baking powder.  The baking powder provides additional leaving action to lift the dough or batter weighed down by the sugar.  That way you get light rolls.

Amount for flour:

     Baking Soda:  1/4 teaspoon per cup of flour
     Baking Powder:  1 teaspoon per cup of flour

Additional amount for extra ingredients:

     Baking Soda:  1/8 teaspoon per cup of flour for every cup of other ingredients,
     such as oats, sugar, or fat.
     Baking Powder:  1/2 teaspoon per cup of flour for every cup of other ingredients,
     such as oats, sugar, or fat.

Substitution amount of baking soda plus an acid ingredient for baking powder:

     1 cup of an acidic ingredient, such as buttermilk, and 1/2 teaspoon of baking
     soda can replace 2 teaspoons of baking powder.

Too much baking soda or baking powder is not good; it produces large gas bubbles that rise to the top of the batter and pop.  As result, the gas does not effectively leaven the batter.