Strawberry muffin fail... what did I do wrong?

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sabified
sabified Posts: 1,051 Member
in Recipes
I've just posted this on the Food and Nutrition board but I think this might be a better place to get some help.

I tried to make healthy strawberry muffins and used this recipe as a base http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/01/03/skinny-strawberry-chocolate-chip-muffins/

Made a few changes to it, though- no chocolate, splenda instead of sugar and pureed the strawberry instead of applesauce (applesauce is hard to find where I am)... While they taste ok, they turned out looking like unbaked dough balls. Not very appetizing.

I made 2 batches- the first with "flaxseed jelly" (1 tbsp ground flaxseed set in water) instead of the egg white (was trying to make a vegan version), and 1 cup of strawberry juice with the pureed strawberry.

The second with egg white (no flaxseed) and a dash of strawberry juice plus 2 tbsp of yogurt with the strawberries (no more juice on hand :frown:)

Both turned out the same. Is the sugar really that important to the recipe? They don't taste like they're lacking sugar in any way though.

Or is there that much of a difference between apple sauce and strawberry puree? If so, as I mentioned above, applesauce is really hard to find here (I'm not in North America). Any ideas on other ways to go oil free? Or what if I make homemade apple sauce?

Anyone have any suggestions on how I can fix these? They're also SUPER sticky- I used muffin liners with them and they don't come off at all. I can just grease up the tray though, so not overly concerned with this, but any help is appreciated.

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  • Tiabi
    Tiabi Posts: 8 Member
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    I don’t have an answer, but I do have a comment on the applesauce. When using baking soda, there must be an acidic ingredient in the recipe for the soda to react with. The applesauce is the acid in this recipe, however, pureed strawberries are at about the same PH level as applesauce so that shouldn't be a problem. (If you had subbed for something different, I’d have suggested switching to baking powder instead of soda but that shouldn't be the issue here).

    I’m wondering about removing both the brown and the white sugars. You've now taken out a ½ cup of bulk from the recipe. Perhaps this makes a difference? I often remove about half the sugar from recipes with no problem, but I've never tried to remove all of it so I’m also curious about if this is an issue.
  • sabified
    sabified Posts: 1,051 Member
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    I don’t have an answer, but I do have a comment on the applesauce. When using baking soda, there must be an acidic ingredient in the recipe for the soda to react with. The applesauce is the acid in this recipe, however, pureed strawberries are at about the same PH level as applesauce so that shouldn't be a problem. (If you had subbed for something different, I’d have suggested switching to baking powder instead of soda but that shouldn't be the issue here).

    I’m wondering about removing both the brown and the white sugars. You've now taken out a ½ cup of bulk from the recipe. Perhaps this makes a difference? I often remove about half the sugar from recipes with no problem, but I've never tried to remove all of it so I’m also curious about if this is an issue.

    I figured the same with the applesauce/strawberries... and in the first batch I made I considered whether removing the 1/2 cup would make a difference as well, which is why I used a full cup of juice instead of just half, plus 1/3 cup more strawberries... didn't seem to make any difference... I can't figure out why they came out as they did :(
  • BeginningAgainMay14
    BeginningAgainMay14 Posts: 97 Member
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    If you read the back of your Splenda package, it should say that they don't recommend substituting it for more than half the sugar in a baking recipe.

    I don't know for sure whether this would be the cause of the unpleasant color, but it kind of makes sense: sugar caramelizes, making the muffins brown?

    Also, there's only 1/4 cup of sugar in the whole recipe. If I were you I'd just use sugar. That's just barely over a teaspoon of sugar per muffin, for about 20 calories difference.
  • sabified
    sabified Posts: 1,051 Member
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    Didn't add more sugar because the strawberry juice I used was INCREDIBLY sweet, plus the strawberries were as well... I used I think 8 packets of Splenda in the first batch and then 5 in the second (cuz even that was too sweet).

    If I try these again- will see if sugar makes a difference.

    Thanks!
  • sheepysaccount
    sheepysaccount Posts: 608 Member
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    Sugar shouldn't make a difference as I mostly bake without it.

    It might be that the whole dough was too wet? How long did you bake the muffins? Can you pop them in the oven again?

    edit: You might also want to use the whole egg. I find that it made a difference in my baking.

    And if you have a blender, you can make your won applesauce.
  • kerricus
    kerricus Posts: 165 Member
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    You made so many changes that it will be very hard to narrow down the problem. It's easiest if you make one change at a time so that you can pinpoint the ingredient that makes the difference.

    If you have access to bananas, you can use them instead of applesauce. It will change the flavor, of course, but I think the muffins would still be good.

    I would recommend finding a recipe that calls for ingredients that you have access to. A quick google search for vegan strawberry banana muffin turned up lots of recipes.

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