Well, I've got one of my own Pinstrosities for you today. In fact, I made it just a few hours ago and I'm quite disappointed. Here's how it goes...
The Original Pins
I saw this recipe for Strawberry Shortcake Muffins (gluten free and sugar free!) and I had/have been craving them all day. They just look SO good.
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| http://dashingdish.com/recipe/strawberry-shortcake-muffins/ |
Well, I don't have yogurt in my house today, nor do I have the ability to get any unless I want to walk 20 miles into town. Not so much. So then I get the brilliant idea...I don't have yogurt but I have cream cheese. So I look up baked cheese cake and baked cream cheese cup recipes.
(like this one)
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| http://glutenguide.blogspot.com/2006/12/gluten-free-cheesecake-better-than.html |
I was trying to keep it as low on sugar, carbs and fat as I could (I know...why try? Those there are the best parts of food, right?), so I decided to try substituting Truvia for the sugar. I mixed it all up, added berries, poured the batter in 12 baking cups and stuck 'em in the oven. Only, for some reason I had the oven at 400 and not 350. I'm not really why I did this. I don't actually remember turning it up to 400, but I was singing along to Pandora and probably wasn't paying attention. I realized my temperature issue after they'd been cooking for about 10-15 minutes and turned it down to 350, but by then the damage was already done.
Well this is what I got.
The Pinstrosity
The middle was runny, the edges were stuck to the paper. Stuck as in I couldn't peel it off at all. I even ate half of the paper on one before realizing it. They don't taste bad, but not good either. They just taste. And you can get so little out of each up it's not worth the effort. So much for my scrumptious sugar free, low carb, low fat dessert.
If I try this again before I'm done with the sugar-free deal I'll make a quarter batch (I made a half batch for this trial run) and I'll bake it at 350 from the beginning and see if that makes a difference. Oh, and I won't be using paper liners with this again. Silicone cups maybe? I'm curious if the texture was partly from using Truvia instead of Sugar. 3/4 tsp of Truvia = 2 tsp of sugar, so I used way less volume than was called for, and perhaps this needs the volume to make it bake up just right.
When I'm off this sugar-free/low-carb deal, I'll just turn this into a full blown cheese cake.
This was my very first Pinterest recipe that I tried and it was a nasty disaster!! So glad to know I wasn't the only one. Too bad my mom was in town but there was a McDonalds close by so that saved the day. Apparently McDonalds is my go to for huge Pinterest breakfast fails!
ReplyDeleteI went 30 days sugar/carb free. I lost a lot of weight and felt fantastic! Then came the 31st day..............I never really had much of a sweet tooth before that, but for the next 6 months I craved sweets almost consantly! Overall I've settled in to healthier eating habits but wish I had the will to cut carbs altogether. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteCheck out Suzanne Somers "Somersizing" cookbooks. She suggests her own brand of sugar but spend a worked just as well her cheesecake is wonderful
DeleteShe also has a "way of eating" that allows you all the "carbs" you want just the right carbs and the. Correct way to eat them. The weight just falls off and you don't feel deprived.
Definitely the truvia in lieu of sugar affected your texture.
ReplyDeleteI find most cheesecake recipes cook their cheesecakes for too long. When it starts to look dry on top, take it out.
It states even on the side of Stevia pkgs that you must only replace half of your sugar with it because in baking you must have sugar to caramelize, etc.
ReplyDeleteI use this recipe http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cheesecake-cupcakes/ from all recipes to make my gluten free cheesecake cupcakes. Although I use a standard cheese cake recipe (1 brick cheese, 1 egg, 1/3 c sugar, 1/3 tsp vanilla). It often gets an indent in the middle that is a great place to put fillings.
ReplyDeleteI made those strawberry shortcake muffins and they are DELICIOUS!! Try them when you get some yogurt!
ReplyDeleteI've made these with blueberries and bananas (and 1/4c of real sugar) and thought they were great. Have even used regular yogurt instead of greek.
ReplyDeleteHi~ Not sure if you've tried to make these again and with the yogurt not cream cheese. I've made them half a dozen times now and I have a few tips for you (and anyone else)
ReplyDeleteFirst instead of blending all of the ingredients together I suggest just putting the oats in the food processor. Once you add the "oat flour" to the other ingredients try to mix only until everything is incorporated. I found following the instructions made the muffins very dense and extremely tough.
My second suggestion play with the flavors I've made banana nut (add 3 mashed bananas and top with walnuts), blueberry (one pint/container was good), cranberry etc. I have fun with them. I've also been using vanilla greek yogurt.
Third suggestion if you are looking for a substitute for sugar - agave. I use agave to sweeten these and I use between 1/2 cup and 3/4 cup depending on the fruit I'm using (the more tart the fruit the more agave I use to balance). I suggest the amber but it's really personal preference.
Buy foil liners - they work so much better for any type of cheese-cakey muffin size treats. :)
ReplyDeleteI agree about the foil liners--I've made cheesecake cups several times. I used paper liners once and the liners were so soggy after refridgerating them--not very appetizing. I'd also suggest a water bath (I'm not sure if that's the correct term!) for the cups. Fill a large rectangular pan with enough water so that when you place the muffin pan inside, the water comes about halfway up the side of the muffin pan (I hope that makes sense). That will help with the cracking on the top of the cheesecakes. Finally, I would suggest a lower baking temperature, which bakes the cheesecakes slower and doesn't cause that dip in the middle (although I do agree that they're handy for putting fillings in!).
ReplyDeleteI have a great go-to cheese cake recipe:
ReplyDelete10 oz cream cheese
2-3 TBS raw honey
1 tbs vanilla
Cream together in the food processor. Fold in whatever fruit you prefer (my fav is blueberries). Serve in small bowls.
If you like it a little bit tangier add 1/4 cup greek yogurt.