Diary of a mad scientist, part deux

Hey all, I said that I'd continue on with quickbreads in my last bit, and here it is.

Luckily for your weary eyes (I'm sure you get sore after staring at the computer screen for so long) a lot of the basics are already covered in the previous post. All of the ingredients do the same thing in muffins or biscuits as in yeast breads. It's more a matter of different technique.

There is, however, one big difference when it comes to the shopping list. Quickbreads don't use yeast. That's what makes them quickbreads, actually. Since they call for a different leavening agent, they don't require hours to rise (or any kneading, for that matter). Just mix and bake.

So what are those new leavening agents? Generally we're talking baking powder and/or baking soda. Baking soda is a fun little thing that, when added to liquid, starts producing gases. Said gases give lift to the batter or dough, and voila, leavening. Baking soda is a bit of a base, in that it will neutralize light acids (in cooking, this means chocolate, buttermilk, a dab of citrus, and lots of other stuff). So you'll want to use it in recipes that have these acids (chocolate muffin, anyone?).
Baking powder is a bit of a mix of things. It's a mix of baking soda plus enough cream of tartar (acid in powder form) to neutralize everything, along with some cornstarch to keep it all nice and dry. Extra acidity can add some different flavors, so if you like those you might try substituting baking powder for baking soda (either fully or partially, depending on how much of that flavor you want).

A note, though. Since baking soda is what actually leavens, you may have caught on to the fact that teaspoon to teaspoon baking powder is going to leaven less. So how much is good? Obviously too little and you'll be left with flat muffins that just don't have enough gas to rise, but too much will leave you with collapsed muffins (remember what I said earlier about too much gas causes them to rise too much and finally they collapse under their own weight before the outside sets?).
If you're going for baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon per cup of flour will do the job (yeah, it's pretty efficient stuff). Since baking powder is roughly 1/4 baking powder, it takes about 1 teaspoon per cup of flour.

A (further) note. I mentioned earlier that gases start forming as soon as the baking soda hits liquid. This means that little bubbles are forming and, in a thin batter, will rise to the top, pop, and release all of the gases. No gas in the batter means no rise in the oven. It's easy enough to avoid this, just don't mix the batter and walk away for three hours. Also of note are double-acting baking powders and sodas. These are specially designed to release gases in two stages, once when mixed with the liquid, and then again when they hit heat (ie, the oven). Not necessary by any means, but if you want extra insurance you can get some.

Now when it comes to technique, you're looking at basically three different options. The creaming method (used for cakes, cookies, and their ilk), the muffin method (you guessed it, muffins), and the biscuit method (do I need to say it?). While cookies and cakes may fall into the realm of quickbreads in that they use baking soda rather than yeast, I consider them far enough removed to deserve their own post. Now not all things made with, say, the muffin method are muffins. Carrot cake is actually constructed via the muffin method. On the other hand, you could just say that carrot cake isn't a cake, it's just a big, oddly shaped muffin... I'll let you decide how you feel about that one.

So what makes a muffin? The easy answer, oil. Liquid fat mixed with the dry goods leads to coating the proteins, helping to stave off gluten (which you don't want much of here), and giving you a nice tender product. That's really the long and short of it. As far as actual mixing goes, mix together all of the dry ingredients in one bowl, and the wet in another. Then pour the wet over the dry (I've been taught to add in 1/3 of the dry, then 1/3 of the wet, then another 1/3 of the dry, etc, until it's all in and combined, but in all honesty generally I just pour it in).

Now this next bit is imporant. Mix the batter, just until it comes together. Yes, there will be a few lumps, and yes there may even be dry spots. Stop. Mixing. Put down the spoon and step back. Overmixing is the bane of all muffinkind. It's just too easy to form too much gluten, and then you get tunneling. What is tunneling you ask? Think of what the inside of a muffin should look like. Small pockets everywhere, varying slightly in size and kind of hodge-podge in placement, but small and mixed throughout the muffin. Too much mixing forms too much gluten, which gives too much elasticity. When the gases kick in, this too-elastic batter will hold on and keep expanding. Instead of getting a nice little bubble, you get a big, long, tunnel-like bubble than could very well run the length of the muffin. That's just no fun, so let's keep it from happening by not overmixing.

And one more thing, don't pour straight into the muffin tin (or waffle iron - yes, those waffles we all know and love... at least I do... are made in the same manner as muffins). Give the batter a few minutes to rest (I know what I said about gases escaping, but a few minutes will do way more good than harm). The batter will firm up a bit as the proteins pull in water and set up just a tad. It'll be easier to work with, everything will be more uniform... trust me, it's a good idea.

Now, on to biscuits. Biscuits are formed by cutting butter into flour in order to coat the proteins with solid fat. Note that I say butter because that's what tends to be common and that's what I use, but any solid fat will do the trick. If you want to make biscuits with lard, be my guest. You may remember what I said about tender vs flakey when talking about pie crust a while back (and the astute of you will have noted by now that yes, a pie crust is just an unleavened biscuit). Larger cuts of butter lead to a flakey product, and smaller cuts lead to tenderness. I'm not here to tell you whether you like flakey or tender biscuits, I'm just here to tell you how. If you want things really flakey (like a really flakey pie crust) then leave those chunks large. If you're all about the tender biscuits, cut them small (rice-sized granuals of butter seem to be fairly common).
Now, everything I said about over mixing pie crust stands with biscuits. Once you add the liquid, mix it just to combine (overmixing leads to tough biscuits, and that's no good whether you were going for tender or flakey). Be very gentle when rolling out the dough, too. As soon as the liquid is in, you're playing with fire. You have to be careful to avoid forming too much gluten. So roll the dough out gently, and cut as many biscuits as you can out of this first rolling. You can reform the dough once, but much more than that and it's going to be overmixed.

And let's not forget that biscuits like a rest too (see a trend forming?). After you've got the dough together, let it set for just a few minutes before you start rolling. Same concept here; more uniform product, and easier to work with.

One last note. If you get biscuits that are mounded instead of flat on top, just poke down a bit in the middle before you bake them. The middle tends to rise a tad more than the sides, so starting lower than the sides will even things out in the end.

There you have it, the best of biscuits and masterful muffinwork.

Alright, that's enough of me trying to be witty for one day.