oats substitution in baking?

[oak foodie]

Does anyone know what the result would be if I substituted old fashioned oats for quick cooking oats in a cranberry muffin recipe? It calls for 3/4 c oats to 1 1/2 c whole wheat flour.

[Will Owen]

I wouldn't bother to chop the rolled oats, I'd just let the batter sit long enough for them to absorb the liquid, and add a bit more if it seems dry. Should be fairly easy to eyeball. That's why I like muffins, cookies and quick breads - nowhere near as persnickety as yeast doughs.

[magiesmom]

If you want to have the rolled oats act like quick ones, just run them briefly through the food processor to break them up a bit.

[oak foodie]

great! thanks for the suggestion.

Now I noticed the recipe calls for 1/4 dry milk - which I don't have. Do you think I could just skip it? The recipe also calls for 3/4 milk. It would be too wet to skip the dry and increase the milk to 1c.... wouldn't it?

[paulj]

I don't think that dry milk addition is necessary or significant.

[magiesmom]

I would just leave out the dry milk too.

[goodhealthgourmet]

the only purpose of the dry milk powder is to increase/encourage browning, and the muffins will actually be more tender without it.

[magiesmom]

That's good to know, ghg.

[chowser]

That is good to know. I wonder what's more effective, dried milk or baking soda for browning. What is it about dried milk that makes it more tender without?

[goodhealthgourmet]

What is it about dried milk that makes it more tender without?
~~~~~~~~~
higher protein content of dry milk = tougher muffins

[chowser]

I knew that was the case for the glutenin and gliadin proteins for gluten development but didn't know if that was the case for all protein. Something like macaroons made only w/ egg whites are soft and tender. I used to do low fat baking and did egg whites only and always got a tender product. And, milk makes a more tender bread. Hmmm, I have more learning to do on this apparently.

[chowser]

I'm enough of a geek that I had to look it up. I didn't realize milk also is a darkener but that makes sense because you brush it on top of rolls, etc. But, milk hinders toughness and gluten development.

http://www.culinate.com/articles/feat...

"Likewise, adding milk to batter helps keep baked goods moist. Milk contains the sugar lactose, which bonds with flour proteins and hinders gluten formation.

Both sugar and milk promote browning, Corriher says. Essentially, bread crust is caramelized sugar."

[goodhealthgourmet]

notice i said above that the toughness issue applies to dry milk/milk powder - it's higher in protein.

[chowser]

Yes but does all protein make a product tougher, or is it only the glutenin and gliadin that do it? I do vaguely remember reading about it in Bakewise but can't remember the details. I have to do some searching on it.

[goodhealthgourmet]

gluten & gliadin have the standard toughening effect we all recognize, but milk protein (specifically casein) can make things tough too. think about how chewy & rubbery cheese curds can be - that's all coagulated casein.

[chowser]

Thanks, I've just been reading articles about casein; and egg whites apparently have the same effect toughening effect. I've been reading conflicting articles, though. Shirley Corriher says non-fat dried milk weakens gluten development. Of course, reading this has made me start researching scalded milk... I should have been a food science major and used some of those chem classes I took in college for something that interested me!

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/...

"Researching further, she learned that one of the enzymes in whey weakens the gluten in flour and thus prevents the bread from rising. This is true of nonfat dry milk as well, although less than 1/2 cup seems to have no undesirable effect."

[goodhealthgourmet]

food science was part of the curriculum for my nutritional sciences program - i loved that lab! with the holidays just around the corner, perhaps you should put some McGee & Corriher books on your wish list ;)

[chowser]

I've read the Corriher books (need to reread them apparently) and the McGee book is on my list of books I have to get. I should probably take a food science class but right now have my plate full w/ studying for a corrective exercise specialist cert, advanced health and fitness specialist cert and Italian. That's why I'm so glad to have all of you as resources! Thanks.