Assignment #4

Editor's Notes

• #2: This presentation will teach you how to bake a delicious batch of pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. I didn’t think I liked anything with pumpkin in it until I tried this recipe. Now it is one of my favorite recipes, and it gets great reviews from my friends and family.
• #3: By the end of the presentation, you will have the skills necessary to bake pumpkin chocolate chip muffins from scratch. You will transform a bunch of simple ingredients into a delicious dessert ready for you to eat and enjoy.
• #4: You may be wondering why pumpkin. Pumpkin flavored drinks and foods are quite popular during the fall season. It is not only delicious, but it is a signature thing that puts people in the fall mood. Baking with pumpkin is a great way to make sure all parts of your Jack-O-Lantern get used. Instead of using canned pumpkin, you can make a pumpkin puree from the inside scrapings of your own pumpkin for this recipe. You can even bake the pumpkin seeds and enjoy those too! Your muffins will put you and your friends in the fall mood, so let’s get started learning how to make these muffins!
• #5: The slide contains the entire recipe for the muffins. This would be a great slide to print, so you can have a physical copy of the recipe with you when you bake. It is best to keep the recipe on hand while baking so you get the measurements of the ingredients correct.
• #6: The first thing you should do when cooking or baking anything is to wash your hands before you start. You don’t want to spread germs to other people through your delicious food.
• #7: Once you have washed your hands, collect all your ingredients before you start. The ingredients you need includes eggs, sugar,canned pumpkin,oil.water,flour,baking powder,baking soda,salt,pumpkin pie spice, and chocolate chips. Also check that you have enough of each ingredient as listed on the recipe. There is nothing worse than starting a recipe and then realizing you are missing something or do not have enough of an ingredient.
• #8: Collect and make sure you have all of the necessary baking utensils readilyavailable. The key things to make sure you have are a mixer, muffin tins, a sifter, both dry and liquid measuring cups, measuring spoons, and cupcake liners. Anything else that you might need, you should already have in your kitchen. You can mix your ingredients by hand, but I prefer to use a mixer because it makes mixing the ingredients much easier.
• #9: The first step on the recipe is to preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. It is best to preheat the oven before you start baking so you can put your muffins in the oven immediately after you have mixed the ingredients together.
• #10: The next step is to beat the eggs and sugar in a bowl. Start off with cracking four eggs and emptying them into the mixer. Once the eggs are in the mixer, check to see if any shell parts got in by accident. By putting the eggs in the mixer first, you can easily fish out shell pieces if necessary. Then you can discard the egg shells. I also recommend washing your hands after cracking the eggs since I tend to get egg on my hands after cracking them.
• #11: Then you will measure out one cup of sugar and pour it into the mixer. Make sure the sugar is level with the measuring cup and not heaping over. Do the same for the second cup. Then go ahead and mix the eggs and sugar together in the mixer on a low to medium setting until you get an even consistency.
• #12: Once the eggs and sugar are mixed, you will add pumpkin, oil, and water to the mixture. Open the can of pumpkin with a can opener. Be careful not to cut yourself! Then spoon the pumpkin into a one cup measuring cup. Gently tap the cup on the counter to get the pumpkin to compact. Even it out on top with a spoon to make sure you have an generally even cup of pumpkin. Put the pumpkin into the mixer. Follow the same steps for the second cup.
• #13: Next you will measure one cup of oil in a liquid measuring cup. I like to use canola oil, but you can also use vegetable oil. Then pour it into the mixer.
• #14: Now you will measure ½ cup of water in a liquid measuring cup. I used the same measuring cup as I used for the oil. It is fine if there is still oil reside in the measuring cup. It will not make a difference. Then add the water to the mixer.
• #15: Mix the ingredients on a low setting to make sure the ingredients don’t splash out of the bowl. Keep mixing until it is an even consistency.
• #16: The next step is to sift all dry ingredients together. The dry ingredients include flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. To do this, get a large clean bowl and put the sifter on it. Start off measuring 1 cup of flour. I spoon the flour into the measuring cup instead of just scooping the flour with the measuring cup because scooping with the measuring cup compacts the flour and gives you too much flour. To level it off, I run the top straight edge of a knife over the top of the measuring cup. Gently pour the flour into the sifter and tap the sifter. Once you have sifted the cup of flour, repeat the steps for the other 2 1/3 cups of flour.
• #17: Once your flour is sifted, measure a ½ teaspoon of baking powder. I level it off with the straight edge that is on the baking powder can. It is very important to get the measurement exact for the baking powder and baking soda because too much or too little can mess up your muffins. Sift the baking powder into the flour.
• #18: Then you will measure 2 teaspoons of baking soda 1 teaspoon at a time. To level off the baking soda, use the same technique as with the flour. Now sift it into the flour mixture.
• #19: Next you will measure out one teaspoon of salt, level it, and sift it into the flour mixture.
• #20: Now measure out 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice. You can add a little bit more if you want the spices to stand out more in your muffins. Sift it and add to flour mixture.
• #21: Now you can finally mix all of the dry ingredients together. You can use a spoon or whisk to mix.
• #22: Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. I usually do about ½-1 cup at a time and mix in between adding more. Mix just until the dry ingredients are no longer visible. Be sure not to over mix the batter.
• #23: Now I will reveal to you the secret to great muffins: syrup. Add about ¼ cup of syrup to your batter and mix well. The syrup gives you moister muffins and helps keep the muffins moister for longer. This is a great trick to use with all of the different types muffins you might make.
• #24: The next step is my favorite part. The chocolate. Add two cups of chocolate chips to the batter and mix by hand. I like to use semi-sweet Ghirardelli chocolate chips. The whole bag is about equal to two cups so you can pour the whole bag in if you like. This amount of chocolate chips makes very chocolaty muffins, so you can adjust according to your taste preferences.
• #25: The next step is to pour the better into your muffin tins. First place the cupcake liners in the muffin tin. I just used one muffin tin at a time. If you only have one muffin tin, you will need to wait til your first batch comes out until you can prepare the next batch. Fill each cup about ¾ full. You can spoon the batter in, but I find it easiest to use the ¼ measuring cup. The recipe I used said that it makes 24 muffins but when I made it, it made 36 muffins.
• #26: Once you fill all of the muffin cups, put it into the oven. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. I like to check them after 15 minutes but be sure to use an ovenmit when checking your muffins and taking them out of the oven. To check if they are done, put a toothpick in one of the muffins. If the toothpick comes out without any liquidy batter on it, your muffins are done. If the toothpick comes out with lots of liquidy batter on it, bake the muffins for a few more minutes and check again the same way. Take the muffins out of the oven and let them sit for a few minutes. Then take them out of the muffin tin and place on a cooling rack if you have one.
• #27: If you can’t let them cool for very long because you are dying to try them, you are not alone! The best part of baking is getting to try what you have made. Go ahead and try them and enjoy! Share them and you will be sure to get lots of compliments! That pile of ingredients is now something delicious to enjoy eating and sharing!