What's cooking? Wednesday - A Pinterest failure

Trying something unfamiliar is risky but without taking that risk, you don't discover new likes (and dislikes).  So, even a failure can be considered a success, if only to eliminate something you  don't like  :)  Does that make sense?

I love pinning good looking recipes on Pinterest but rarely try them out so today I decided to pick out a recipe and report on it.  I must have been really impressed with this muffin recipe because I pinned it 3 times.  Here is a copy of the original recipe... (unfortunately, I couldn't get the original picture to copy)

Triple Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Ingredients:
           1 3/4 c oats
           3 egg whites

•  3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (or regular plain low fat yogurt)
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar (or 1-1/2 Tbsp. vinegar)
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 cup sugar substitute (like Splenda granular) OR 1/4 cup + 2 tbs stevia
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or use white chocolate or peanut butter chips!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with foil cupcake liners, or spray muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
In a blender, (or food processor), mix all of the ingredients together, except for the chocolate chips. Blend until oats are ground and mixture is smooth.
Place mixture in a bowl and gently stir in 1/2 of the chocolate chips (set the rest aside). Scoop mixture into prepared muffin pans.
Place muffins tins in the oven for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, remove muffins from the oven (but don’t shut oven off), and distribute the other half of the chocolate chips on top of each muffin.
Place  the muffins back into the oven and bake for an additional 2-5 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. *Note, you could skip this step by putting all of the chips in the batter, and baking the muffins for 12-15 min straight, but this method gives the muffins the traditional ‘VitaTop Muffin’ look with the chocolate chips on top!Cool muffins before removing from pan. ENJOY!!!
Servings: 12 Big Muffins or 24 Smaller Muffins
Calories: 116 Calories Per Muffin

 My results...

Muffin on left is from the first batch, muffin on right is after adding flour to the batter

The muffin on the left sure doesn't look like the Pinterest picture!

After following the directions (with the exception of using real sugar (a modest 1/2 c.) instead of sugar substitute, it was obvious that my "mixture" was a little LOT runny.  The recipe said to scoop the mixture.  I poured it.  It seemed like too much liquid compared to dry ingredients but being a dutiful follower, I assumed it looked like it was supposed to and poured it in the muffin cups.  Because I was skeptical, I only baked one half the recipe, just in case they didn't turn out right.  The recipe said to bake it for 12 minutes.  After 12 minutes, my muffins were still liquid in the middle.  Not a good sign.  I ended up cooking them for 23 minutes and they still were a little too moist in the middle.  From the picture above, you can see that they didn't turn out very well.  So, for the second half, I added 1/2 c. flour.  The mixture looked more like traditional muffin batter now.  I baked them for 13 minutes and at least they looked like normal muffins.  They still needed more sugar in my opinion and I used probably 1 1/2 c. chocolate chips instead of 1/2 c. but all in all, they were passable.  Not great and I won't be trying this recipe again but passable if you're desperate for anything chocolate.  Personally, I find a handful of chocolate chips more satisfying.  I guess I was expecting too much from a recipe that is "healthy".  Oh, and the recipe said they were triple chocolate chunk muffins.  Triple means three and I only counted the chocolate chips and the cocoa.  Hmmmmm...

My suggestion with new recipes, is to try them out first before you plan on serving them to friends.  Hopefully, your kids will eat anything  :)