I have never baked with whole wheat flour of any kind until now. I have been working with King Arthur Flour since I’m such a fan of their products. They wanted me to test their White Whole Wheat Flour. I was a little hesitant, since it’s not something I bake with or even eat much of, but I had a few recipes that called for it, and I really wanted to work with King Arthur, so I thought I’d give it a try.
I am very impressed with the flour. Opening the bag, it has a wheaty, sweet smell and looks much more wheat like than all-purpose flour. I was intrigued immediately and hoped the muffins would turn out and be palatable to someone who likes her carbs white and refined. The baking process went smoothly, just like I was baking with normal flour. The batter was a darker color because the flour is darker in color. I also think the batter may have been slightly denser and sticky or glutinous, not sure if that was my imagination or the flour.
The muffins baked up beautifully. This was a new muffin recipe for me from Sally’s Baking Addiction, and they are really nice muffins that look like they came from a bakery. I still like my stand by muffins, but the look of these is impressive and I was excited to taste them; the real test for not only the recipe, but also the flour. They passed the taste test with flying colors.
They are not like muffins made with all-purpose flour with a sweet, nutty wheat taste that permeates every bite, similar to the smell during the baking process. They also seem denser and not quite as moist as other muffins I’ve made. I really love the flavor and the texture grew on me with each bite, until I loved it as well. The cherries add sweetness and a great deal of flavor as the juice soaks into the muffin surrounding each half of ruby red cherry. The topping is what really makes these muffins, keeps them from seeming like a health food, when they really are a nutritious but still delectable treat. There isn’t a ton of topping on each one, just enough to make them taste a little like a crisp and give them some extra sweetness.
I actually really love these muffins and am kind of craving another one right now. There will be more whole wheat recipes to come. One day I may substitute some in a regular recipe, but I think I will be able to tell the difference. I’m so thankful to King Arthur for giving me the chance to test this flour. I hope I can work more with them and other companies in the future. Until then, go pick up a bag of this flour and make these muffins for a great breakfast tomorrow morning.
Cherry Pie Muffins
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
Ingredients
Muffins
- 3 cups King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 cup Blue Diamond Unsweetened Almond Milk
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs (pasteurized if you like)
- 3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 heaping cups cherries, halved and pitted
Oat Topping
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons old fashioned oats
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Oil a muffin tin, including the top.
- Make the oat topping. In a small bowl combine sugar, flour, oats, and cinnamon. Stir until incorporated. Drizzle in oil and stir until small clumps have formed.
- In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, and ginger to combine. In a large bowl, stir together milk, sugars, oil, eggs, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until the mixture is fully combined.
- Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in the cherries.
- Using a regular sized ice cream scoop, scoop batter into each muffin cup, filling to the top. Distribute extra batter evenly among the cups. Sprinkle oat topping evenly over each muffin, pushing it slightly into the batter so it sticks.
- Bake for 5 mintues. Then immediately reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F and bake for about 15-18 minutes more, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out with just a few moist crumbs on it.
- Cool completely in pan. To remove from pan, loosen tops of muffins from pan with fingers before pushing a rubber spatula gently down the side of each cup to slowly force the muffin out of the cup. May be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days, or frozen, wrapped in parchment and foil and placed in a zipper bag for up to 4 months. Thaw in a 350 degree F oven for about 25 minutes or at room temperature for several hours.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
Cherry pie is my favorite, and these sound amazing! I’ll be trying them soon.
I actually went to buy this exact brand/type of flour a few months ago, based on another blogger’s recommendation, but Kroger was out of it and I needed flour for some recipes, so I bought the Kroger brand white whole wheat flour. It’s worked well for my baking needs, but I can’t wait until it’s gone so I can replenish it with the King Arthur brand. In fact, I should buy some the next time I see it, so that I don’t have the same thing happen again. 🙂
Tamara, I find that Kroger doesn’t stock many different varieties of King Arthur Flour. I buy all purpose there, but for cake flour and any other specialty flour, I head to a more gourmet grocery store. In my area, Hiller’s Markets tend to have an excellent selection.
Laura,
I AM DROOLING!!! These look SO good. I might steal your idea for my next muffin recipe. I honestly love cherry pie SO SO much. You are a baking genius. Thank you for chekcing out my recipe and revamping it… absolutely love your blog. 🙂
Sally
Thank you so much, Sally! A baking genius? I’m not so sure, but thank you for the insanely kind words. You made my day, or week is more like it.
I love whole wheat so I can’t wait to try these. They look scrumptous. Thanks, Laura.
★★★★★
These look amazing! I recently forayed into wheat flour territory after making some great wheat soda bread at a friend’s place. For substitutions, to start, I’ve been doing half all-purpose and half-wheat, and so far that’s helped in terms of learning how to bake with it, and getting accustomed to the texture/density.
Hi Taylor, Thanks so much for coming by my blog. I really appreciate it 🙂 I agree that using half all-purpose and half whole wheat flour is a good idea. This recipe called for all whole wheat, so I thought I’d try it, and I was pretty happy with it. In recipes that don’t originally call for the flour, I definitely think it is a good idea to do half and half so there is not a huge difference in taste. I hope you’ll visit my blog again!
just did not do much for me.
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Hi Sal, You actually sampled a peach cupcake that I am recipe testing. They weren’t perfect, but I thought they were pretty good, so I wanted to share them with some people to get feedback. Rest assured I am still working on the recipe and hope to perfect it soon. Thanks for the feedback!
Laura,
Thanks for the great sample. What was it called? It tasted so good and was not loaded down with fats. I wish I could eat more of your baking and stay as fit as you (but still, I will be more than happy to try your new stuff and your favorites as well). You will be my new “go to” person for treats. Thanks, your new fan from across the street.
Larry
★★★★★
Hi Larry, Thanks so much for leaving a comment 🙂 You sampled a peach crisp. I am so glad you liked it. I am actually going to post it today. I really appreciate your support and will be happy to provide more samples in the future!