coconutlime

Of course we could add more allspice but I always feel that a truly good recipe shouldn't have to be altered unless you are changing a significant flavor. It isn't too much to think that an allspice muffin would taste of allspice. We did allow them to sit but they were still bland and as it was, there was so much struesel on the muffin it was falling off and caramelizing on the pan!

That was exactly my thoughts on the allspice muffins: strangely bland and way, way too much streusel. Our muffins were teeming with it, and we still had over a cup left/

Has anyone made the coffee break muffins? They sound good, but after the disappointing blandness of the allspice muffins, I am a little leary of the quick bread/muffin recipes.

Sugar and shelf-stable trans fats, unfortunately. ← Is that what gives the peanut butter cookies its texture? ← It's what keeps peanut butter from seperating both on the shelf and in your baked goods.

That's true. Of course, you can learn a lot about a cookbook by reading it. I have seen several that just at a glance you know some recipes won't work. Bad flour/butter ratios, incomplete instuctions etc. I wouldn't have to try them to form an opinion.

I did make the brrrr-ownies and they were okay. A little sticky-chewy and hard to cut but fairly tasty. I am just surprised to hear of some much excitment over the book when I have been so underwhelmed. I wasn't even going to try another recipe but I had received the cookbook to review from the publishers and thought I owed it another try. ← And you were going to do a review on the basis of trying two recipes? ← Well, sure. Two recipes out of like 230 is a sufficient sample from which to make an overall judgement, right? ← For the event, I was supposed to publicly test and review only 2 recipes. I could of course make more, but I could only post 2. Since I was so disappointed, I was only going to make the 2 before the deadline and then try the rest at my leisure.25 other people are also trying and posting 2 recipes. You can check it out here. I do a lot of developing of original recipes so I prefer to concetrate on that, rather than endlessly cook from a book I didn't really enjoy. Also: do you think people who review cookbooks in newspapers have time to make dozens of recipes before they review the book? There is no reason to be snarky, I was instructed to make and review two recipes and I did. I didn't say it made me an expert, but that's what I had to do. I think making 2 recipes and being underwhelmed is fine. I picked 2 very different recipes and did not find them special. I also only reviewed the recipes I made, not the book as a whole, a distinction that perhaps you will appreciate.

I did make the brrrr-ownies and they were okay. A little sticky-chewy and hard to cut but fairly tasty. I am just surprised to hear of some much excitment over the book when I have been so underwhelmed. I wasn't even going to try another recipe but I had received the cookbook to review from the publishers and thought I owed it another try.

The allspice was quite fresh. Recently purchased and used. I even used whole allspice and ground it myself. I don't think it was the allspice's fault. I think the recipe was a dud. The muffins were pretty but flavorless. Also: even though there was a 1/2 teaspoon in the topping, the recipe made a huge amount of topic. Way too much for the muffins so some of the allspice might have been "wasted" but I still should have tasted SOMETHING in the base muffin.

I haven't been too impressed. I made the allspice muffins (posted results here ) and the brrrrr-ownies and while the brownies were better than the tasteless muffins, I still was not impressed. I know I followed the instuctions perfectly and the muffins were pretty, just lacking in any sort of flavor. Any one else underwhelmed?