Haley Pollock

Diana Li
NUSC 3234
10/19/16

Quick Breads
Introduction:
Quick breads are a common type of baked good prepared in a short period of time and leavened
by agents other than yeast. These leavening agents are usually baking powder, baking soda, or
steam produced by water. Quick breads are extremely diverse and account for a variety of
different unique baked goods that can be either sweet or savory. Common quick breads include:
muffins, biscuits, pancakes, waffles, scones, popovers, and loaf bread such as banana, pumpkin,
or zucchini bread. In this lab various baked goods were cooked with varying leavening agents.
Single-acting versus double-acting baking powder was used as a leavening agent, steam was
used as a leavening agent, and even yeast was used as a leavening agent although this would not
be considered a quick bread. These variations accounted for varying results in the taste, texture,
appearance, and volume of various baked goods.
Methods:
When making popovers in exercise 5 the oven was preheated to 425 degrees F. The 1 cup of allpurpose flour was sifted into a medium sized bowl and 1 cup of milk, 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon of
melted butter, and teaspoon of salt was added to the flour. This mixture was beat with a whisk
until it was completely smooth and looked frothy. A 6 holder popover pan was greased with
butter and filled with the mixture until half full. The popovers were baked for 20 minutes at 425
degrees F and then lowered to 325 degrees F for five minutes. The oven was opened and each

popover was pierced gently with a knife to let the steam escape. The popovers baked for another
five minutes until slightly golden brown and taken out of the oven to cool.
Results:
Please see attached lab journal.
Discussion:
In the first exercise waffles were made in two different ways: one the standard way with
all-purpose flour and another gluten-free way with rice flour. These changes in flour also meant
changes in other ingredients to account for the lack of gluten in the rice waffles. The traditional
waffle made with gluten-containing flour was much airier and was overall a much lighter product
in terms of mouthfeel. This could be explained by the lack of gluten formation in the rice flour
waffle but also because this recipe used baking powder whereas the traditionally made waffle
used double acting baked powder. This small change in leavening agent may have made a big
different in texture of the final product. The double acting baking powder has both and acid and a
base which then reacts to produce carbon dioxide gas as soon as the dry ingredients are mixed
with the wet but also react when the waffle is exposed to heat and cooked. (1) Because the single
acting baking powder only reacts as soon as the ingredients are mixed, if you dont bake the
product right away, the carbon dioxide gas produced may not be present in the baking process
thus the volume of the final product will not be as great. (1) This seems to have been what
happened in the rice waffle that was much denser than the traditional waffle made with double
acting baking powder. The traditional waffle also had a golden brown appearance opposed to the
rice flour waffle that was very light in appearance. This may have had something to do with the
lack of protein in the rice flour versus the wheat flour. In the baking process, amino acids and

sugars react together in various stages to form what we call a crust on a baked good. (2) This
process is called the maillard reaction or maillard browning, and this reaction gives the golden
brown color and taste of a baked goods crust. (2) If compared, the rice flour has a higher content
of carbohydrate per cup at 127 grams versus all-purpose flour with 84 grams of carbohydrate per
cup. Rice flour also has less protein per cup at 9 grams and all-purpose at 16 grams per cup. (3)
This is a pretty significant difference in protein content which accounts for the lack of color in
the rice flour waffle versus the all-purpose flour waffle. Personally, the rice flour waffle tasted
surprisingly better than the traditionally prepared waffle, perhaps because the rice flour waffle is
higher in carbohydrate, but the recipe also contained more sugar and melted butter opposed to
vegetable oil. These small changes in ingredients may have made the rice flour waffle more
desirable even though its texture was denser and not as light. This is important to consider when
comparing gluten-free foods to some traditionally made foods. Gluten-free foods may actually be
higher in carbohydrate and even fat to make up for the lack of flavor protein lends to a baked
good; thus making it more less nutritious overall.
In the next exercise, muffins were made both with all-purpose flour and whole-wheat
flour, different methods were used to prepare the batter, and different leavening agents were used
as well. All these factors contributed to a very wide range of differences in appearance, taste, and
texture of the muffins. The muffins that were made with white flour and the max amount of fat
and sugar had better volume, appearance, and even texture compared to the minimum amount of
fat and sugar muffins. This makes sense, because sugar and fat are components of a baked good
that contributes to a moist texture and the added sugar will contribute to a more golden brown
color from the maillard reaction. (2) The other factor of using a single acting baking powder and
a double acting baking powder made a huge difference to the muffins. The single acting baking

powder muffins had a very low volume, were extremely dark in color, had a dry mouthfeel, and
an extremely crunchy crust that almost had a metallic after taste. On the other hand the double
acting baking powder had a very high volume, was lighter in color, and had a fluffier texture.
Again this can be explained by the single acting baking powder only reacting once when mixed
with dry and wet ingredients. (1) Double acting baking powder is a much more foolproof
leavening agent that lends better final products and thus is so popular in the home cooks kitchen
and even in professional bakeries. Double acting baking powder should be used versus single
acting baking powder.
Biscuits were made in exercise 3 and although all of the biscuits appeared to look the
same, the volumes were slightly different and the textures were different as well. The biscuits
that had only been stirred had a lower volume and had a flakier texture opposed to the biscuits
that had been kneaded. The kneaded biscuits had a higher volume but had a more tough texture.
This can be explained because the kneaded biscuits also developed more gluten formation from
the process of kneading, and the more gluten formation contributes to higher volumes in baked
goods. (4) The process of kneading is added agitation, and the more a flour/water mixture is
agitated the more gluten development there will be. (4) This goes to show that the more gluten
that is developed in a baked good, the better the final volume of the final product.
Pretzels were the only bread that was made using yeast, so this would not be considered a
quick bread. These baked goods were much more tough, chewy, and fluffier than the other baked
goods since the gluten was more developed and yeast was used as the leavening agent. Gluten
plays an important role in yeast risen bread because gluten traps the carbon dioxide produced by
the yeasts. (5) If this did not occur, the final product would be very dense and there would be
little rise in volume. (5) The process to make these items was much longer and involved than the

recipes prior, because the yeast takes a good amount of time to produce enough carbon dioxide in
the proofing process to leaven the dough. Unlike baking powders, yeast is not a chemical
reaction that involves an acid and a base reaction, but instead involves a live organism (yeast)
that feeds off of sugars and produces carbon dioxide gas to leaven a dough. (5) This is a
biological reaction that is much more temperamental with varying nutrient requirements opposed
to chemical reactions that are instantaneous. This explains why the pretzel recipe took a lot
longer to produce than the prior quick bread recipes that were quick to prepare and bake.
The final exercise involved making popovers which had no chemical or biological
leavening agent present in the recipe. Instead these baked goods were leavened by steam
produced by the eggs and milk in the recipe. The oven temperate for this recipe started out very
high at 425 degrees F. This high temperature causes rapid evaporation of the liquids contained in
the recipe which causes steam to become trapped inside the network of starches, proteins, and
gluten found in the mixture. (6) This network prevents the steam from escaping from the baked
good and instead stays inside the baked good causing it to pop and produce a large air hole inside
the baked good; which was observed when the popovers were cut in half after baking. (6) If the
oven temperature was too low, this physical reaction would not happen as quickly and most
likely there would not be much pop about the final product. This is why the high oven
temperature is impetrative when trying to achieve a successfully steam risen baked good without
a chemical or biological leavening agent.

References:
1.

Helmenstine, Anne Marie, PhD. "Difference Between Double-Acting and Single-Acting

Baking Powder." About.com Education. About.com, 25 June 2016. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.
<http://chemistry.about.com/b/2013/12/23/difference-between-double-acting-and-single-actingbaking-powder.htm>.
2.

"Maillard Reaction | Baking Processes." Bakerpedia. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.

<http://www.bakerpedia.com/processes/maillard-reaction/>.
3.

Willett, Brian. "Comparison of Nutrition in Rice Flour Vs. Wheat Flour."

LIVESTRONG.COM. LIVESTRONG.COM, 22 Jan. 2014. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.

<http://www.livestrong.com/article/356371-comparison-of-nutrition-in-rice-flour-vs-wheatflour/>.
4.

Crosby, Guy, PhD. "Explaining Gluten." Cooking Science Guy. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.

<http://www.bakerpedia.com/processes/gluten-hydration/>.
5.

Lawandi, Janice. "The Science Behind Yeast and How It Makes Bread Rise - We've Got

Chemistry." The Kitchn. 15 Dec. 2015. Web. 15 Oct. 2016. <http://www.thekitchn.com/thescience-behind-yeast-and-how-it-makes-bread-rise-226483>.

6.

Ouellette, Jennifer. "Pop Goes the New Year: Popover Science." Scientific American

Blog Network. Scientific American Journal, 06 Aug. 2013. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.
<https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cocktail-party-physics/pop-goes-the-new-year-popoverscience/>.