Muffins, biscuit turning out gummy

[cBogie41]

Have been having issues with gummy baked goods.  It seems to be an on and off, hit or miss thing.  Made gluten-free Pumpkin muffins for the holidays and they turned out perfect.  Made a batch today and they turned out gummy.  Same recipe and same cooking time.  Here is my recipe:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup (4 Tbs.) Coconut Oil

1 egg 

3/4 cup pumpkin purée

1 1/4 cup  All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour

1 Tbs. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

pinch of salt

1 Tbs. pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup coconut milk 

1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins or chocolate chips (optional)

1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

    sugar + cinnamon mixture to sprinkle on tops (optional)

 

Instructions:  Preheat oven to 350 F (static) or 325 F (convection).  Line with papers or lightly oil 12 muffin cups.

Cream shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and pumpkin. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to the pumpkin mixture, alternating with milk. Beat until fully incorporated. Fold in berries and/or nuts, if using.

Scoop into prepared muffin tins — the batter will be thick, so smooth the tops with a rubber spatula before baking. Sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture, if using. Bake for 16-18 minutes, checking with a toothpick to see that they are done before removing to cool on a wire rack.

 

This is the flour blend that I use: 

2 1/2 cups tapioca starch

1 1/2 cups gluten free almond flour

3 teaspoons xanthan gum 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

[trents]

Just a wild idea, here! Could it be that an ingredient has become rancid or spoiled?

Edited January 28, 2023 by trents

[cBogie41]

1 hour ago, trents said:

Just a wild idea, here! Could it be that an ingredient has become rancid or spoiled?

Thank you for your reply.  The ingredients for the flour mix were just put together fresh.  Everything seems to be safe.  Keep most of my ingredients in frig or freezer. 

[RMJ]

Bob’s Red Mill recommends 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum per cup of flour for muffins.  Your flour mix has 50% more than that.

[cBogie41]

17 hours ago, RMJ said:

Bob’s Red Mill recommends 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum per cup of flour for muffins.  Your flour mix has 50% more than that.

I have been using the mix I listed for the past year.  Why all of a sudden would it be caused by the xanthan gum?

[GF-Cate]

One thing to check is the accuracy of your oven's temperature with an oven thermometer. They often need to be calibrated over time.

https://www.whirlpool.com/blog/kitchen/how-to-calibrate-an-oven.html

Baking by weight vs. volume produces a much more reliable result in baking. I use a digital scale and weigh ingredients by gram weight. There are tons of gluten-free recipes online with weight measurements vs. volume, and you can also find charts on sites such as King Arthur to convert recipes yourself:

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/ingredient-weight-chart

I don't have experience baking with the type of tapioca starch/almond flour/xanthan gum blend you're using, but maybe someone else here does. The science of baking, and especially gluten-free baking, can be tricky sometimes!

[cBogie41]

Still having issues.  Changed the amount of xanthan gum to 1 tablespoon in my tapioca/almond blend.  Made biscuits and they are still a little gummy inside. Sometimes they turn out perfect.  Cooking in convection oven at 350 degrees for 17 minutes.  They keep saying to cook at lower temperature and longer times.  The Baguettes that I made turned out fine, not gummy at all. Baking gluten-free is different every time and a surprise when all turns out well. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.