Callie: Cinnamon Muffins

Okay, here we go. This was the biggest flop of the evening...but we did promise that we would share the good, the bad, and the ugly! In order to get three avocado recipes into one meal, I figured I needed an avocado-based dessert. Nothing seemed very promising (avocado pie, anyone??), until I discovered a website proclaiming that you could substitute avocado for butter in baking recipes (cakes, cookies, muffins, breads, etc.) I was skeptical at first, but continued researching and found multiple sources that said the same thing. I couldn't bring myself to make avocado cookies, so I decided on a safe alternative: cinnamon streusel muffins. (As I've mentioned before, Jordan loves all things cinnamon).

I followed the recipe exactly...except for the fact that I substituted a pureed avocado for the butter. I forgot to take a picture of the final product, but here are some pictures of the process:

Outcome: To be perfectly honest, I could hardly bring myself to taste one. Despite being gung-ho about the substitution, when it came down to it (and after seeing them being mixed), I found the concept disgusting. And after Jordan learned that there were avocados involved, he did not want to try one, either. Surprisingly, once I finally forced myself to take a bite, I found that they were EXTREMELY sweet (I'm not suggesting that's because of the avocados...either that was part of the recipe, or I was just unprepared for them to be sweet, or maybe I added too much sugar somewhere along the way :). You couldn't taste the avocados, but you knew they were there, and that kind of tainted the experience for me.

So I'm honestly not sure if the muffins actually tasted bad, or that was just my perception. I do know they didn't rise as well as I hoped they would...I'm not sure if that was a mistake on my part, a result of the avocados, or the way they were intended to be. I wouldn't mind trying an avocado-cinnamon muffin in a blind taste test sometime because supposedly, avocados are a healthier alternative to butter. But personally, I'm not planning to try that again for a while!