Can I replace sugar with jaggery in muffins?

Yes, gram for gram. Use jaggery powder, dissolve it in the wet ingredients and bake about 10°C cooler, because it browns sooner.

Why are my jaggery muffins dense?

Usually from overmixing, or from too much liquid. Fold only until the flour disappears and measure the curd and milk level.

Can I use maida instead of atta?

Yes, in the same weight. Maida absorbs less liquid, so hold back a tablespoon of the milk.

Jaggery and whole wheat muffins, a first bake with gur

Eggless muffins made with atta, curd and jaggery powder, in one bowl. Dark, soft and smelling of caramel, and the easiest way to learn how gur bakes.

Dark golden whole wheat muffins baked with jaggery, in paper cases on a wooden table — Representative image of the dish.

Tiffin and tea time · Prep 10 min · Cook 25 min · Total 35 min · Makes 8 muffins · Indian snack

If you have never baked with jaggery, start here. A muffin batter is forgiving: nothing is creamed, nothing is whipped, and a few lumps are a good sign. What you learn from it carries over to every cake and cookie afterwards.

The lesson is short. Jaggery powder behaves like brown sugar with a stronger voice. It adds moisture, it adds colour, and it browns sooner than white sugar, so the oven runs a little cooler.

Ingredients

¾ cup (about 180 g) Curd (dahi), whisked
¾ cup (about 150 g) ShuddhGaon jaggery powder
⅓ cup (80 ml) Oil, any neutral one
¼ cup (60 ml) Milk, at room temperature
1 tsp Vanilla essence
1½ cups (about 190 g) Whole wheat flour (atta)
1 tsp Baking powder
½ tsp Baking soda
½ tsp Cinnamon or cardamom powder
A pinch Salt
3 tbsp Walnuts or raisins, chopped

Method

Heat the oven Set the oven to 170°C and line 8 cups of a muffin tray with paper cases.
Dissolve the jaggery in the curd Whisk the curd and the jaggery powder together for 2 minutes, until the gur has dissolved and no grains are left.
Add the rest of the wet ingredients Whisk in the oil, the milk and the vanilla.
Fold in the dry ingredients Sift the atta, baking powder, baking soda, spice and salt over the bowl. Fold with a spatula just until no dry flour shows. The batter should be thick and a little lumpy.
Fill the cases Fold in the nuts or raisins and spoon the batter into the cases, filling them three-quarters full.
Bake Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean.
Cool Leave them in the tray for 5 minutes, then move them to a rack.

With our jaggery

Dissolve the powder fully in the curd before the flour goes in, or it leaves dark specks in the crumb. The milk goes in at room temperature and after the curd, so there is no hot milk for the gur to split. Our powder is unbleached, which makes the muffins a deep brown even without cocoa. More on swapping sugar for gur is in our guide to baking with jaggery.

Tips from our kitchen

Do not overmix Stop folding as soon as the flour disappears. A smooth batter makes a tough muffin.
If the tops brown too fast Lay a sheet of foil loosely over the tray for the last 10 minutes. Jaggery colours sooner than sugar.
With banana Fold in one mashed ripe banana and leave out the milk.

Questions people ask

Can I replace sugar with jaggery in muffins?: Yes, gram for gram. Use jaggery powder, dissolve it in the wet ingredients and bake about 10°C cooler, because it browns sooner.
Why are my jaggery muffins dense?: Usually from overmixing, or from too much liquid. Fold only until the flour disappears and measure the curd and milk level.
Can I use maida instead of atta?: Yes, in the same weight. Maida absorbs less liquid, so hold back a tablespoon of the milk.

Worth reading alongside this

The jaggery this recipe is made with

ShuddhGaon Jaggery Powder Pouch — The same fine gud powder in resealable 500 g and 1 kg zip pouches
ShuddhGaon Jaggery Powder — Fine gur shakkar that melts into tea, coffee and milk
ShuddhGaon Jaggery Combo — Cubes for the cup, powder for the kitchen

More recipes with gur

All jaggery recipes