Filipino Coconut Pandan Puto Muffins (Oven-Steamed)
Traditionally, puto is made in small cups placed in a steamer. However, these cups are not readily available to me, so I decided to create an oven hack version in mini muffin cups. Coconut Pandan Steamed Rice Cake — Puto. Adapted from Oggi's Puto Puti recipe.
Ingredients
| 1 1/2 cups | 360 ml | rice flour (regular white, not sweet/glutinous) |
| 1/3 cup | 80 ml | sugar |
| 1 Tbsp | 15 ml | baking powder |
| 1 pinch | salt | |
| 200-400 ml | coconut milk (regular, not light) | |
| 2 Tbsp | 30 ml | water |
| 1 tsp | 5 ml | pandan extract |
| — | dried coconut (optional, for topping) | |
| — | quick-melting cheese (optional, for topping) |
Instructions
Servings: 24 mini muffins. Time: 30 minutes. Difficulty: easy.
- Before you begin, preheat the oven to 300˚ and put a good quart of water on to boil. Place a 9 x 13 pan on the bottom rack of the oven as it preheats.
- Combine 1 1/2 cups rice flour (regular white rice flour, not sweet/glutinous rice flour), 1/3 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp baking powder and a pinch of salt.
- Add 1 (400 mL) can of coconut milk (regular, not light) and about 2 Tbsp water, or enough to make sure it does not hold peaks. (Mine was a bit thicker than it should have been.)
- If you can get your hands on it, add about a teaspoon of pandan extract. We could only find a combination buco-pandan, but buco is young coconut, so it works just fine here. Pandan is a leaf that imparts a sort of nutty flavor, and complements rice dishes quite nicely. This extract also has green food coloring included. Alternately, if you can come by actual pandan leaves, you could infuse them into the coconut milk beforehand.
- Divide into 24 greased mini muffin cups and place in the oven. Carefully pour the boiling water into the 9 x 13 pan to steam the oven up. Close the oven quickly. Bake for 20 minutes.
- If you wish, sprinkle some dried coconut on top right as they come out of the oven. (My cakes cracked on top, I think because the batter was a little thick. When I tested this recipe before, they came out smooth and a bit stickier on top, which is what you get when they're steamed in a steamer.)
Inside, they're light, a bit creamy, and delightfully sweet.
Alternately, in typical Filipino fashion, you can cut up some slices of quick-melting cheese and place them on top, returning them to the oven for a minute (cut into strips and make an "X" on the top of each). If you have a typically western palate, you will likely enjoy the coconut topping better. You could also brush them with some melted butter, or just leave them plain.
Note: These are best the day they're made. Stored in an airtight container the outside gets weirdly wet, but left out in the open they'll begin to dry out.
UPDATE: People have had mixed results with the ratios listed. The ratios here worked perfectly in my old gas oven, but since getting a new electric one it's far too wet. If you have an electric oven, or one that traps steam very well, start with half as much coconut milk and see if that works better.