Maple Sweetened Almond Zucchini Mini-Muffins

Just sweet enough, gluten-free zucchini mini-muffins with espresso.

Temptation. A to Z. Almond flour and zucchini mini-muffins sweetened only with pure maple syrup. That's right. No cane sugar. (I'm avoiding it like the plague these days, and I'm already six pounds lighter for the effort.) Almond flour and bourbon vanilla bring their subtle, natural sweetness to gluten-free muffin recipes, so why cloak it with a heavy dose of sugar? And adding a lip-smacking kiss of ginger wakes up the zucchini (which tends to fall asleep in baking recipes, due to utter lack of commitment and verve). I've added quinoa flakes for extra protein, and brown rice flour to round out the whole grains. For those of you watching your pie-roll-enhancing white carbs, there is only a small bit of tapioca starch, four tablespoons to be exact, divided between twenty-four mini-muffins. Tapioca starch gives these whole grain based muffins some welcome lift. Now the only hitch is, don't eat all twenty-four at once, Darling.



Tell yourself you're only going to eat one.





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Gluten-Free Baked Donuts

Gluten-free cake donuts with powdered sugar and cinnamon.

Apparently it is National Donut Day. But don't be grumpy, my celiac lovelies. I've got a gluten-free donut recipe for you, from the friendly archives of Gluten-Free Goddess.



For those of us born and raised on the East Coast- specifically, near Boston, Massachusetts- a certain coffee BF with a hole in the center is spelled donut. Not doughnut. Why so not-snobby casual, you might wonder? Why switch the ough to o when Boston's rep is more of a Paul Revere and cobblestones conservative town than say, oh I don't know-- maybe, rainbow flag flying West Hollywood? Dunkin Donuts is the culprit, I suspect- that ubiquitous New England coffee and doughnut chain from Quincy, MA, infamous for the tag line, Time to make the donuts! muttered by Fred the Baker in television ads for a good fifteen years.





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Triple Chocolate Muffins

 

Muffins = legally sanctioned cake for breakfast.  

{Please don't tell the First Lady.}

These Triple Chocolate Muffins may not be the most gorgeous, but, oh baby....warm from the oven with two kinds of melty chocolate chips?   They are pure decadence.



The day I made them, I ate one for breakfast, one for a mid-morning snack, 1.5 for lunch and one mid-afternoon.  {Muumuus will be all the rage this summer, right?}



Triple Chocolate Muffins



1/2 c. (1 stick) salted butter

1 and 3/4 c. unbleached, all-purpose flour

2/3 c. dutch-process cocoa (such as Hershey's Special Dark)

1 and 1/4 c. sugar

1 tsp. instant espresso powder

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. Kosher salt

1/2 c. bittersweet chocolate chips

1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

2 eggs

1 c. milk

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 tsp. white vinegar



Line a muffin tin with 12 paper cups. Spray lightly with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 425.



Melt the butter; set aside to cool.



In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugar, espresso powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips.



In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, vanilla and vinegar until blended. Stir in the cooled, melted butter.



Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  Stir with a rubber spatula, just until blended.



Spoon into the prepared muffin liners...the cups will be very full. {Be sure to lick the spoon...this batter is SO yummy!}



Bake for 15-20 minutes until the muffins bounce back when pressed with a finger.  Cool on a wire cooling rack for 5 minutes.





Remove from the pan and let them cool just a bit longer.  Serve warm.



Confession: I have one small white plate. Once we started, kiddo would.not.stop.eating to let me take a picture of the melty insides of his on the pretty white plate.  Note to self: buy more white plates.

Gluten-Free Whole Grain Strawberry Muffins - Summer Goodness

Gluten-free whole grain strawberry muffins. Tender and fabulous.

Just in time for the weekend- a lovely new muffin. And not just any ordinary, ho-hum, run-of-the-mill, starchy, gluten-free muffin. Nope. A tender, whole grain, vanilla scented muffin that bursts with fresh strawberry flavor. Warm from the oven, these pleasantly grainy breakfast treats were pull-apart soft, with hot bites of juicy strawberry. Sweet- but not too sweet. I used pure maple syrup for the primary sweetener, and a mere quarter cup of organic cane sugar. And now for the best part.



No xanthan gum!



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Gluten-Free Pineapple Coconut Muffins

Warm and tender pineapple muffins with toasted coconut.

April first has arrived. But you won't find any tricks up my sleeve. Unlike the greater, broader world beyond my kitchen that apparently harbors a few individuals contemptuous of living gluten-free. This was a tough week to be a celiac. Assaults ranged from the merely mean-spirited to the stunningly ill informed. There was the alleged Chef in Colorado (I say alleged, because it turns out this nudnik may have only been a waiter) ridiculing gluten-free diners (the term he favored was "idiots") and crowing on Facebook that he passes off regular pasta as gluten-free (join the lively discussion here). There was the Dr. Oz show calling gluten-free a "fad diet", asking is it "just a myth?" (in full disclosure, I believe he meant as a weight loss tool, as a certain gluten-free celebrity has been claiming in her g-free book- ironically, featured on Dr. Oz last year). And finally, there was a food blogger turned author whose envied blog-to-movie deal has apparently not cultivated much compassion for those of us stricken with gluten sensitivity. She barked on Facebook, "If I have to read one more thing about going gluten free I'm going to stomp on someone's face." And more than one person agreed with her. One of her fans (a food blogger) added, it's "too precious".



Strap on your helmets, Campers. There's not a lot of love out there.



I know this. You know this. Some of you have even shared stories about not only eye-rolling waiters and could-care-less food preparers, but family members sneaking gluten into what they feed you, just to "see what happens". Just to test you. Let me repeat that.



Family. Feeding you gluten. On purpose.



No wonder strangers feel they can openly spout contempt. If we are not respected within the bosom of our own clan, our flesh and blood, how can we expect random strangers to care?



The truth is, they don't.



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Pumpkin Muffins, two ways

It's still November, so it's STILL pumpkin season, right?

I've confessed my love for pumpkin already...let me share with you two of my favorite muffins. One savory, one sweet.

These Pumpkin Cheddar Muffins come from the Baked Explorations cookbook.  I am IN.LOVE. with these muffins (I would happily eat all 12 in one sitting).  Even though they are listed in the breakfast section of the cookbook, they are wonderful with a cup of butternut squash soup or a bowl chili.



Pumpkin Cheddar Muffins

{adapted from Baked Explorations}



1 c. canned pumpkin

3 TBSP sour cream

2 eggs

1 stick unsalted butter, cooled and melted

2 c. flour

1 & 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. cayenne

1 & 1/2 tsp. coarse salt

1 & 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/2 c. light brown sugar

1 & 1/4  c. grated sharp white cheddar



Preheat oven to 400.  Use a paper towel to lightly coat the insides of 12 muffin cups with vegetable oil.

Whisk together the pumpkin and sour cream.  Whisk in the eggs and cooled, melted butter until combined.  Set aside.



In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, cayenne, salt, pepper and brown sugar.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.  Add the wet ingredients into the well and gently fold until combined.  Fold in 3/4ths of the cheese.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups.  Sprinkle tops with the remaining cheese.



Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out the muffins to a cooling rack.  Serve warm.

{{*sigh*}}

Next up....the sweet.

These muffins can also be called "cake muffins."  They're SO easy and SO delicious.  Yes, they are made from a cake mix...and you know, a cake mix now and then comes in handy.

{And that pumpkin makes 'em healthy. Trust me, I'm a blogger.}

If you are one of the crazy pumpkin-haters (and I know you're out there), never fear, these don't taste like pumpkin, they taste like CAKE!



Vanilla Pumpkin Muffins



2 egg whites

1 box French Vanilla cake mix

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin

sanding or sparkling sugar



Preheat the oven to 350.  Lightly coat 15 or so baking liners with cooking spray or vegetable oil.  Place in a muffin tin.



Lightly beat the egg whites. Stir in the cake mix and the pumpkin.  Stir until combined.



Spoon into the prepared baking cups and top with a bit of sanding sugar for a little sparkle.  Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops bounce back when gently pressed.



Cool 10 minutes in the pans, then remove and cool completely on a cooling rack.

How do you like your pumpkin?  Sweet or savory?