Mmmmmuffins

I recently mentioned that I was tweaking my flour mix and baking some muffins. Muffins are one of those things that can be frustrating in gluten-free baking. Often they turn out like bricks; heavy and hard. The gluten-laden muffins seen in stores and coffee shops are light, fluffy, and big. Some are so big it’s ridiculous. I don’t feel too bad not eating those because I know how much sugar and fat are in them – lots!

I’ve been playing around with a few recipes and I’ve found one that I like. It isn’t perfect; there’s oil and sugar, but you can tweak it. I use canola oil because it’s a healthier oil, but butter or a vegan margarine would work too. You can also adjust the sugar depending on what you add to it – sweet berries could use less while lemon poppyseed could use the original amount. I wouldn’t recommend removing all the sugar as that will result in hard and heavy muffins. In my Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home they don’t suggest using this recipe as a plain muffin as it’s meant to have something added, like the apple, banana, blueberry-lemon, or zucchini on the following page in the cookbook. The picture above is peanut butter and chocolate chip (so tasty!).

Muffins

2 eggs

½ cup vegetable oil

¾-1 cup brown sugar

½ tsp vanilla extract

2 cups gf flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

+ fruit/filling

In a large bowl mix together eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla. Stir in the fruit/filling option and mix well. In another bowl mix together the gf flour, baking powder and salt (and any spices if you like). Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined. Spoon the batter into a muffin tin and bake for 20-25 mins at 350°, until golden.