Gluten free tips for muffins

Let’s bring back the lowly muffin. Cute, compact, portable, endless variations, easy to make, practically impossible to screw up on, muffins need to make a big comeback on our breakfast, lunch and dinner tables.

Muffins can easily be made with gluten free whole grains, have no problem cooking all the way through (unlike larger loaves which can be a problem), can be made milk free, egg free, and sugar free.

There’s even a poem about them… you know…the Muffin Man.
And besides, you get to eat two or three at a time. What could be any better than that?

Oh, and they’re quick and easy to make too.

What do you need to make muffins? Not much. Muffin tins, mixing bowls, measuring cups and spoons, a whisk is handy and a good long handled mixing spoon. I like to use my large cookie scoop since it makes it easy to plop the dough right in the middle of my muffin tins with no sticky fingers.

I want you to go get out on of your older cookbooks that actually have a recipe in it. Not one of those that make you use a cake mix or muffin mix.

I’m going to walk you through how to convert over your recipe to make it gluten free.

For the flour: You can use a single type of gluten free flour (like sorghum) or one of the gluten free flour blends available. Make sure to check the ingredient list and see if contains xanthan gum, baking powder or baking soda and salt. If it does, treat it like a bag of “self rising” flour. Replace the regular flour cup for cup.

For the milk: Use soy, almond, coconut or fruit juice if you want as a replacement. Since these “milks” are less thick than regular milk, reduce the amount of liquid down by 1/4 cup per cup of liquid called for. So if the recipe says to use 1 cup milk, replace it with 3/4 cup milk alternative.

For eggs: Replace the eggs called for by making your own “egg replacer. Take 3/4 cup cold water and stir in 1/4 cup ground flaxseed meal. Boil 3 minutes without stirring. Cool and refrigerate. Makes enough to replace 5 or 6 eggs and will keep for 2 weeks in the refrigerator. Use one tablespoon for each egg. Careful though, this is very sticky. You may want to grease the spoon first.

For sugar replacement: If your muffin recipe calls for granulated sugar, you can replace it with 1/2 the amount in either honey or agave syrup. You can even add 1/8 to 1/4 cup of molasses to give a heartier and more robust flavor.

Molasses is also high in iron, calcium and potassium. It works well in recipes with dates, raisins or figs. Just remember, no more than 1/2 the amount called for when replacing granulated sugar.

You may want to add 1/8 tsp. xanthan gum per cup of flour to keep your muffins together. But I say experiment and see if you can get them to hang together without it. Try cutting the recipe in half and test it with a smaller batch.

Using the flaxseed egg replacer will help hold the muffins together. You might want to try using it even if you don’t need to replace the eggs. Of course, if your gluten free flour has xanthan gum in it already, don’t add any more. No rubber bounce balls now.

Well, I hope I have inspired you to get out your cookbooks and jump into the kitchen. Whip up some mouthwatering muffins and call everyone over for some as they’re piping hot and luscious.

There really is joy in cooking. There is great satisfaction in something done well. And nothing beats having your family give you the thumbs up or just quickly scarfing down your fresh baked goodies. That indeed is high praise.

Happy Baking!

Team Gluten Free Farm Girl