Yummy GFCF muffins

[ocelot]

I love it when I make stuff up and it works.


Yummy GFCF Muffins

1 cup assorted dried fruit (I used raisins, blueberries, and goji berries. Pretty much anything should work.)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon honey
2 cups water

Mix honey, vanilla, and water. Add dried fruit and let soak for an hour or so. This step is optional - you can just use the dried fruit as-is, soak them in plain water, or use fresh fruit. Or skip the fruit entirely.

1 1/2 cup masa harina (corn flour - more finely ground than cornmeal)
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk (I used 1 1/4 cup coconut milk, 3/4 cup water, and 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar. 2 cups of soy/almond/rice/other non-dairy milk + 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar should work, too.)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon maple syrup/honey (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease muffin tray or line with muffin wrappers. Stir together dry ingredients. Stir together wet ingredients. Combine the two and mix until relatively smooth. Stir in fruit. Pour batter into muffin tray, and bake for 30-35 minutes. Makes about 1 1/2 dozen muffins.

These are based loosely on the Southern Cornbread recipe in The Joy of Cooking, but taste like, and have the texture of, normal wheat muffins more than cornbread. Leif and Astrid are both gobbling them, and we'll do the Mariel taste test after she gets home from school. As always, you're responsible for ensuring the gluten-freeness of your ingredients, particularly the masa harina (which is gluten free, but may be contaminated during processing or storage) and vanilla (I think they'd probably be fine without the vanilla if you didn't have GF vanilla on hand). Obviously, if you're avoiding dairy/casein, use an alternative to buttermilk (such as the one provided). I suspect you could decrease the water or buttermilk somewhat and add in shredded zucchini, carrot, or apple for some added nutrition and moisture. Since they have no added fat, they're probably best eaten soon after baking. I don't think enough will be left of this batch to test that hypothesis, though :)

Comments

[temperance14.livejournal.com]

What does the flax seed offer; I've never tasted it (I think). Does it add a flavor, or "just" nutrients?

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

It serves as a binder. When you soak the seeds, they get sticky and gelatinous, so adding the ground seeds seems to work well for holding things together in place of the gluten (or I could just be imagining it, and the eggs are really doing it all, but I think it helps). Plus it adds fiber and nutrition.

[purdypiedad.livejournal.com]

I love you! Thank you!!! :-D I'm going to try adding a grated apple and decreasing the water in order to eliminate the sugar, but I'm liking the look of this very much, and I'm looking for stuff that Kristine can take to her dad's on weekends when he has visitation.

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

I had you in mind when deciding to post the recipe :) I hope they turn out well!

Apparently my housemate bought both corn flour and masa harina, which are two different things. I'm pretty sure the difference between the two flours is that corn flour is just ground corn, while masa harina is lye-soaked before griding. I'm not entirely sure what difference it would make in the outcome, but apparently what I used was the corn flour, and not masa harina.

[purdypiedad.livejournal.com]

I never would have known there was a difference! "Masa harina" means "corn flour" in Spanish. Thanks for the heads up!

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

If I remember correctly, soaking in lye makes some essential amino acid or something more bioavailable, so the masa harina may be the more nutritious choice, assuming it works well enough in terms of flavor and texture.

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

Also, the almond milk you're using should work just fine, but I'd do a full two cups of that (or replace part with apple) rather than watering it down. Coconut milk is our standard dairy milk replacement, but it's more like heavy cream, so I don't use it full strength.

[(Anonymous)]

Ah, but the coconut milk would give it some extra yum!

Thanks for the tip though. That isn't something I usually have on hand.