Simple Gluten-Free Banana Nut Muffins and Fall Photos

I've made quite a few banana nut muffins over the years... such as these, and these, and even these... but yesterday I just wanted the easiest recipe I could find.

I flipped through my baking cookbook and found a recipe that used my "master baking mix" (you could substitute gluten-free bi$quick or your favorite all-purpose GF baking mix) but I didn't have any on hand...  so I made it work for what I did have on hand:

Simple Gluten-Free Banana Nut Muffins
gluten-free, can be dairy-free, no xanthan or guar gums, can be egg-free
serves 12
print-friendly recipe

Dry Ingredients: 
2 cups gluten-free flour of YOUR choice -OR- my current favorite blend:
     -2/3 cup brown rice flour
     -2/3 cup arrowroot starch
     -2/3 cup almond flour (I prefer Honeyville)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

Wet Ingredients:
2 medium bananas, mashed to oblivion (about 1 cup of banana puree)
2 large eggs (or egg substitutes)
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup non-dairy milk mixed with 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or lemon juice)
2 tablespoons lite olive oil -or- melted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions: 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
• Line a muffin pan with paper liners and spritz them with non-stick cooling oil or lite olive oil.
• In a large bowl whisk together all dry ingredients. 
• In a smaller bowl whisk together all wet ingredients.
• Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients and just mix until all the dry ingredients have been thoroughly incorporated into the wet ingredients. 
• Using a 1/3 cup measuring cup, spoon batter into a greased or paper-lined muffin tins until at least 3/4 full - but you can fill to the top, they will just rise taller.
• Bake for 18-20 minutes, testing the middle with a toothpick inserted in the middle (should come out clean) to make sure the muffins are done. 
• Cool on a wire rack and serve. These muffins can be stored on the counter for up to 3 days and they will retain their moisture. I would freeze them in small packages after that. 

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Michael's mom playing with Charlie during a recent visit... 

In other news... I'm headed towards the end of my first graduate class and trying to get caught up on my last few assignments... because this final paper is not going to write itself...

Michael had a double ear-infection over the past week and I hope I NEVER have to see him go through something like that again. Talk about serious pain. I felt so bad for him. Thankfully after 3 trips to the doctor and 2 rounds of antibiotics + a huge antibiotic shot over the past three weeks, he's doing much better. And trust me on this one...after all that medication, give your loved ones probiotics... probiotics are the bee's knees my friends! Do it people!

I can't believe how FAST this semester has flown by.... I'm not sure if it's because I'm older and time in general seems to go by faster now or if school just has a way of making life do that... but I kinda wish it would slow down a bit! :-)

Happy Fall Everyone!

This guy has been lurking in the pecan tree over the past few weeks! We still can't believe he let Michael get this close!

Best buddies for life! Charlie & Whiskey Jack

So THIS was the publication that people
found a familiar face in... 

It's actually a 2nd printing from last year, which was why I was so surprised to see it!
Fun to see yourself in the drug store magazine selection though! :-) 

Our super sweet niece Cheyenne... 

Cheyenne decided I needed a friend to take home with me...
heart = melted!

Michael took this at the duck pond at work one morning. I love fall sunrises! 

Michael and his siblings.  So good to see them all together!

Fall decluttering... it took two loads to get it all in the car to Goodwill... and I'm not done yet...

Charlie's favorite spot!

A favorite shot of my father-in-law.. love this guy!

Gluten-free cupcakes I made for a friend's birthday.
I loved how the frosting turned out (Good ol' Pillsbury...). Used this recipe. 

All the snuggles and the sticking out of tongues!

Grain-Free, Gluten-Free Yellow Cupcakes Recipe

My friend Pamela posted a message on facebook the other day asking for basic grain-free, gluten-free cupcakes. Eggs were fine, sugar was fine...she just wanted a grain-free cupcake that she could serve to friends and family.

When she asked I was intrigued. I knew Pamela was also intolerant to coconut (as I am) and many grain-free cupcake recipes call for coconut flour. I knew that was out for Pamela and I wondered how we could come up with a fluffy, delicious cupcake that her gluten-eating guests would enjoy.

I decided to play around with my almond flour scones recipe to see what I could come up with. I always liked the texture of that recipe and how easy it worked. I like the combination of almond flour with arrowroot starch. It gives a good crumb to baked goods and it just "feels" like you're eating a wheat-based dessert. I loved that with that recipe in particular it looked like a regular scone, was not only gluten-free but lower in carbs than your average gluten-free baked good.

So here's what I came up with! Please note the intial recipe does have a bit of an "eggy" flavor, almost like a rich pound cake (thanks for reminding me of that Dad!)... While I like the flavor, I was concerned that it might be off-putting to other cupcake lovers... so I've included notes at the bottom of the recipe on how to only use 2 eggs, so the cupcakes won't have as strong of an egg taste. If you try the "less eggs" version, I'd love to know how it turned out for you and what substitute you used! Despite the "pound-cake" type flavor, the cupcakes themselves are quite light & fluffy, which is a feat with almond flour baked goods!

Also... use whatever frosting you prefer! If you need grain-free, lower sugar frostings, check out the frostings from Elana's pantry... honestly, I was a fan of these lovely cupcakes just the way they were without a fancy frosting!

Fluffy Gluten-Free, Grain-Free Yellow Cupcakes
Free of gluten, dairy, grains, soy
Created by Carrie Forbes of Gingerlemongirl.com
Printer-friendly recipe

Yields: 12 Cupcakes or 1 - 9” layer cake

Dry Ingredients:
223 grams/ 2 (packed) cups, blanched almond flour
94 grams/ ¾ cup arrowroot starch
150 grams/ ¾ cup sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:
154 grams/ 3 large eggs (see option for 2 eggs in notes below)
121 grams/ ½ cup + 1 tablespoon almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
61 grams/ ⅓ cup light-tasting olive oil (or other mild tasting oil)
1 tablespoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners and spritz liners with non-stick cooking spray or brush with olive oil or coconut oil.
2. In a large bowl whisk together all dry ingredients.
3. In a small bowl whisk together all wet ingredients. Stir wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly until you have a wet batter.
4. Spoon batter into greased cupcake liners until ¾ full. Bake for 18-20 minutes until tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.
5. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before decorating with your favorite frosting.

Notes:

• To have a less “eggy” flavor, use 2 eggs and add an additional ¼ cup of any of the following: applesauce, pumpkin puree, mashed bananas, pureed sweet potatoes or butternut squash. To keep the cupcake tasting very vanilla-y, use applesauce instead of the other options. 
• Milk: Use whatever milk substitute you would like. If you can use dairy milk, feel free to use that as well. 
• Sugar: Feel free to use coconut palm sugar or unrefined cane sugar in the same amount as the sugar. I'm not exactly sure how to use honey or maple syrup, as you would need to adjust the liquids in this recipe as well. 
• Egg-Free? NO idea... I haven't tried it completely egg-free, and I'm not sure how well it would work... however, if you try it and it works out well for you, please let me know how you did it!

Product Review: gardenlites™ Veggie Muffins

Product: gardenlites™ Veggie Muffins

Last week I received a big box of gardenlites™ Veggie Muffins to try. I was sent five different varieties (was rather blown away by that! I was expecting maybe 1 box! lol), and Michael and I have tried two of them so far. Since they were individually packaged, we took them with us to work for snacks and/or for breakfast. ALL of the muffins are gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free and soy-free, and are PACKED full of vegetables! What I really love (in addition to the allergen-free goodness) is that these muffins have 5 grams of fiber EACH, plus 3 grams of protein! 

They are low in sugar and the main ingredient in each muffin is a veggie! So far we have tried the Carrot Berry Muffins and the Blueberry Oat Muffins. Next on my list to try is the Zucchini Chocolate Veggie Muffins! The company doesn't necessary market the products as gluten-free, because they want them to be seen as a healthy baked item for all folks, not just the gluten-free crowd!  

To give you an example of the nutritional info (which you can also EASILY find on the gardenlites website - I love that!), here's what you'll find in the Carrot Berry Muffins, which are so far my favorite variety: 

Nutritional Info: 

• Calories: 120 for one muffin
• Total Fat: 2 grams
• Cholesterol: 20 milligrams
• Sodium: 250 milligrams
• Total Carbohydrates: 24 grams
• Dietary Fiber: 5 gram
• Sugars: 11 grams
• Protein: 3 grams

Ingredients (for the Carrot Berry Veggie Muffins):  
Carrot, Pasteurized Egg Whites, Pasteurized Whole Eggs, Evaporated Cane Juice, Brown Sugar, Soluble Corn Fiber, Corn Starch, Sorghum Flour, Brown Rice Flour, Canola Oil, Dried Cherries (cherries, rice flour), Dried Blueberries (blueberries, sugar, sunflower oil), Dried Cranberries (cranberries, rice flour, sugar, sunflower oil), Baking Powder (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, corn starch, monocalcium phosphate), Potato Starch, Cinnamon, Salt, Vanilla Extract.

Other Current Flavors Include: 

• Golden Corn Veggie Muffins
• Zucchini Banana Chocolate Chip Veggie Muffins
• Zucchini Chocolate Veggie Muffins
• Blueberry Oat Veggie Muffins

Having these muffins in the freezer the past week has been a nice treat! When I needed a quick breakfast or snack, I grabbed one from the freezer. You can allow them to defrost on the counter or just pop them in the microwave for about 30 seconds to have a warm, "fresh-from-the-oven" tasting muffin!

I love that vegetables are the first ingredient in these gluten-free treats.  It can be pretty easy to incorporate fruits into other foods and baked goods, but vegetables can be a challenge. I think kids would really enjoy these muffins and they would be perfect for lunch boxes.

The muffins are quite moist and have a tender crumb. They are individually wrapped, which makes them very convenient. Also, for those concerned about the environment, they really don't have a lot of extra packaging which I really appreciated.
 
The gardenlites website is extremely consumer-friendly and easy to navigate and you can easily find where to purchase gardenlites products, along with ALL the ingredient and nutritional info for each product they carry (simply click on each product!). I really appreciate that they make it so easy for a consumer to find their information. I feel like when companies are proud of the products they carry, they are open and completely transparent about sharing their information.

These are muffins I would definitely purchase when they become available in my area!

GLG Disclosure: 

The product samples were sent to me by Gardenlites.com. to review on my blog if I CHOSE to do so. 

This is NOT a sponsored post and I did NOT receive monetary compensation. 

The opinions and photography in this post are completely my own.

Gluten-Free Streusel-Topped Blueberry Muffins 2.0

I started making these muffins back in 2008 and I still love them! I make them a bit differently now than I did back then. I don't use as many gluten-free flours (the less complicated the better!), I don't use fake margarine anymore (Velveeta is a different story...), but I sure do still whip those egg whites! 

These muffins are just so pretty I felt like I should showcase them again. There are four components to the muffins, the wet ingredients, the dry ingredients, the streusel ingredients, and whipping the egg whites... so technically you might need to get four bowls dirty to create these beauties. But honestly, I don't think you'll regret it. It's worth washing 4 bowls. 

The muffins are perfect for a brunch or even as dessert and I think they will travel well. I'm actually going to test out that theory tomorrow on a trip to see some good friends in Richmond, Va.

You could of course use any other berries for these muffins. Even chocolate chips, banana bits, chopped peaches or apples, etc... One thing I've learned though is definitely measure out those berries. While the fruit (or blueberries) are the showcase of these muffins, if you go overboard the batter will become too wet and the muffins will be gooey in the middle. Nobody wants a gooey muffin.

So here's the revised recipe, simply updated to using the ingredients that I now keep on hand in my pantry. I hope you'll enjoy them either by using the original recipe or the one below!

Gluten-Free, Streusel-Topped Blueberry Muffins
--created by Carrie Forbes author of Gingerlemongirl.com
--free of gluten, dairy, and soy
--printer-friendly recipe

Dry Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1 cup arrowroot starch
• 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients: 

• 2 egg yolks
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 3/4 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup light-tasting olive oil or melted butter

Streusel Topping:

• 3 tablespoons brown rice flour
• 2 tablespoons GF oats or blanched almond flour
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons butter or coconut oil

Glaze:

• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 1-3 teaspoons orange juice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks, applesauce, almond milk, olive oil or melted butter and sugar. Add the flour mixture to the egg yolk mixture and fold just until combined. Fold in blueberries.
4. In another bowl whip egg whites until stiff. SLOWLY fold the whipped egg whites into the muffin batter. (If you still see streaks or clumps of egg white that is OKAY, it does NOT have to be completely incorporated!)
5. Spoon batter into a greased or paper-lined muffin tins (makes 10-11 large/ bakery-sized muffins or 24 mini-muffins).
6. In a small bowl, mix together streusel topping ingredients. Sprinkle evenly over unbaked muffins.
7. Bake for 18-21 minutes. Depending on the temperature of your oven, you may have to bake muffins longer. They are done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. If you hit a blueberry while testing it will stain your toothpick purple! 
8. Cool muffins on a wire rack.
9. Mix glaze ingredients together. Only add enough orange juice to give the glaze the consistency you desire. Drizzled on completely cooled muffins. Enjoy!

Banana Double Chocolate Almond Flour Donuts (gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, and grain free)

Today I woke up to gorgeous sunlight in my kitchen. When that sunlight hits the table just right at about 9am on Saturday mornings it's perfect for taking food photography! I'm no expert, but it's a great time to pull out the camera and practice different techniques and angles. I prefer natural morning light to any other type of light for photography. It just works SO well with food. Of course that means you end up baking a lot of breakfast items to take pictures of! :-)

Charlie thought they looked pretty dang tasty!

I asked Michael what he wanted me to make. He said waffles... except... I'm pretty sure I goodwill-ed the waffle iron in a kitchen purge. It didn't have a dual purpose in life... it just made waffles, so out it went! (This logic makes no sense to my husband! lol) But when you have a tiny kitchen and very limited cabinet space... out goes the waffle maker... but I think I'm getting side-tracked...

So then I started thinking donuts. I made vegan powdered sugar donuts last weekend when we had friends come over for dinner. My friend Heather is also gluten-free and hadn't had donuts in years, so we gladly ate donuts and coffee for dessert! The donuts were still on my mind. Even though, technically, a baked "cake-like" donut is basically a muffin in disguise, it just seems a lot more fun because it's round and has a hole in the center! lol... Funny how life plays little tricks on us like that isn't it! 

Below is the recipe for the donuts I came up with. I based the recipe loosely from the low glycemic chocolate donut recipe I have in my cookbook, "The Everything Gluten-Free Baking Cookbook."  Michael likes chocolate chip anything, so I thought that would be fun to throw in the batter. I also had some bananas that were a bit past their prime, so I used the banana in place of 1 egg and some additional liquids in the original recipe. I also used both almond flour and arrowroot starch, because I think the combination of the two give a great texture for gluten-free baked goods.

Banana Double Chocolate Almond Flour Donuts
--created by Carrie Forbes, author of Gingerlemongirl.com
--adapted from a recipe in "The Everything Gluten-Free Baking Cookbook"
--free of gluten, dairy, soy, and grains
--printer-friendly version

Yields: 6 large donuts

Dry Ingredients:
3/4 cup (81 grams) blanched almond flour
1/2 cup (61 grams) arrowroot starch
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:
1 large (98 grams) banana
1 large (49 grams) egg
1/3 cup (56 grams) brown sugar
2 tablespoons light tasting olive oil
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Add In's:
1/3 cup (55 grams) chocolate chips

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spritz a large donut pan with non-stick cooking spray or grease with coconut oil or butter.
2. In a large bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients. 
3. In a smaller bowl mash the banana with a fork until pureed. Stir in remaining wet ingredients. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until you have a wet batter. 
4. Spoon batter evenly into the donut pan for each donut. You should have exactly enough batter to fill each donut mold/indention about 3/4 full.
5. Bake for 10-13 minutes until donuts have doubled in size and are crisp and dark brown around the edges. 
6. Allow donuts to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack or plate to cool completely. 
7. IF DESIRED, you can create a white glaze for the donuts by simply mixing 1 cup of powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons water or almond milk. Dunk each donut in the glaze and allow to rest on the wire rack for an additional 20 minutes or so to let glaze harden.  Serve immediately. These donuts are best the day they are made, but will also freeze well. 

Review: Gluten-Free Mimi's Whole Grain Muffin Mix

I met Melissa Friend (AKA Gluten-Free Mimi) several years ago at a gluten-free expo in Raleigh, NC. She had just started selling her gluten-free baked goods to local coffee shops and through direct order. She came by my booth, introduced herself and I was immediately drawn to her. Melissa had such a kind and thoughtful demeanor. We talked about our local gluten-free support groups and our favorite gluten-free things we enjoyed baking.

Several years later Melissa decided to change her business model when her husband was told he needed to eat a lower glycemic diet to stay healthy. She went back to the kitchen and re-worked her favorite muffin recipe to make it both gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, whole grain, AND gum-free (no xanthan gum or guar gum! Do you know how hard that is to find in a baking mix??). She also began experimenting with paleo recipes and creating a paleo "bun" mix, again free of gluten, dairy, and soy.

After many trials Melissa finally created two mixes that she felt could be game-changers. A gluten-free, whole-grain muffin mix, and an easy paleo bun mix.

I had been following Melissa for quite a while on facebook and when her business page hit 200 "likes" I won a bag of her gluten-free, whole grain baking mix. I couldn't wait to try it!

I seem to go through "muffin" spells... I won't bake them for months and then out of nowhere I'll make them for weeks on end and not get tired of them! I love muffins because they are easy, in perfect portions, and and I've always been someone who preferred the cake to the frosting, so muffins are sort of healthy cake in disguise right?

Well with this gluten-free baking mix, they definitely are!

The instructions are super simple! Simply add: 2 eggs, 1/4 cup oil, 1/4 cup applesauce, and 1 cup pumpkin puree to the dry ingredients. Scoop the batter into a paper-lined muffin pan and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. This mix makes 12 good-size muffins (and could easily make 24 mini-muffins, if you would prefer!)

I knew immediately that the mix would be versatile. Since there are no added flavorings or spices, you can customize these muffins with the ingredients you have on hand!

• Want banana nut muffins? Use 1 cup of mashed bananas instead of pumpkin puree and add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. 
• Want chocolate chip muffins? Stir in 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract to the batter. 
• Want lemon blueberry muffins? Stir in 1/2 cup frozen or fresh blueberries and 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest into the batter. 
• Want zucchini spice muffins? (Great way to use up too many zucchini!) Substitute 1 cup freshly shredded zucchini in place of the pumpkin puree. Add 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice and 2 tablespoons water to the batter. 

When I decided to make the muffins I had two super ripe bananas that needed to be used. So I used the bananas in place of the pumpkin puree and then added about 1/4 cup sliced almonds and 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips to the batter. Then I baked as directed. Easy peasy!

Michael loved the banana chocolate chip muffins and we love the crunch that sliced almonds add to baked goods.

I would highly recommend using this easy gluten-free baking mix from Gluten-Free Mimi. It's very hard to find gluten-free mixes that are not primarily made from high glycemic starches such as white rice flour, potato starch, and tapioca starch. I love that this mix contains buckwheat flour, millet flour, and even teff flour! These wonderful dense grains almost give these muffins a delicious "bran" flavor! Yet they are "light" enough to even please picky palates (such as my husbands!) I also just LOVE that Melissa does not include "gums" in this mix. For those who are sensitive to guar gum or xanthan gum, this mix is just for you! (Melissa uses flax seeds to help give these lovlies their wonderful texture, instead of the gums!) 

Gluten-Free Mimi is also working on a low glycemic coconut flour mix, so there will be many more options from her store in the future! Right now you can purchase mixes directly from her site: http://www.glutenfreemimi.com/ (check here for the shopping page: http://www.glutenfreemimi.com/products-and-recipes/ -> scroll to the bottom to add to your shopping cart and order!)

I hope to try the paleo baking mix in the next few weeks. When I do, I'll let you know how they turn out! Thank you so much for sharing your awesome mix with me Melissa!

Gluten Free Almond Flour Lemon Muffin/Cake Recipe

Almond flour lemon muffins - this was my favorite flavor.

The past two weeks I've been slowly working towards making all of my meals and snacks paleo (basically no grains, sugar, legumes, or dairy).  I feel so much better when I eat less sugar, less grains, and less baked goods... however... I just can't help it. I love to bake. (Although admittedly, not really as much as I used too... I'm starting to think I like cooking more than baking now... what is happening to me? lol!)

So a few weeks ago I made an amazing lemon cake for a friend's birthday. It was SO good. Especially since I made it using Meyer lemons which are just wow. So I wanted "lemon" something else. I couldn't decide between cake or muffins and honestly, they aren't that different... so the recipe I'm sharing today could be used either as cake or a muffin. You pick. Don't you like it when you get to pick?

Just pretend you don't notice the stray cathair on the up front cupcake. No, you don't see it. And if you want to make that nut-butter frosting, here you go:  http://www.whole-body-detox-diet.com/sugar-free-carrot-cake.html

This cake is lower in sugar than most gluten free cakes. For the main sweetener I used coconut palm sugar. If you don't like coconut palm sugar or can't find it... just use plain ol' white sugar. It will work just as well. I also used lemon gelatin in this cake for flavor. I've tried in the past to use a lot of citrus and/or lemon juice in cakes and it never goes well. SO I'm sorry if you're opposed to lemon gelatin... if you come up with another alternative let me know! All I know, is I made a vanilla version of this cake minus the lemon gelatin and I didn't like it nearly as much... so apparently I like the lemon gelatin. I'll pretend it's paleo.

I also used liquid stevia in this recipe. I used the "NOW" brand, but there are many different brands available. The cake would probably taste fine without it and honestly I wasn't a fan of using the stevia in the plain vanilla version... so take it or leave it... again, you pick. See how easy this is?

I'm including the vanilla variation at the bottom of the recipe, but I will tell you, it wasn't my favorite. ALSO... the almond flour batter is heavy... therefore it rises better as muffins or cupcakes. They are taller, prettier, and much less dense as cupcakes than it is as a cake. SO... you pick. :-)

Gluten Free Almond Flour Lemon Muffins or Cake, with a Vanilla Variation
free of grains, soy, dairy/casein, and gluten (also low in processed sugar)
created by Carrie Forbes of Gingerlemongirl.com
printer-friendly version

Dry Ingredients:
2 cups blanched almond flour, gently packed in the cup
1/2 cup arrowroot starch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 baking soda
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3 tablespoons lemon gelatin (about half of a 3 oz. package)

Wet Ingredients:
1 teaspoon lemon extract
10-12 drops liquid stevia
3 large eggs
1/2 cup almond milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin/cupcake pan with paper liners -or- an 8" cake pan with parchment paper on the bottom and grease pan with non-stick cooking spray or olive oil. In a large mixing bowl whisk together all dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl whisk together all wet ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients  and whisk until thoroughly combined. Pour batter into lined muffin/cupcake pan or cake pan. For cupcakes/muffins bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cake comes out clean. For one-layer cake bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack until completely cool. For cupcakes frost with your favorite frosting or you can use a low sugar/low glycemic nut frosting such as this one.

Vanilla Variation -- If you want plain vanilla cake/muffins instead of lemon simply use 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract in place of the lemon extract and leave out the lemon jello. You may want to leave out the stevia in a vanilla version as I felt you could really taste the stevia since the cake was so plain. Using vanilla paste or the seeds from a vanilla bean might really improve the flavor of the plain cake. If you try it, please let me know what you think!

gluten free, grain free banana spice muffins recipe

I originally published this recipe in June of 2008. It's amazing to me that I was experimenting with grain free eating a year into my gluten free journey. And now, 4 years later -- grain-free is finally starting to become my way of life. Since 2008 I've made these muffins countless times and in the past few months they have become a breakfast staple.

I often vary the spices. Sometimes it's nutmeg, or cardamom, or ginger, or cloves... use whatever strikes your fancy. Even a pinch of tumeric can make an enticing addition. I love warm spices, so it's the perfect season to revisit these hearty muffins.

I've changed the recipe only slightly since I first shared it. It now calls for less sweetener, and I've chosen honey instead of agave nectar or sugar. Feel free to use what you prefer.

Don't want to use bananas? Use a cup of plain pumpkin puree instead. Or unsweetened applesauce. Just make them your own and enjoy their simple, just-sweet-enough goodness!

Share in the comments below or chat with me here on the blog and let me know how you would spice up these muffins!

Gluten Free, Grain Free Banana Spice Muffins
free of gluten, grains, dairy/casein, soy, and corn.
created by Carrie @ http://www.gingerlemongirl.com
printer-friendly recipe

Dry Ingredients
3 cups blanched almond flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Wet Ingredients
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup honey
2 large ripe bananas, mashed
3 eggs, whisked
3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners and spritz with nonstick cooking spray, set aside. Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl and set aside. In another bowl, mash bananas. Add honey. Mix in eggs, oil, apple cider vinegar and vanilla. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Spoon batter into lined muffin pans until they are at least 3/4 full. Makes 12 large muffins. Bake for 18-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack. Store in airtight container in refrigerator. These are moist muffins.

Gluten Free Streusel-Topped Fresh Blueberry Muffins Recipe

I originally shared these muffins on June 26th 2008. Ever since, they have been one of my favorite recipes to make each summer as local blueberries appear at the Piggly Wiggly.

Muffins are one of the easiest baked goods to make gluten free. Gluten isn't needed in muffins. Gluten actually makes baked goods tough, and the more you stir gluten the "tougher" it becomes. Which is the reason it works so well in traditional yeast breads. Gluten creates a stretchy structure that holds bread together and makes a pizza crust so chewy. But you see.. .you don't need that in a muffin.

Muffins are supposed to be soft, a bit delicate, and have a tender crumb... unless, of course, you want a whole grain bran muffin which is a whole different story. But in either case... your muffins don't need gluten.

This is only one aspect of gluten free baking that I love! With a simple blueberry muffin recipe you learn how ingredients work together. How whisking the dry ingredients incorporates air into the batter and gives you a light & fluffy end product. How beating egg whites until they are fluffy and folding them in the batter helps your baked goods rise beautifully. How using oil instead of butter will create a baked good that retains it's moisture and therefore has a longer "shelf" life. All of this... just from a batch of muffins!

Blueberry muffins are a summer favorite. I definitely recommend using fresh, local blueberries if you can find them. Although you can also use frozen berries if you need too. Sometimes frozen blueberries can be bitter, so you may need to adjust the amount of sugar in your recipe if that's the case. If you use frozen berries, make sure to use them frozen. Do not defrost them. Otherwise, you'll have purple batter, as I found out here.

Streusel-Topped Fresh Blueberry Muffins
free of gluten, casien/dairy, and soy
created by Carrie Forbes, author of Gingerlemongirl.com
printer-friendly recipe

If you are new to gluten free baking, please read my article on Gluten Free Flours & Baking Ingredients 101. 

Dry Ingredients:
2/3 cup arrowroot starch
2/3 cup brown rice flour
2/3 cup sorghum flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum (used as a thickening agent, you can leave this out if you'd like)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:
2 egg yolks
2 egg whites
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup applesauce
3/4 cup non-dairy (or dairy) milk
1/4 cup canola oil, coconut oil, butter, or margarine

Streusel Topping:
3 tablespoons brown rice flour
2 tablespoons gluten free rolled oats
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons vegan margarine

Glaze:
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1-3 teaspoons orange juice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks, applesauce, rice milk, canola oil (or melted butter), and sugar. Add the flour mixture to the egg yolk mixture and fold just until combined. Fold in blueberries. In another bowl whip egg whites until stiff. SLOWLY fold the whipped egg whites into the muffin batter. (If you still see streaks or clumps of egg white that is OKAY, it does NOT have to be completely incorporated!) Spoon batter into a greased or paper-lined muffin tins (makes 10-11 large/ bakery-sized muffins or 24 mini-muffins). In a small bowl, mix together streusel topping ingredients. Sprinkle over unbaked muffins. Bake for 18-25 minutes. Depending on the temperature of your oven, you may have to bake muffins longer. They are done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. If you hit a blueberry while testing it will stain your toothpick purple! As long as additional crumbs are not sticking to the toothpick the muffins are done!! Cool muffins on a wire rack. Mix glaze ingredients together. Only add enough orange juice to give the glaze the consistency you desire. Drizzled on completely cooled muffins.

Enjoy!

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A few more of my favorite gluten free muffin recipes:

Banana Nut Muffins

Orange Cinnamon Muffins

Super Easy (Bisquick) Blueberry Muffins

Dark Chocolate Vegan Muffins

Whole Grain Teff Muffins

Carob Banana Muffins

Easy Peanut Butter Muffins

Gluten Free Master Baking Mix/ Homemade "Bisquick" Recipes

In this gluten free journey I've created quite a few recipes over the years. One of the most popular on this site is my gluten free master baking mix. I revised the original recipe last year to create a healthier, whole-grain, soy-free, and dairy/casein-free version. Since then I've used it for countless recipes... dinner recipes...dessert recipes...snacks...you name it! It's so easy to use. It's much healthier than the Betty Crocker version, it's a more frugal option, and it's incredible easy to make.

Today I'm sharing the Revised Whole Grain Gluten Free Master Baking Mix recipe again, along with 5 additional SUPER easy recipes that you can make with the master baking mix.

I would really love your feedback on these recipes. I love the biscuits. I love the cakey-cookies. I love the easy muffins. And mostly... the pancakes just rock.

What are your favorite OLD Bisquick recipes? What would you make using this mix or the original mix? If you have a recipe you'd like me to try & feature on the blog using this mix, please email me your suggestions!

Soft & sweet chocolate chip cookies made using the GF Whole Grain Master Baking Mix. 

Flaky,  Buttery Drop Biscuits made using the GF Whole Grain Master Baking Mix. 

Ginger Lemon Girl's Gluten Free/Casein Free
Master Baking Mix (Like Bisquick)
Free of gluten, dairy/casein, and soy
Created by Carrie Forbes @ Gingerlemongirl.com
Printer-friendly recipe

3 cups brown rice flour
2 cups sorghum flour -or- millet flour
1 1/2 cups arrowroot starch -or- tapioca starch
1/2 cup potato starch
1/4 cup brown rice protein powder -or- almond flour
1/4 cup ground flax seeds (optional - great for a whole grain texture & extra fiber!)
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 cup coconut oil or spectrum palm shortening (I used spectrum)

Whisk all dry ingredients together thoroughly. Cut in shortening, until it is thoroughly mixed into the dry ingredients and looks like tiny peas. Store in a tightly-sealed container in fridge or pantry. Makes about 7 cups.

***********************

Half Recipe: 
1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
1 cup sorghum flour -or- millet flour
3/4 cups arrowroot starch -or- tapioca starch

1/4 cup potato starch

2 tablespoons brown rice protein powder -or- almond flour

2 tablespoons ground flax seeds (optional - great for a whole grain texture & extra fiber!)

2 teaspoons xanthan gum

1 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 cup coconut oil or spectrum palm shortening (I used spectrum)

Whisk all dry ingredients together thoroughly. Cut in shortening, until it is thoroughly mixed into the dry ingredients and looks like tiny peas. Store in a tightly-sealed container in fridge or pantry. Makes about 3 1/2 cups.

A Few Gluten Free Master Mix Recipes: 

1) Easy Muffins: 
1 cup MASTER MIX
¼ cup sugar
⅓ cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
⅓ c. blueberries, chocolate chips, chopped apples, etc...

Mix all ingredients. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners. Fill ¾ full of batter. Bake 350 for 17-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle of muffin comes out clean. Makes 6 muffins.

2) Pancakes: 
1 cup MASTER MIX
¾ cup - 1 cup milk (or non-dairy milk)
1 egg

Mix all ingredients together, you can add additional milk if necessary depending on how thick or thin you like your pancake batter. Grease pan (with butter, oil, or non-stick spray) and heat until droplets of water will sizzle. Pour about 2 tbsp. batter per pancake onto preheated hot skillet. Cook on med. high heat until bubbles form & pop on top of pancakes -or- until edges look dry. Flip cook an additional minute or so. Serve hot. Makes about 9 (2") pancakes.

3) Drop Biscuits: 
1 ¼ cup MASTER MIX
3 tablespoons palm shortening, crisco, or butter
1 egg
2-4 tablespoons cold water

Cut shortening or butter into master mix until it looks like small peas. Stir in egg. Stir in1 tablespoon of water at a time until you have a stiff dough. (You may not need all 4 tablespoons of water.) Drop batter (2-3 tbsp. at a time) on greased baking sheet, each biscuit about 2” apart. Shape each biscuit into a circle. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Place a pat of butter or margarine on top of each biscuit in the last few minutes of baking. My oven underheats, so things tend not to brown -- you may need to turn up your oven to BROIL for 2-3 minutes to brown the biscuits. DO NOT allow to broil for longer or they will burn.  Makes 6 biscuits.

4) Basic Cookies: 
2 ¾ cups MASTER MIX
½ cup palm shortening, crisco, or butter
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoons vanilla
2-4 tablespoons water
ADD IN'S -- 1 cup of any of the following (or mix of the following): chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, chopped pecans, raisins, coconut flakes, macadamia nuts, rolled oats, chopped candied oranges, etc...

Cream sugar with shortening or butter. Add eggs and vanilla. Stir in master mix. If needed, add 2-4 tablespoons of water until you get a stiff (not crumbly) batter. Fold in any additional flavorings/spices/additions. Drop by tablespoons onto baking sheet.  Flatten cookies slightly with the bottom of a glass or the palm of your hand, as they will not spread. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen 1" cookies.

5) Impossible Cheeseburger Pie
1 lb. ground beef, ground turkey, or ground chicken
1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (dairy free version -- shredded daiya vegan cheese)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup MASTER MIX
1 cup milk (or non-dairy milk)
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9" pie pan or a large baking dish. In a large skillet brown ground beef and chopped onions. Spread browned ground beef & cooked onions in the greased baking dish. Sprinkle ground beef with cheese or daiya vegan alternative. In a small bowl mix together the salt, master mix, milk, and eggs. Pour over the ground beef & cheese. Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown and/or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool 5 minutes before serving. Makes 8 slices. Serve each slice with the option of being topped with mustard, ketchup, chopped tomatoes, and dill pickles!

Gluten Free Whole Grain Teff Muffins Recipe

At a recent local gluten free support group meeting one of our wonderful members presented a program on different gluten free flours and how to use them. She brought a delicious batch of gluten free teff muffins from a Bette Hagman cookbook. The muffins were incredible. Deeply rich and distinctly tasted like the whole wheat bran muffins I remembered from my gluten days.

I decided to try the muffins this morning with my own personal revisions (since apparently it's impossible for me make ANY recipe as is... lol)

I am so impressed with these muffins. The only type of teff I could find locally was a bag of whole teff grains. The are TINY grains -- I believe they might be considered the smallest grains in the world. I pondered what exactly to do with them and then realized I could probably grind them in my vitamix since they were so small! I poured about 1 cup of grains into the vitamix and ground them slowly for a minute or two. The end result was a soft, slightly grainy flour.

It worked! I made a large batch of muffins so I could take them to work this week for breakfast. the texture of these muffins is incredible. It really does remind me of bran muffins by texture and taste! I am low on eggs at the moment, so I used Ener-G Egg Replacer and additional oil in place of eggs. It made the muffins not rise quite as high as they would have otherwise, but it didn't affect the flavor one bit! I also left gums out of these muffins and added my favorite ground flax seeds which means additional healthy fiber and omega-3's!

I've also started measuring my flours by weight in addition to volume for those of you who prefer to measure ingredients by weight. I'll always be a cup & teaspoons girl myself, but it is fun to see how much the different flours each weigh separately. I hope this will be a helpful addition my recipes.

Gluten Free Teff Muffins
free of gluten, dairy/casein, soy, corn, gums, potatoes, eggs
adapted from a Bette Hagman recipe from, "The Gluten Free Gourmet Cooks Comfort Foods"
(I made a large batch so that I could take these for breakfast this week)
Makes 18 regular sized muffins
printer-friendly recipe

Dry Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups (228 gm) teff flour
2/3 cup (80 gm) arrowroot starch
1/4 cup (28 gm) ground flax seeds
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup (102 gm) sugar

Wet Ingredients:
4 eggs -OR- 1/2 cup (145 gm) warm water + 2 tbsp. EnerG egg replacer whisked together
1/2 cup (95 gm) oil
1 cup (240 gm) non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)

Optional Add In's:
1/2 cup chopped nuts (55 gm) -- I used chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins (76 gm)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cupcake/muffin pans with paper liners or spritz with non-stick cooking spray. (I was able to make 18 of them). In a large bowl whisk together all dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl mix together all wet ingredients and pour into dry ingredients. Mix just until thoroughly combined. Fold in chopped nuts or raisins. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with muffin batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the muffins comes out clean. The muffins with be dark brown -- almost "chocolately" in appearance. If you use eggs the muffins will have tall domed tops, if you use egg replacer as I did, they will just reach the top of the muffin liner and have a flat top -- either way they are still delicious!! Allow muffins to cool 10-15 minutes before eating. If they are not allowed to cool properly they will have a taste slightly gooey.

Nutrition Information Per Muffin using egg-replacer (18 Muffins):
171 calories, 9 grams fat, 2 grams fiber, 2 grams protein

Carrie's Ingredient Notes:

• Flours: I used teff flour as my main whole grain in this recipe. The flour gives these muffins the distinct bran-like flavor they have, but feel free to use the same amount of your favorite whole grain flour, although know they will have a slightly different taste. I use arrowroot starch exclusively as my starch of choice, although you could easily sub this with cornstarch, potato starch, or white rice flour.
• Sugar: In this initial recipe I used regular white sugar. You could also use brown sugar, coconut sugar, date sugar etc... feel free to use the sugar you like best. You could also reduce the sugar by a 1/3 in this recipe without having a big difference in the flavor of the muffins.
• Oil: I generally use canola oil or olive oil in my recipes. Feel free to use the oil of your choice. It should not adversely affect the texture or taste of these muffins. You could also use 1/4 cup oil + 1/4 cup applesauce to cut back on both fat content and calories.
• Ground Flax Seeds: These serve several purposes in this recipe. First they add a nuttiness and a lot of healthy fiber to the recipe. Secondly when ground flax seeds are introduced to a liquid they start to gel slightly, so they take the place of using xanthan gum for texture in this recipe. I don't advise leaving them out of the recipe. You could use 2 tbsp of ground chia seeds in place of the flax if you prefer.
• Non-Dairy Milk: Use regular milk or your preferred non-dairy milk. I always use almond milk since I can find it locally.

Gluten Free Girl's Whole Grain Muffins

I really love Gluten Free Girl. To be honest, before I met her at IFBC 2010 I thought she was a bit of a food snob. One more reason I need to stop judging people before I meet them! :-) I'm so glad I had the opportunity to meet her!  Shauna is a gem. She has an incredible hug and even more incredible heart for people. Her laughter --a joy to hear, her boots red, and her smile is warm & inviting.

I truly enjoy her writing & her blog. One thing I love about reading blogs is that you get to watch as the seasons change, as writers evolve, as their food changes.

Shauna has recently decided to stop using white sugar in their home. She's using more natural choices such as sucanat, date sugar, coconut/palm sugar, etc... She's also using more whole grains and she's cutting gums out of her baked goods.

I absolutely love all of these changes. They cater to my own natural & healthy food choices and I'm excited about the new possibilities in Shauna's baked goods. I'm eagerly awaiting her gluten free yeast bread that doesn't contain gums!

Last night I tried her whole grain muffins.

The muffins don't use xanthan gum or guar gum. The first thing I loved about them! Shauna also uses a 70% whole grains and 30% starches for this recipe. She tells you how to make your own personalized gluten free whole grain mix and then shares a basic recipe template. She wants you to play. She wants you to start thinking off the page.

Recipes are simply the outline, the basic idea of what you can make. It's up to you to make them unique. To use what you have available. To be creative and inspired.

The muffins we made last night used a combination of almond flour, sorghum flour, brown rice flour, quinoa flour (I love the taste of quinoa with cinnamon & raisins!), arrowroot starch, and ground flax seeds.  As Shauna stated, you'll probably never make the same muffins twice! That's certainly the case at our house. For the add in's we used about 1/4 of raisins (which cleaned out my stash of raisins) and a handful of sliced almonds. Apparently my chopped walnuts & pecans have hidden themselves in the freezer beyond my reach.

Since I'm watching my calorie intake I calculated that basically my overall recipe (including the amount of sugar & oil used in the original recipe) had 3693 calories. I was able to make 18 muffins from the batter, which means each muffin had about 205 calories. Overall, not bad! Plus, the health benefits of these whole grain muffins is substantial. I love that our version contained healthy proteins & fats with the almond flour + quinoa flour + ground flax seeds.

To reduce the calories in my next batch, I'll probably use a bit less sugar and replace half the oil with applesauce or pumpkin puree.

I was thrilled when I caught my husband (who generally isn't a huge fan of baked goods) packing 3 muffins in a plastic bag to take to work with him today. As I munched on my muffins for breakfast this morning, I was pleasantly surprised at how moist they were.

Do you enjoy muffins? What you would you include in your 70/30 gluten free whole grain mix? If you need some inspiration, here are a few of my favorite muffin recipes and most of them are whole grain:

• Gluten Free Whole Grain Banana Nut Muffins
• Gluten Free Streusel-Topped Blueberry Muffins
• Gluten Free, Whole Grain Vegan Banana Bread - easily made into muffins!
• Gluten Free Carob Banana Muffins
• Gluten Free Vegan Dark Chocolate Muffins
• Gluten Free Ginger Lemon Muffins 
• Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Gluten Free Orange Cinnamon Muffins

*This post is linked to The Gluten Free Homemaker's Wednesday Carnival for 1/26/11.