Blueberry Mesquite Cornbread Muffins - Gluten Free

The gluten-free blueberry muffin idea was born at Trader Joe's while looking at a package of Wild Blueberries from Canada. I remembered that blueberries and cornbread are great together. My shopping companions made sure that the blueberries made it into the cart and off we headed to the checkout line.

I started with my basic cornbread recipe (December 1, 2006 post) and started by dividing the recipe in half. Then I substituted mesquite flour for the sweet rice flour and almond meal. I added 1/3 cup of blueberries to the recipe and topped the muffins with more blueberries and Turbinado sugar. They turned out beautifully. Tasting them was so sad...they were bland and the blueberries didn't taste like blueberries. The basic muffin didn't taste like cornbread at all. Overall, they had a bland generic berry flavor.

Back to the planning stages for this recipe. I began by adjusting the amounts of mesquite and arrowroot flours, then added back the sweet rice flour. I was ready to try again. I mixed, baked and tasted the second batch. Wow, they tasted like mesquite cornbread and better yet the flavor of the blueberries stood out.

Recipe

Muffins:
1 cup + 1 Tb yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup + 2 Tb brown rice flour
1/4 cup arrowroot flour
1/4 cup mesquite flour
2 Tb sweet rice flour
1/4 cup Turbinado sugar
1 cup of milk
1 1/2 tsp kudzu powder, dissolve in the milk
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
4 Tb vegetable shortening

Tops:
1/4 to 1/3 cup of blueberries
1/4 cup Turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper cups.

For mesquite cornbread muffins:
In a mixing bowl combine all the dry ingredients and blend. In another mixing bowl (I used my stand mixer for this), place the vegetable shortening and began blending. Add the egg and milk, continue blending. Add the dry ingredients to the stand mixer bowl. Blend quickly, taking care not to blend too much. Spoon mix into the paper cups. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

For blueberry muffins:
Spoon the batter into the muffin cups. Then top the muffins with blueberries and lightly press down. Sprinkle Turbinado sugar over the tops. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

They turned out beautifully and have a lovely aroma. They taste great. The flavors of mesquite and cornbread come through and the blueberries add a delightful sweet flavor. They hold together very well and don't fall apart when you bite into them.

Where are my judges? This morning I lost out to fried rings of gluten and sugar. Otherwise, known as the doughnut. I'll keep trying and let you know what they say...