Agave Pumpkin Muffins

Since my family has type II diabetes I have been following a diet lower on the Glycemic index for several years. However, over the last six months I have begun to have episodes of reactive hypoglycemia due to my hypothyroid condition. This has meant I have needed to work on lowering the Glycemic index of the foods I eat, once again.

I have been altering my family's favorite recipes, replacing the sugar with agave syrup, because it is lower on the Glycemic index. One of the first recipes I chose to work on was pumpkin muffins, because my children adore them. I topped some of them with pine nuts and pumpkin seeds that my husband and I thoroughly and enjoyed.

Recipe

1/3 cup vegetable shortening
3/4 cup agave syrup
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup pumpkin (fresh or canned)
2/3 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup chestnut flour
1/3 cup arrowroot starch
1/3 cup sweet rice flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cloves or nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup water
1 1/2 tsp kudzu/kuzu powder (dissolved in water)
Optional: 1/2 cup chopped pecans, pine nuts or pumpkin seeds

Servings: 14 muffins

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and place 12 silicone muffin cups on a cookie sheet.

2. In a mixing bowl, dump in the vegetable shortening and cream it on medium speed. Pour in the agave syrup and mix.

4. Dump in the pumpkin and eggs, then beat on medium speed.

5. Slowly add the flours, baking powder, soda, spices, salt and water with kudzu dissolved in it. Mix on low speed just until blended. Pour batter into silicone cups.

6. Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.

What did my family think about pumpkin muffins made with agave syrup? My family thought they were delicious and ate them up in a few days. I thought they were fabulous and they didn't bother my reactive hypoglycemia at all.

Cinnamon Carrot Muffins - Gluten Free

To kick off the Gluten Free Bread Baking Bonanza, I've made Agave Carrot Muffins. I'm holding the blogging event in honor of World Bread Day (October 16th) and October is National Celiac Awareness Month. Starting September 10th and going through October 1st, anyone may bake a gluten free bread, such as yeast, quick, popover, pizza, bagels, lefse, matzo and crackers. Take a picture, write a post about it on your blog and then send the link to gluten a go go at gmail dot com. I'll post a Bread Bonanza roundup message on Gluten A Go Go.

An update (9/13): If you would like to participate, but don't have a blog or web page, send your picture and recipe to gluten a go go at gmail dot com. I'll post your recipe on the blog.

If you are inspired, hold a gluten free bread event for charitable giving or fundraising for your favorite charity or the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA). Wrap your breads and include a copy of the recipe you used before giving them away, that way the person who enjoys your bread can make it for themselves. If you would like to have a fundraising event for the NFCA, you can also have a Gluten Free Cupcake Party with help from Pamela's Products.

Here are some wonderful gluten free recipes from last year's World Bread Day to help you get started, Brandon at Something in Season baked a delightful pumpkin bread, Hippy RN over at Food is Yummy! baked Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins, and Rachel of Rachel's Recipe Box made a loaf of delicious gluten free bread.

This recipe was inspired by Bette Hagman's Spicy Carrot Muffins in Living Well Without Wheat. These are tasty muffins that are delightful for breakfast with tea or coffee.

Recipe

1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup sweet rice flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup arrowroot starch
1/4 cup rice bran
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup grated carrot
2/3 cup orange juice
2 tsp tapioca granules
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup agave syrup
2 eggs, lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and place 12 silicone muffin cups on a cookie sheet.

2. Measure out the orange juice in a measuring cup and dump in the tapioca granules. Place in the microwave cook on low heat for approximately 30 seconds. Allow the orange juice mixture to sit while you put together the other ingredients.

3. In a large bowl, dump in the first ten ingredients and stir together.

4. In a medium sized bowl, pour in the orange juice, coconut oil, agave syrup, eggs and stir together.

5. Pour the liquid mixture into the carrot flour mixture and stir. Take care not to over mix the ingredients. Then spoon the muffin batter into the 12 muffin cups.

6. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

What did my family think about the muffins? My son didn't really care for the muffins, because carrots belong in things like chicken noodle soup. My daughter thought the muffins were okay, but she too wasn't so sure about carrots in bread. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed them and thought they were the best served warm with butter.

Banana Coconut Macadamia Nut Muffins - Gluten Free

Summer is one of the most wonderful seasons of the year. The vegetable market abounds with brightly colored foods that are all wonderfully gluten free. We have been living off the fruits and vegetables from our local vegetable stand again this summer.

The produce has been delicious and abundant. They have everything from kohlrabi to blueberries. Oh my...the blueberries...they are my weakness. My daughter and I pick some up with a plan to make muffins. After we wash them, my daughter asks if we should taste them to make sure they will be good enough for muffins. Oh dear...it was our undoing...we devoured that pint of blueberries. We couldn't stop, each berry seemed bigger than the last and the quest for the largest, sweetest berry keep us searching, tasting until the carton was bare.

Saddened when she realized that we wouldn't be having blueberry muffins, my daughter asked me, "What are we going to make, Mom?" "Not to worry, we have some ripe bananas that we make into muffins," I told her. We started to work on our recipe, which was inspired by the Banana Coconut Muffin recipe from Epicurious.com.

The muffins turned out moist and flavorful. Each bite tasting of banana with a hint of coconut and the rich sweetness of macadamia nuts.

Recipe

1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup sweet rice flour
1/4 cup arrowroot starch
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup agave syrup
1 large egg
1 tsp kudzu/kuzu powder*
1/4 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
1/4 cup flaked coconut, for tops

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin with with 8 paper liners or place 8 silicone muffin cups on a cookie sheet.

2. In a large bowl, dump in all the flours, baking powder and salt. Stir to blend the mixture together.

3. Crack the egg and place it into a small bowl. Pour in the kudzu/kuzu powder and stir together. Allow the kudzu/kuzu powder to dissolve into the egg. Break apart any bits that won't dissolve with the back of a spoon.

4. In a medium sized bowl, pour the coconut oil, agave syrup, egg & kudzu/kuzu mixture, and mashed bananas. Stir the mixture together.

5. Pour the banana mixture into the large mixing bowl of dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Take care not to over stir the mixture.

6. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups and sprinkle the tops with flaked coconut.

7. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly golden. Cool and serve.

* You may substitute 1/2 tsp guar or xanthan gum for the kudzu/kuzu powder.

What did my family think of Banana Coconut Macadamia Nut Muffins? The recipe received three thumbs up from my crew. I warmed up the muffins and served them for breakfast the next morning.

We went and picked up more blueberries from the vegetable stand...

3 more pints to be exact...

Simply...luscious...mmm...

Still nary a baked good in sight...

Pineapple Cashew Muffins (Gluten Free)

I had picked up a wonderful pineapple from Trader Joe's. It was the perfect pineapple. Sweet and scrumptious. We devoured most of it in one sitting. There was about a half cup of pineapple leftover and that made me think of muffins. Don't ask me why, but gluten-free pineapple muffins came to mind. Although, my daughter was actually horrified to think I was going to cook this wonderful leftover pineapple into a muffin.

They turned out beautifully and smelled delicious, but how did they taste? Sigh...Well, looks aren't everything, chalk another one up to the kitchen compost bin.

Ancient Harvest Quinoa - Gluten Free

I have a variety of gluten- free Quinoa in my pantry. I have Quinoa flakes and flour from Ancient Harvest and organic Quinoa grain from Trader Joe's. I have made exactly one food item from each and didn't explore further. I really enjoyed the Quinoa with garlic and vegetables that I made with the grains. Although, my kids... I've read that you have to offer new foods to kids at least seven times before they will like it, that leaves six times to go.

NASA is experimenting with different varieties of Quinoa for growing in space. The nutritional profile of quinoa is excellent as it contains protein, fiber, calcium, etc. You can see the nutritional profile of quinoa at Ancient Harvest's website. www.quinoa.net

I chose my box of Ancient Harvest Quinoa Flakes as my test subject. Ancient Harvest has several recipes on the back of the box that seemed like they had potential. One was for Quinoa peanut butter cookies and the other for Quinoa banana muffins. Since, I've never made these before I made sure to cut both recipes in half before starting to work.

Crispy Quinoa Peanut Butter Cookies - Gluten Free

1/4 cup honey
2 tsp + 1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/4 stick butter
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup brown rice flour
6 Tb Quinoa Flakes
1/4 tsp Vanilla
1/8 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
Optional: 1/4 cup nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix the honey, sugar, butter, peanut butter and vanilla in a medium bowl until creamy. Combine the dry ingredients in another bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and beat until well blended. Drop by rounded teaspoons on the parchment paper. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. Cool.

As a group the taste testers said these were too sweet. The taste of the honey over powered the other flavors and lingered in your mouth. I agreed with my family on this one. This recipe has potential, but it needs adjusting for sweetness. Also, I think almond butter might lend a better flavor than the peanut butter.

Banana Quinoa Muffins

1/4 cup Quinoa Flour
1/4 cup Quinoa Flakes
1 Tb Honey
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 banana
1 egg
1 tsp brown sugar (not called for in original recipe)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper cups. Blend all the dry ingredients together. In another bowl blend the banana, egg and honey. Then slowly add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture. Pour the mixture into the muffin cups. This 1/2 recipe will make 4 muffins. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until browned.

My kids didn't care for the muffins. They said they were a bit rubbery. I agreed they were rather unpleasantly rubbery. Although I thought the flavor of the muffin was pretty good. The rubbery texture could have been caused by my putting some water in the unused muffin cups. It was interesting to see how the quinoa was almost steamed by the little bit of water in the cups.

I had one for breakfast the next day and toasted it. It came out beautifully and wasn't rubbery at all. I put a little butter on it and shared it with my Sheltie. She thought it was scrumptious.

Chocolate Chip Muffins Gluten-Free

My kids are very considerate. They always offer me tastes of their gluten bakery items, even if they know I will need to turn them down. Unfortunately, most pastry shops don't service gluten-free customers.

The last time we were at a local pastry shop, my children wanted to try some of their chocolate chip muffins. My daughter was worried that I wasn't going to get anything, but this particular pastry shop is a veritable bonanza of wheat - it's even in their meringues. So she made me promise her that I would make chocolate chip muffins that I could eat too.

On our previous visit to this pastry shop, I asked the clerk if they had anything that did not have wheat in it. She said, "No." They had meringues in the case, so I asked her if the meringues were wheat free. She said, "Yes." Hmmmm..... So, I bought one just to check it out. The clerk was right the first time. They put wheat in their meringues. Ignoring gluten and focusing on taste alone, a meringue cookie with wheat and nuts and then sprinkled with wheat (no, it wasn't powdered sugar) is pretty disgusting. It makes you want to act like your kids and wipe your tongue with a napkin. Yuck.

So, on to tastier things. After looking through my cook books, I selected the Fanny Farmer Cookbook as my source of inspiration. Their basic muffin recipe is an excellent base that allows the extra ingredients to shine. Hoping that this same quality could be transfered to my gluten free version, I set to work. This is what I did:

Recipe

2/3 cup brown rice flour
2/3 cup oat flour
1/3 cup sweet rice flour
1/3 cup almond meal
3 Tb arrowroot flour (You can use almond meal instead)
1 Tb baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1 1/2 tsp kudzu powder, dissolved in the milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips, regular sized
(Optional: 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, add to dry ingredients before adding liquids)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the insides of a cup cake pan with paper liners. In a sauce pan, melt the butter. Remove it from the heat and add in the milk, beaten egg and kudzu powder. Make sure to blend the kudzu powder. In another bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together. Pour the liquid mix into the dry ingredients and blend. Do not over mix. Keep it a bit lumpy. Resist the urge to blend well.

Fill the cup cake papers 2/3 full. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the tops of the muffin batter. Press lightly to make sure the chips stay attached to the muffin tops. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 1 dozen muffins.

How did they turn out? Beautifully. They are a lovely golden brown with just a slightly sweet taste, which allows the topping (chocolate chips or crumb) or filling (such as nuts or fruit) to shine. My daughter didn't really care for the muffins. She wanted them to be sweeter and have chocolate chips inside the muffin, not just on top. My husband and son thought just the opposite. They liked the chips on top and weren't too sweet. I agree with them. They are delicious...just like a muffin is supposed to be.