The Gluten-Free Homemaker

For those on a gluten-free diet, breakfast can be a challenge.  It can be a challenge to anyone for that matter, especially if you want to make it healthy and economical.   Muffins are an easy grab-and-go breakfast.  If you make them yourself, you can save money and ensure that they are healthy.

Thankfully, gluten-free muffins are pretty easy to make.  I like to include as much whole grain flour and as little starch as possible.  For this recipe I also decided to use agave nectar as a sweetener.  Agave is not calorie free, but it does not affect blood sugar levels like sugar does.  That makes it a particularly good choice for starting the day.  If you don’t have agave, I’ve included instructions for using sugar.
 
I’ve been working on this recipe for a while.  My first tries resulted in a good, but slightly dry muffin.  They were good fresh, but I like to make muffins at night to have for breakfast the next morning.  In order to make them moist enough the next day, I increased the amount of milk.  That makes them a bit heavier so they don’t rise as much.  If you are going to eat while they are still warm, you might want to cut the milk back to 2/3 cup but keep an eye on them.  15 minutes of baking might be enough.

Gluten-Free Cinnamon Muffins

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. sorghum flour
• 1/2 c. brown rice flour
• 1/2 c. millet flour
• 1/2 c. tapioca starch
• 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
• 1 Tb. baking powder
• 1 tsp. unflavored gelatin
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon (or more if you want a strong flavor)
• 3/4 c. milk or substitute
• 1/3 c. agave nectar*
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 c. oil or melted butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 ripe pear

Instructions
Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  In a smaller bowl, combine the milk, eggs, oil, vanilla, and agave.  Wash, core, and chop the pear, leaving the peel on.  Cut it into pretty small pieces, they can seem pretty large when in a muffin.   Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir, making sure all the dry ingredients are incorporated.  Stir in the pear.

Spoon the batter into 12 greased muffin cups.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.  Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack (or while still warm, but not hot).

*If you don’t have agave nectar, use 1/3 c. sugar and add it to the dry ingredients.  Increase the milk by 1/4 c.  I haven’t actually tried it that way, so add half the additional milk first, then the rest if needed.

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Labels: bread recipes, breakfast recipes