Gluten Free Apple & Carrot Mini Muffins
Today was errand day. On the way home from work, I dreamed of taking a nap. I’ve caught the ubiquitous “Welcome Back to School” sinus infection. Thinking clearly is not my strong suit. This statement is more true than false, especially between about 1:00 PM and 5:00 PM. I don’t know why. My gray matter just seems to shut down on me and I make decisions on limited information.
My example? Grocery shopping.
I didn’t do too badly. I got everything on the list. (Okay… and one chocolate bonbon for the ride home….) However, my fruit selecting skills were apparently on the fritz. I wanted to pick up some crispy, sweet fall apples. After all, I live in apple land. It should not have been that hard.
Uh huh. Sure. I still managed to come home with 6 beautiful Jonagold apples that are NOT crispy in the least. While they held up to the texture, smell, no worm-holes tests, apparently I didn’t test them well enough. I snuggled under a blanket while the jambalaya for dinner was simmering away on the stove to enjoy an apple. And in one bite, I knew. I’d blown it. The texture was not nice. No crispy crunch met my lips at all. Oh, so disheartening!
I brought my apple up to the kitchen and chopped it up, sprinkled it with lemon juice and put it in the fridge. It was going to have to wait until after jambalaya. (Which, by the way, was a killer recipe given to me by a student’s mom. I think I’m in love…. OH MAN it was GOOD!)
After chowing down and packing up leftovers for lunches, I set to work on my not-so-crunchy apple. It wasn’t super sweet either. And while I love a great apple muffin (sweet ones that taste like apple fritters), I really wasn’t in the mood for something that sweet.
I ran across this recipe from Whole Foods for their Whole Wheat Flour Carrot Apple Muffins. And that sounded like a great combination: carrots and apples. And… hmm… what about some ginger? Yeah! That’s it! I’m making muffins!
These are tasty treats. Their nutritional value isn’t bad either. These come in with less fat and less calories that the Whole Foods muffins too! I had to vary my recipe from theirs substantially because (1) the whole wheat flour, (2) I just didn’t want to use milk or applesauce and (3) I really wanted to add some candied ginger. Oh yum. I’m glad I did too.
These muffins are tasty and moist. Since I made mini muffins and regular muffins, I have to say this: I think I prefer the mini muffins. Two bites and breakfast is done. Perfect for the non-breakfast eaters in the world (like me).
Here’s the nutritional data for TWO mini muffins as made with my recipe below: 72 calories, 2g of fat (1g saturated fat, 0 trans fats), 10g Total Carbohydrates, 2g Dietary Fibers, 6g sugar, and 3g protein. Not too bad, huh? (Thanks for catching my incorrect listing, Ginny! I’ve fixed it now.) 🙂
Here’s the recipe. I hope you get a chance to try it.
Gluten Free Apple & Carrot Mini-muffins
Makes 36 mini muffins (1.5 – 2 Tablespoons of batter per muffin)
Ingredients:
2/3 c. sorghum flour
1/3 c. tapioca starch flour
1/4 cup flax seed meal (ground flax seeds)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
4 ounces baby carrots (about 2/3 cup, loosely packed)
1 large apple, peeled, cored and chopped into pieces
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
4 Tablespoons butter, melted (or olive oil)
2 ounces candied ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 375F.
- In the bowl of your food processor, finely chop the candied ginger into small pieces. Continue to process until the ginger begins to ball up into a small ball of sticky ginger. Scrap into a mixing bowl.
- Now place the baby carrots into the food processor. Process until fine pieces. Add the apple slices with the lemon juice and process to combine well. (In total, this will be one cup of apple and carrot mush.) Scrap this into the mixing bowl with the ginger.
- Mix together the apple/carrot and ginger.
- Add 1/2 cup of sugar, 4 tablespoons melted butter, vanilla, and 2 eggs. Mix until even again.
- Sift together sorghum, tapioca, ground flax seeds, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and xanthan gum.
- Dump dry ingredients in to wet and mix together on low until combined. Increase speed to medium-high and beat together for 2-3 minutes.
- Line/prepare muffin tins. If using mini-muffin tins, fill each with 1 1/2 tablespoons (or so) of the batter. If using large muffin cups, fill 2/3 of the way with batter. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown on top. A toothpick inserted in to the center will come out clean when the muffins are done.
- Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container on the counter top. (These muffins may freeze nicely as well.)
Happy Muffin-making!
-Kate