Cranberry-Rice Bran Gluten Free (& CF!) Muffins

Cranberry-Rice Bran Gluten Free Muffins, originally uploaded by Kate Chan.

Ooops. I intended to post this yummy muffin recipe on Tuesday… but time flies when you lose your mind. 😛

How was your Thanksgiving weekend? Ours was much-needed quiet… until I got the flu… and then once I recovered, we were off on adventures in Portland, OR. Oh… Portland is an easy place to have Celiac Sprue! But that story will have to wait for another post this week (SORRY!). This post has been waiting for far too long.

When I was younger, I remember my mother making huge vats of oat bran muffin batter. I also remember something about the idea of us kids being able to then microwave a muffin for breakfast in the morning. Ummmm… I’m pretty sure I didn’t microwave a muffin. I probably didn’t know how to do it and I would have been scorched! I still don’t know how to “bake” or really cook much in my microwave now. But BOY – it does a bang-up job reheating leftovers and getting hot water ready for my morning oatmeal. 🙂

And while I may not be a whiz at the microwave, I did so love those bran muffins. They were dense, filling and had a great slightly-sweetened flavor to them. The only thing missing in my mind were blueberries. Really. Blueberry Bran Muffins? To die for.

Since the traditional idea of a bran muffin is off the list of foods, I have turned to rice bran to make my muffins. I haven’t really focused on making bran muffins before… but I had a craving for the ones my mom used to make.

This recipe makes only 6 muffins. (There are only two of us in the house at the moment…LOL) If you need more, I believe it will double easily.

And now that Thanksgiving is over, I bet you may have some cranberry relish sitting around waiting to be used up too. (And if you don’t, you can find a super easy recipe for cranberry relish here. Don’t have mangoes? No worries, use about 6 mandarin oranges (or 1 large navel orange) and you will be set.)

These muffins made for great breakfast last week and a wonderful road-trip munchies too.

GF/CF Cranberry-Rice Bran Muffins
Recipe makes 6 regular-size muffins
Ingredients:
1/2 cup rice bran
1/4 cup sorghum flour (or rice flour or millet flour)
1/4 cup tapioca starch flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch salt
1 egg
1/3 cup + 2 Tablespoons unsweetened, natural apple sauce
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 Tablespoons cranberry relish or sauce (or dried, unsweetened cranberries)
1/4 – 1/3 cup cold water

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 375F. Spritz the inside of 6 paper muffin cup liners with oil. (This last step is optional, but the muffins may stick to the paper liners otherwise.)
  2. Mix together dry ingredients with a whisk: rice bran, sorghum, tapioca flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt and brown sugar.
  3. Mix together wet ingredients: apple sauce, egg, water and cranberry relish.
  4. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Add dried cranberries (if using, or desired).
  5. Fill muffin liners 2/3 full with batter.
  6. Bake at 375F for 15 minutes or until golden brown and the middle is firm/set to the touch/tap.

NUTRITIONAL DATA (per muffin):
Calories: 96
Total Fat: 2 grams
Saturated Fat: 0 grams; 0 grams Transfats
Sodium 150 mg
Total Carbohydrates: 20g
Dietary Fiber: 3g
Sugars: 4g
Protein: 3g
Vitamin C: 2%
Calcium: 3%
Iron: 11%

Happy December Everyone!
-Kate

Comments are closed.