I may not be posting many recipes lately, but that doesn’t mean I’m not developing them left and right. I’m currently baking my way through seven (seven!) jars of roasted pumpkin puree, and seeing as butternut and kabocha squash season is in full swing, there is no immediate end in sight.
The day after Thanksgiving I whipped these up, and after two additional batches I’m finally putting a muffin down long enough to type this recipe out to share.
Before I cut gluten completely from my diet, I had that *one* go-to, never-fails-me muffin recipe. It had more than one grain, add ins were very easy, and for a muffin, it was decadent. My favorite thing about the recipe is that it uses pumpkin puree (apple butter works well, too). When I pulled it out of my archives last week, I hit a small hurdle — it never occurred to me that it was chock full of gluten. Thankfully, this amazingly versatile recipe was a breeze to make gluten free. And the crumb. The crumb! So tender.
What makes a muffin a breakfast muffin in my book? This one has cornmeal, steel cut oats, multi-grain flour, molasses and pumpin puree. Downright breakfastworthy. Nevermind the flecks of chocolate — for the freaky few who don’t want chocolate in their breakfast (say what?), you can easily leave it out without sacrificing flavor. Or better yet, sub it out with chopped nuts or dried fruit. The possibilities are truly endless.
Pumpkin multi-grain breakfast muffins
Makes 14-16 muffins
(or, in our house, 12 muffins + 2 heart-shaped Le Cruset ramekins)
{dry ingredients}
2 C AP/MG gluten free flour (see note)
1/3 C steel cut oats
1/2 C polenta or cornmeal (I prefer a coarser grind, so I use polenta)
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
{wet ingredients}
1/2 C full fat coconut milk
1/2 C unsweetened almond milk (hemp or rice work, too)
1/4 C sunflower oil
1/2 C granulated, raw sugar
1/8 C (2 T) molasses (regular, not blackstrap)
1 C pumpkin purée
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
{optional but oh so worth it!}
1 small dark chocolate bar (1.5-1.75 oz), coarsely chopped
1 tsp orange zest – you’ll include this with the wet ingredients
Preparations: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare muffin trays with liners or a light coating of oil.
Sifting the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients; set aside.
Mixing the wet ingredients: In a large bowl, combine all remaining ingredients, including orange zest and chocolate.
Final mix: Add the dry ingredients to the wet in two batches, and stir until all of the flour is absorbed. Fold in the chocolate and orange zest. The leaveners will begin working immediately, so don’t be surprised if your batter starts to aerate right before your eyes. It’s pretty cool, actually.
Bake your muffins: Portion the batter into muffin tray(s), 3/4 of the way full, and bake for 20 minutes, or until the edges are starting to brown and the center springs back when touched. Allow to cool for five minutes before transferring muffins from their tray to a cooling rack.
Notes
- In a pinch, you could use a pre-blended all purpose gluten free flour (one that has starch added, but NOT xanthan gum). I keep Authentic Foods’ Bette’s Gourmet Featherlight Rice Flour Blend on hand for such Empty Pantry Baking Emergencies. You know what, though? Pre-blended AP GF flour mixes are expensive! Also, they aren’t usually multi-grain, something that this recipe — not to mention one’s health — benefits from.
- So, to make my own AP/MG GF flour, I measure out by weight two parts flour [quinoa, millet, sorghum, brown rice, red lentil, etc] + one part starch [potato, tapioca, or corn starch or a combination] into a giant, half gallon canning jar and shake it shake it shake it. And voila, your very own custom blended all purpose, multi-grain, gluten free flour!
- Sometimes I add teff flour to my flour mix, but not always — it makes whatever you’re baking turn out pretty dark. Just something to keep in mind if that’s one of the flours you consider tossing into your jar.
The original recipe that stole my heart can be found at Have Cake Will Travel
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