Sunday, December 30, 2012

Dairy Free, Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins

The hunt for ways to incorporate healthy food into my very very picky children's meals keeps me ever vigilant for recipes that *might* find their way into the rotation of three foods (well, three HEALTHY foods!) each child willingly eats.  Both of my kids have always been huge fans of pumpkin bread, but once I discovered Jack's food sensitivities and started following the Feingold diet as much as possible, I knew I had to make some more changes for his diet.

For Jack, he does not seem to have an intolerance or reaction to gluten, (although I know I feel better, my skin looks better, and my "brain fog" lifts when I avoid gluten) so I normally don't bake with gluten free flours.  However, I have noticed that all dairy and cheeses (even Goat cheese) do bring out the short tempered, over-emotional Jack.  So I really love this recipe, which I first found on minichfamilyblog.com., because it uses a small amount of gluten-free flour and it calls for black beans instead of butter.

I believe the original recipe was for bread, but I make this into 24 cupcakes (using non-bleached paper cups from Whole Foods) and they are perfect for lunches, car rides, and snacks.  They freeze great, too!


(psst...about two seconds after I took this photo I ate that muffin!!!)


Gluten Free, Dairy Free Pumpkin Muffins

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two muffin trays (24 muffins) with dye-free, bleach free baking cups

Wet ingredients - place all in a blender

One can black black beans, drained and rinsed (I like the organic black beans from Trader Joe's)
One can pumpkin puree' (any brand works well)
2 Eggs
1 TBL Vanilla Extract (it's more than usual, but necessary!)

I pulse all of the wet ingredients in my blender until the beans are completely obliterated.  The first time I made these, my kids actually said "Why are there chocolate chips in the muffins?" when they saw chunks of black beans :)

In a large bowl, mix your dry ingredients

1 1/4 cup Gluten Free Flour**
1 TSP Baking Soda
2 TSP Baking Powder
1 Cup Organic Cane Sugar
1 TSP Cinnamon
1 TSP Nutmeg
1/2 TSP Salt
1-2 TBS of Flax Seed (optional)

If you like, you could add a 1/2 cup of raisins or chopped walnuts

**I have tried this recipe three different ways - two different gluten free flour blends and once with regular whole wheat un-bleached flour.  All three came out great, so I think you can use the favorite flour of choice

Slowly add in your pre-pulverized wet ingredients.  (I usually have to take apart my blender to scrape all of the yummy pumpkin mix from the blades!)

Scoop a heaping tablespoon or two into each muffin cup.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, checking the progress with a toothpick.

Enjoy :)

Recently added: dairy free gluten free Vanilla Banana Muffins