Morning Glory Muffins 1.0.

When I formerly ate wheat, I used to have carrot "Morning Glory" muffins at camp in the mornings when they were available. The muffins were quite good, but they were very oily and not very healthy. When I discovered I needed to be gluten free, I eventually got around to finding a new recipe for them.

I believe that I originally found this recipe online at Whole Foods. I have adapted it a little to my taste and to make it more healthy. I cannot say more of these muffins! They are moist, not overly fluffly or heavy, and have lots of yummy ingredients in them. The photo does not do them justice! It was taken maybe a year ago on my older camera, which never turned out good photos. Also, ignore the poor photo shown in the linked recipe, it's not a good representation of how they actually turn out! The photo makes them appear very dry, but they are not!

Morning Glory Muffins 1.0.

    adapted from Whole Foods Market recipes 
    makes about 18 muffins

    3  happy eggs

    1/2 cup  organic cane sugar  (or 1/2 cup maple syrup and reduce flour by 3 tablespoons)

    1/4 cup  brown sugar

    2/3 cup  organic coconut oil - source

    1 tsp  vanilla extract

    1 cup  brown rice flour

    1/2 cup  tapioca starch

    1/2 cup  potato starch

    2 tsp each:
        baking soda
        cinnamon
        xanthan gum

    1/2 tsp  unrefined sea salt

Mix ins:

    1 tart red apple, unpeeled cored and finely diced

    1 cup  grated carrot

    1 cup  grated zucchini

    1/2 cup  organic raisins

    1/2 cup  chopped walnuts

    1/4 cup  coconut flakes

To make your muffins:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Combine the wet ingredients in a large bowl, whisking by hand to incorporate air into the mixture about 1 minute.

  3. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add to the wet ingredients gradually.

  4. Add the mix-ins last, gently folding with a spatula till combined.

  5. Scoop into paper lined regular sized muffin tins.

  6. Bake for about 20-30 minutes, until slightly golden brown on top; Cool, eat, enjoy.

My mom is especially crazy about these muffins! I love these muffins too, but I do not really love that they use so much white flour. I will experiment and make them with better gluten free flours like teff, or sorghum, flours that aren't as starchy and "empty" calorically. (Now that my diet has improved over the years, I have learned that grains are not the best thing for our bodies. Coming soon I will redo the recipe with more healthful flours, like coconut and almond.)

These muffins freeze well for a few months, but past six months is pushing it for ANY gluten-free baked good and so I do not recommend it. Also, be sure to store your gluten-free frozen goods in a freezer that does not have defrost cycle. The defrost cycle will damage the product over time, and it will not keep as long. Of course, if you have family or lots of friends that love muffins, they will be gone in flash and you won't have to worry about freezing them!

Goat Cheese and Zucchini Frittata

I found this recipe on Whole Food's website. It had been on my recipe to-do list and I finally had the chance to make it this summer! It was satisfying and tasty so I will definitely make it again. Double or triple the recipe depending on how many people you will serve. The amount in the recipe is perfect for one person's breakfast!

Goat Cheese, Red Pepper and Zucchini Frittata

2 eggs

salt and pepper to taste

1 T olive oil

thin slices of red onion

1/2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced

goat cheese

1 red pepper, diced into pieces

fresh herbs of choice (optional)

To make the frittata:

1. Beat eggs and season with salt and pepper.

2. Heat oil in small skillet (be sure it can go under the broiler) and cook onion and zucchini until soft.

3. Add eggs and cook until slightly set.

4. Sprinkle in red peppers, goat cheese and fresh herbs (if using).

5. Place pan under the broiler for as long as it takes to cook (mine took around 10 minutes).

Enjoy!

The Best Cornbread.

One of the first few posts on this blog involved cornbread. And now a few months later, I've created an even better version. The one previous was less moist, not as sweet, and dairy free. This cornbread is very moist, sweet (enough for cornbread) and has real butter and raw milk. It's almost decadent. The addition of fresh corn "off the cob" into the batter gives the bread a whole other dimension of both taste and flavor.

Actually, I really surprised myself with this recipe. I made this recipe from scratch with no basic guidelines except noticing that one recipe on the cornmeal bag used a lot of leavening agent. I wouldn't have originally thought to use that much, and I figured since it was on the back of the cornmeal bag, I should listen. Despite that one thing, this recipe is entirely my own.

While the bread was still hot, the whole pan disappeared. I brought some out to the camp office for the staff to grab on their way by in their usually hectic camp afternoon. As soon as I left and came back, they needed more! And so less than 20 minutes after I had pulled it from the oven, I was staring at an empty pan. Then, grabbing my other 9 x 13, I made another batch. Then I took my first bite and knew that this recipe had "arrived." No tweaking needed!

The Best Cornbread
    makes one 9x13 pan

    1 cup  uncooked polenta - Bob's Red Mill

    1 cup  Masa Corn Flour

    2 cups stone ground cornmeal - Bob's Red Mill

    2 cups  whole or 2% milk - preferably raw whole milk

    1 cup  organic cane sugar

    4 tsp  baking powder

    1 tsp  baking soda

    1 tsp  sea salt

    4  real eggs

    2  sticks butter, softened

    2  heaping cups fresh cut off corn off the cob

To make your cornbread:

  1.  Mix polenta, masa, cornmeal, baking powder + soda, and salt in large bowl.

  2.  In a small bowl, cream sugar and butter until fluffy. Add egg one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat on high speed until fluffy.

  3.  Add 2 cups of milk to the bowl with the polenta mixture. Stir until well combined with a spatula.

  4.  Gently fold in the fluffy butter/sugar/egg mixture into the milk and cornmeal mixture. FOLD in - do not stir - until combined.

  5.  Fold in the cut corn.

  6.  Pour into a lightly greased 9x13 pan and bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.

  7.  The cornbread is done when it springs back like a cake in the middle, a poker will come out clean, and the top is a lovely golden brown.

This is not your typical dry cornbread. This bread is moist, decadent and lovely, so much so it doesn't need to be slathered in butter.  It's great on it's own! Be sure to share some with your favorite people. It just might disappear as fast as mine!