Me? Gluten-Free!?

Nope, not usually! But when the UUCA FoXY group planned our camping trip I volunteered to bake gluten-free muffins...VEGAN gluten-free muffins. Let me just tell you, I was more than a little intimidated. I did some research and quickly realized I'd be dealing with lots of ingredients I'd never even thought about using before (sorghum flour? xanthan gum?). With a little help from a friend, I decided on Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins. It's autumn and everyone loves pumpkin, right? I found all of the ingredients at MOM's Organic Market and ShopRite. Shopping gluten-free isn't as hard as it once was. But, it's NOT cheap! These muffins were easy though and tasted amazing. You'd never know they were vegan and gluten-free! I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

 

 Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-muffin tin with paper liners.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together:

1 cup sorghum flour

1/3 cup organic coconut flour

1/2 cup almond flour

1/2 cup tapioca starch

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Add in:

1 1/3 cups packed organic light brown sugar

1 cup organic canned pumpkin

1/3 cup light olive oil

2 free range organic eggs, beaten, or Ener-G Egg Replacer whisked with 1/4 cup warm water for vegan

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

Add in:

1/2 cup vanilla almond milk

Beat the batter to mix the ingredients.

Stir in:

1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans

Spoon the batter into muffin cups, filling them close to the top. Smooth the tops using the back side of a wet spoon.

Add a pecan half to each muffin top.

Bake until domed and golden, roughly 22 to 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.