Pumpkin Muffins

For weeks I've been envisioning baking cornbread muffins with all the jars of cornmeal I thought I had stored up in my pantry.  But when I poked around my pantry shelves I found only corn flour and lot's of masa harina that I am saving to make tamales sometime soon.  Standing on a stool in my kitchen with a tub of gluten free flour in one hand and muffin liners in the other, I was stopped in my tracks not knowing what to do.  All the momentum drained out of me and I sat down to re-access my options.  This was a familiar situation.  Lately I keep making big plans like traveling to Japan, but then out of nowhere an obstacle shoves itself right in my way.  As in these situations, I knew that I had to let go of my cornbread dreams and be creative with what I did have in my pantry.  I looked around and saw a can of pumpkin that I was saving to make a pumpkin pie that never happened and I quickly mastered a new plan: pumpkin muffins.  I even had walnuts and and sugar/dairy free chocolate chips all ready to be used in this recipe.  Everything I needed I already had- what a thought.  If only I could apply this to the rest of my life.  These pumpkin muffins came out very soft and chewy and sweet.  For some reason they deflated a little when they came out of the oven.  But they still tasted like a delicious pumpkin pie with all the spices and maple syrup, yum....cornbread can wait.

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/2 cups of gluten free flour (I like a mix of brown rice flour, sorghum flour, buckwheat flour)
• 1/2 cup of tapioca flour 
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp of ginger
• 1/4 tsp of nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp of ground cloves
• 3/4 cup of maple syrup (or agave, or other sweetener)
• 1/4 cup of canola or grape seed oil
• 2 large eggs (or egg replacer)
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1 can of cooked pumpkin
• 1/2 cup of soy/rice/almond milk with a tablespoon of orange juice
• 1/2 cup of walnuts
• optional:  half a cup of w/s/d free chocolate or carob chips 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a 12 cup muffin pan.
2. In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients (minus the walnuts or chocolate chips.)
3. In another bowl mix together all the wet ingredients.
4. Combine the wet and dry ingredients into one bowl.  Add the walnuts and chocolate chips.
5. Fill each muffin cup generously.
6. Bake in the oven for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of a muffin.
7. Enjoy!

PS:  Below are the only chocolate/carob chips I have found that come close to being wheat/sugar.dairy free.  They are sweetened with barely malt so they are NOT gluten free, but are dairy and sugar free.  I am working on making my own wheat/sugar/dairy free chocolate chips, stay tuned....