Lilly's Vegan Blueberry, Cornmeal and Millet Flour Muffins.

Today I had a rare weekday off of work as a high school art teacher. I decided to do something nice for the ladies that I carpool to work with. Several of us are gluten-free. One of us has a laundry list of allergies-  coffee, wheat, soy, dairy, chicken, mushrooms and honey, to name a few. As you can imagine- cooking anything under these guidelines for the average cook is a bit daunting. Luckily for her, she is imaginative when she sees a recipe- being able to effortlessly adapt and replace problem ingredients with ones that she will not have an adverse reaction to. 

I like to think that I am decent at doing that as well, but with wheat, oil and healthy alternatives.

Below I've adapted a Blueberry muffin recipe to be egg free, and have much less sugar than the original and no oil. I also swapped out the honey for agave- since my dear friend has an issue with honey as well. I added ground flax seed, mostly for it's amazing health benefits. The muffins come out both crunchy and soft, and not too sweet. Perfect for a weekday breakfast (especially while commuting with friends.) <3

Dry Ingredients:

3/4 c. GF cornmeal (non-GMO project verified, if you can find it.)
1/4 cup millet flour
3/4 c. brown rice flour
1/2 c. cornstarch
2tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 c light brown sugar
1/4 c ground flax
1tsp. cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:

1/4 c. agave nectar
1/3 c. unsweetened, organic applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla (bourbon vanilla if you've got it!)
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. egg replacer in 1/4 cup warm water (or, 2 eggs)
(an extra 1/2 cup warm water- to adjust batter)
Lemon or orange zest, optional, to taste. (I used orange b/c I didn't have any fresh lemons.)
1 cup fresh (*or frozen) blueberries

Process: 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a stand mixer, mix together dry ingredients
Add wet to dry, mix until combined.
The batter will be drier than traditional wheat batters- if you used frozen blueberries that will add a little moisture as they cook out. 
(Feel free to add some of the extra warm water in 2 tbsp. increments as you see necessary.)

Spoon heaping spoonfulls into your lined muffin tins- makes 10-12 large muffins.
Bake 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool on a wire rack. 

Enjoy!

(Going into the oven- nail color OPI My Vampire is Buff.)

NOTES: Best when warmed up- remember, they are made with corn meal, thus, supposed to have that crunchy/grainy texture. In a good way.

*If you use frozen berries- you might want to cook them a little longer or the area around the blueberries could be a little under done. (Frozen berries release more water, making the dough around the berry a little soft.) I would worry about this is they weren’t vegan but since there is no egg or dairy to cook out, them being a little soft is not a problem (other than texture.)

Apple Oatmeal Muffins

{coffee + apple oat muffin = today is going to be a good day.} 

I adapted this recipe from this fantastic blog to make it gluten free. I swapped the oil for applesauce, added ground flax seed, and used regular oats. They came out perfectly. I think they would also be good with a shredded carrot in the batter. I'll try that next time. AlexandraCooks says you can use up to 1 cup of steel cut oats in this recipe for a little crunch. I only used 1/3 of a cup. But if you try it, leave a comment below and let me know how it goes. 

I brought these muffins to my girlfriends that I carpool with. Also, to my Advanced Art Studio class. All provided rave reviews. I think this recipe is a keeper. 

Currents: Christine Joy

Once a month I take my art students 'into town' to the Missoula Art Museum. The MAM offers a Teen Artist Workshop  for young artists every second Wednesday of the month. 
It is free and they provide materials, pizza and snacks. Awesome.

Anyway, as the kids were working on making found art sculptures with working artist James Louks, I snuck out to take a look at the current exhibitions at the MAM.

I am so glad I did.

{I completely fell in love with the flowing, rhythmic sculptures of Christine Joy.}

They are astounding.

No loose ends. 

No visible ties. 

The sculptures are made of branches that are bent, twisted and shaped into giant vessels, knots and shapes of all sorts. They reminded me of giant skeins of yarn... which seems fitting. The smell that the willow and the wax together create in the gallery is comforting. Warm and cozy, like knitting on a rainy day. Another MAM patron and I laughed at ourselves for not wanting to leave.

Steamed Mussels in Shallot, Garlic and White Wine Sauce

This is a SUPER easy, impressive & amazingly delicious dinner for two. 

Elegant and light, you will want to make this over and over. (Already planning to make it for my sister and mom who are coming to town from Ohio next month!)

Steamed Mussels in Shallot, Garlic and White Wine Sauce <3

Zucchini Bread

This is adapted from my Grandmother's recipe... hers called for nearly 1 cup of oil, 3 cups of sugar and 6 eggs! As a kid, I used to love eating this bread, warm out of the oven with butter on top. However, as an adult, when she sent me her zucchini bread recipe, I was shocked at the ingredients.
So, here is my version, wheat free and super 'lightened up'. Don't worry, I didn't skimp on the taste.
Delicious.

Amy's Gluten Free Zucchini Bread

(Makes 2 loaves)

Ingredients:
2 smashed brown bananas (or, 1 cup applesauce)
⅓ c. water
⅓ c. agave
2 tsp. lemon juice
3 cups shredded zucchini (easiest to do this in a food processor if you have one. If not, you can use a cheese grater on the largest size hole)
4 eggs (remember, you are making 2 loaves... or egg replacer)
2 cups oat flour
1 ⅓ c. brown rice flour
⅓ c. white sugar
⅓ c. brown sugar
1 ½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves (if you don’t have ground cloves, you can use allspice... I would cut it down to ½ tsp.)
(optional: chopped walnuts... a couple big handfuls)

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Prepare two bread pans (can also make one loaf in a pie pan... if you have a lovely cake stand you've been wanting to use :)
3. In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine bananas (or applesauce), water, agave, lemon juice, shreeded zuccihini and eggs. Beat until eggs are combined, 30 seconds or so.
4. Combine the remaining (dry) ingredients together in another bowl: oat flour, brown rice flour, both sugars, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and cloves. (and walnuts, if using.)
5. pour batter equally into the prepared pans.
6. Bake 50-60 minutes. (in my oven, exactly 60 minutes is perfect for bread. The time will be a little less if you are making a round pie-plate shaped bread... about 30 minutes.)
7. Check that the bread is done with a toothpick inserted in the middle. If it comes out clean, the the bread cool. If not, bake at 5 minute increments until it is done.

Once cooled, pop out of the pans and wrap in foil. Leave on the counter for 2-4 days (if it lasts too much longer than that, I might pop it in the fridge.)

This bread is delicious topped with butter, honey butter especially.
OR
If you are looking for a dessert option, it is really good with cream cheese frosting.
Below is my favorite recipe from a Good Food Store cooking class:

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 oz. unsalted butter, softened
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. lemon juice

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter and cream cheese.
2. Add sugar, one cup at a time.
3. Add lemon and vanilla
*note: make sure that the zucchini bread is cooled. Cream cheese frosting has a tendency to melt. So, if you are going to save the leftovers, make sure to put them in the fridge.

Banana Bread

A few of my friends recently became gluten free. One of them is Emily, who introduced me to the amazing gluten free granola recipe I posted a few days ago. Anyway, she called a few times asking for my banana bread recipe. I looked and looked and couldn't find it. I knew that I had a fire (meaning, totally rad) zucchini bread recipe that I adapted from my grandmother's recipe and posted (before I had my own blog) on the (amazing) BijaBody blog. I sent that to her to tide her over. However, that did nothing for the brown bananas that we both had lying on our counter-tops.

I adapted several recipes with no luck (either too dry and crumbly, totally obscure ingredients or super fat-camp ingredients). 

Today, I made a loaf that I think is wonderful. Light and fluffy, moist and not crumbly at all. I plan to take it camping this weekend, and possibly make banana bread french toast. :)

First, you need to make this flour blend. You'll only use 1 1/2 cups of the blend for the banana bread recipe below. Store the extra in an air-tight container for future use. 



Amy's GF Oat Flour Blend:

1 1/2 cups oat flour
1 cup tapioca flour (sometimes called tapioca starch, same same.)
1 1/2 cups potato starch or corn starch (or, some combination of the two, whatever you've got on hand- as long as it equals 1 1/2 cups total)

Mix with your hand until combined. 

Ingredients: 

2 large eggs, at room temperature. *important. make sure they are room temp.
3/4 cups of sugar (I use Wholesome Sweetners Non-GMO Organic Sugar, Evaporated Cane Juice)
1 cup mashed (or three small) over-ripe bananas
1/3 cup 0% fat Greek Yogurt
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups Amy's GF Oat Flour Blend (recipe above)
1 tsp. xanthan gum (important: this is your binder. Bob's Red Mill has this in bags- it is spendy but you don't need much. A little will last a long time.)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
*optional, but worth it: 1 tbsp. ground flax seed (if you only have whole you can grind it in a coffee grinder- provides a great nutty flavor and amazing health benefits) and 1 tbsp. whole flax seeds. They provide an unexpected crunch.
*1/2 cup of add-ins (either dark raisins or other dried fruit, roughly chopped nuts or chocolate chips.)

Process:

1. Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Prepare a loaf pan by greasing it with butter and sprinkling it with fine rice flour. (or whatever GF flour you have.)

2. In an electric mixer, beat the room temp. eggs with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugar and beat until well blended. Add the mashed banana, Greek yogurt and vanilla. Beat until smooth.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together (by hand) the oat flour blend, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder, ground flax seed and cinnamon. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat the flour mixture into the liquid ingredients until they are well blended and the batter thickens slightly. Stir in the extras if you are using them- (whole flax seed and the dried fruit or chopped nuts or chocolate chips.)

4. Spread evenly into the prepared loaf pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean- 45-50 minutes. Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes. Remove the bread form the pans and cool completely on the wire rack. 

5. Slice and serve. Top with Greek yogurt and honey, honey butter or just serve it up plain. 

Enjoy!