I’m not sure if you’ve noticed or not but I’ve been in a bit of a baking slump. Unfortunately, no baking means no posting, which probably isn’t the healthiest thing for this little old blog. Though it is arguably healthier for my waistline since I still have a few post-baby pounds to lose.
Since I have been feeling uninspired, I decided to get into the kitchen with the kids this week. I let each of my older two (5 and 6) pick something to help make. My daughter picked mud pie (sounds fun, right?). It was good…better than I expected it would be actually! We got the recipe out of one of her kid friendly cookbooks. It was easy, chocolatey, and fantastic piled with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge. I’m sure I could be pursuaded to share the recipe;-)
My little guy wanted to make muffins…he’s having a healthy streak:-) We have been talking a little bit about nutrition lately and he’s really been taking it to heart. We’ve been cutting back on sugar and adding in some new healthy foods to our diets. Chia seeds anyone? I did manage to twist his arm a little, and we put a handful (or two!) of mini chocolate chips into the muffins:-)
About these muffins. They are so, so good! It is really hard to bake without eggs, dairy, and wheat. Countless attempts never make it here to the blog. Often, Samuel will find them palatable, but his diet is the only way of eating he knows. To be deemed “blog-worthy” they have to be delicious to the rest of the family as well. I don’t know what exactly “worked” in this recipe because I tried a couple of new things. Chia seeds as an egg replacer for one. I also used a combination of King Arthur Flour Gluten-Free Flour and, when I ran out of that, Bisquick Gluten Free Baking Mix. We threw in some shredded carrots for moisture and a little extra nutritional kick. Also, not a pinch of xanthan gum in sight! Like I said, not sure exactly why these turned out so well this time but I am NOT complaining! I’m so excited to have a base recipe to work with from now on.
And just like that, I’m inspired again…
| Gluten-Free Carrot Chocolate Chip Muffins |
|
- 1 3/4 cups gluten-free flour/baking mix
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp chia seeds (or 1 egg)
- 3/4 cup milk (we used soy milk)
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line or grease a muffin tin.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt to combine. Make a well in the center of the mixture and set aside.
- Whisk chia seeds into 1/4 cup boiling water. The seeds won’t dissolve but the water will thicken.
- In a separate small bowl, combine the chia seed mixture, milk and oil.
- Pour the wet mixture into the well in the flour mixture and stir just until everything is combined (there will be a few lumps).
- Stir in the carrots and chocolate chips.
- Spoon the batter into the muffin tin, filling each cup about 3/4 of the way.
- Bake at 400 degrees for about 15-18 minutes or until they begin to turn golden.
- Cool the muffins in the tin for about five minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
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These look delicious! I recently tried chia seeds as an egg substitute in scones and was pleasantly surprised at the perfect texture they still give!