Gluten Free and Paleo Banana Muffins

I have always been a baker since I was a teenager.  The first things I remember baking on my own were brownies and pineapple upside down cake from an old, thick cookbook of my mother's.  In my late teens I was on the quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, one that was soft and chewy that flattened as it baked.  The quest finally ended with a recipe found in a Canadian Living magazine. It is still the "go to" chocolate chip cookie recipe for my mother and sister.

In my adult years, I baked various kinds of breads and perfected baked cheesecakes with smooth, uncracked tops.  I loved to bake, and rarely bought baked items from the store.  Then, about six years ago, my daughter was diagnosed with Celiac Disease and I had to relearn everything I knew about baking.  All of my "go to" recipes were useless to me.  I tried many gluten free recipes that went straight into the garbage after trying one bite.  Many of these recipes had been published in cookbooks and I had followed the recipe with perfect precision.  I wonder if the cookbook editors even tried the recipes.  After three or four years, I had some decent, new gluten free "go to" recipes.  I knew a lot about gluten free ingredients and different baking techniques.  Still, one limitation of most gluten free recipes was that they went stale very quickly, and had to be frozen within 12 or 18 hours of baking to retain any freshness.  Even then, many items were crumbly once thawed.

Lately, this downfall of gluten free baking has changed for me - mostly thanks to the Paleo food movement. I am interested in Paleo cooking, in that - it's grain free, which is great for our gluten free family - and my husband is very much a carnivore.  So many of the recipes will appeal to him.  (I am mostly a vegetarian, not necessarily for compassionate reasons, but more for the environmental and health benefits.)  Reading Paleo cookbooks introduced me to coconut oil and flour.  These ingredients have helped me to create some pretty amazing muffins that stay fresh and moist - for days on end!

I slowly developed these muffins after making the muffins in Practical Paleo.  While the muffins in Practical Paleo are absolutely amazing, they didn't appeal too much to a child's taste buds.  After a few months of switching this and that, this is what I came up with.

Gluten Free and Paleo Banana Muffins

Makes 12.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.

• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/2 cup coconut flour, preferably sifted
• 1 large ripe banana, diced
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Mix first six ingredients in a bowl.  Whisk well.  Add in melted oil while whisking.  Otherwise the oil may solidify in a chunk within the batter.  Not good.  Add in coconut flour and whisk well until there are no lumps.  Fold in bananas and chocolate chips (if using).  Scoop into a muffin tin lined with muffin papers. Bake for 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on a baking rack.  Once cooled, store up to four days on the counter in a sealed container.  May also be frozen.

You could also try maple syrup or agave syrup in place of the honey, although I have never tried this. To be honest, I never sift the coconut flour, but instead whisk and whisk and whisk until the lumps are gone.  The coconut flour is amazing - after a minute or so, it kind of slurps up all of the liquids, creating a thick batter.  I get mine at Costco (only 7.99 for 2 Kg!) or at Bulk Barn (a bulk food store in Canada).

These muffins don't last long in our house, and I have been baking about three batches a week!

Shared at:
Three Mango Seeds, Creating My Way to Success, Clairejustine, DIY Home Sweet Home, Be Colorful, Skip to My Lou, An Original Belle, Cherished Handmade Treasures, A Bright and Beautiful Life, Diary of a Real Housewife

Experimenting with Almond Milk

I love almond milk.  The love affair began when my youngest daughter was unable to tolerate dairy for a year or so while her body repaired itself after a diagnosis of Celiac Disease.  Of all of the non-dairy milks we tried, unsweetened vanilla almond milk was by far our favourite.  She can tolerate dairy now, but for the most part we haven't gone back.  We generally avoid dairy in our home - I just don't think it's all that great for us.  But almond milk...that's a different story.

Whenever it went on sale, I would stock up on my favourite brand.  I still have at least five cartons in the pantry.  Then I started hearing about this thing called carrageenan.  I've heard whisperings about it for years, and mostly didn't listen.  But now more and more people are questioning the safety of this food ingredient found in many non-dairy milks to help the texture become closer to that of cow's milk.  As a precaution, I do my best to avoid products with carrageenan as best I can.

In my corner of the country, none of the brands of almond milk in stores are without carrageenan.  I have still been drinking up my stash of almond milk cartons, but a little more slowly.  And I've been keeping this recipe in the back of my mind for a rainy day.  I decided to take the plunge yesterday after buying a huge bag of raw almonds at the bulk food store.

I have to say, it was so much easier than I had anticipated!  I did not have a nut milk bag, but I used a jelly bag that I had bought to make crabapple jelly last summer and it worked perfectly.  The hardest part of making my own almond milk was to remember to soak the almonds overnight.  I forgot three days in a row.  I remembered once while laying in bed and was just too lazy to get up, so it got pushed to the next day.  Again.  Once the almonds were soaked, the rest of the recipe literally took five minutes.  I used pure vanilla extract, and this was my result:

You can see all of the delicious flecks of cinnamon slowly settling to the bottom of the jar.  This stuff is good.  Really good.  But - I don't really know that I'll make it often.  Here's why:  I don't eat cereal often, and I don't drink my almond milk on it's own.  I consume most of my almond milk in coffee.  About 1/3 of a cup per mug of coffee.  When I tried to use my homemade version in my coffee, it separated.  It looked gross.  I could stir it back together, but within 20 seconds it was separating again.  Not fun.  Maybe that's what the carrageenan does?  Next time I'm on a cereal or smoothie kick I will make this, but not for everyday coffee consumption.

If you drink your almond milk by the glass, in cereal or a smoothie, I definitely recommend this recipe.  It is so simple and fast.  As for me, I'm still on the hunt for something to add to my coffee.