Gluten-Free Fruit Muffins with Streusel Topping 12 muffins
I had fresh bing cherries and wanted some recipe ideas. I found this King Arthur Flour recipe, made it their way once, then tweaked it, initially by reducing flour and halving amount of xanthan gum to get a softer, fluffier cake. Xanthan gum tightens the cake texture. Then I made it all-in-one and it still worked. It is more of a cake texture than muffin, but remember 'muffins are cupcakes without frosting'!
You can fill the paper cases almost full since muffins dome but don't overflow. I've made bing cherry with almond extract and almond streusel; fresh apples and golden raisins; frozen blueberries and lemon zest; craisins with orange; apricot and almond. Try chopped canned peaches, frozen raspberries. If you use frozen berries, batter is really stiff to stir and divide into pans, takes that bit longer to cook and is a bit drier. I make batter and then divide batter in half and make 2 different types of muffin for just 2 of us. Best warm, but microwaves warm even after 2-3 days. Unfortunately, many old gluten free recipes stick with original 1 tsp xanthan gum to 1 c gf flour and I have found I can easily decrease amount of xanthan gum especially with eggs in the recipe and other ingredients in relation to amount of flour. Even with gluten free yeast recipes.
One of my November 2016 recipes for Beyond Celiac - originally National Foundation for Celiac Awareness
2/3 cup (5 oz, 140g) sugar or same weight of light brown sugar for more flavor, browner color, but not such a fluffy texture.
1/2 cup (4 oz, 112 g) soft butter or very soft coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons (10 ml) gf baking powder
1 teaspoon (5 ml) gf vanilla extract – used 1 tbsp almond for cherry.
2 large eggs
1+3/4 c ( 9 oz, 260g) King Arthur Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose Flour or brown rice flour blend*
1/2 (3 ml) teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 cup (4 oz, 120 ml) milk (fat free is ok) or juice to match fruit
1 to 1+1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries and zest of one lemon; OR 1 large apple, peeled and size of shredded cheese with 2 tbsp golden raisins-sultanas, OR 18 bing cherries - 11 oz whole, 10 oz pitted, 8 oz weight is 1+1/2 cups, OR 1-1+1/2 c craisins and 2 tbsp (30ml) candied orange peel or zest of orange. 6-8 oz fruit total. More fruit makes larger muffin.
(some mini semi sweet chocolate chips.)
*Recipe for this blend. "Whisk together 6 cups (28 1/2 ounces) King Arthur stabilized brown rice flour; 2 cups (10 3/4 ounces) potato starch; and 1 cup (4 ounces) tapioca flour or tapioca starch. Store airtight at room temperature." I did try making this blend using superfine brown rice flour and my normal potato and tapioca starch. It was a far moister feeling flour blend in container and I haven't tried enough recipes to see how well it works in comparison to buying KAF. I do find there is a difference in the various brands of rice flours and potato and tapioca starch.
Topping - no flour
1/4 cup (2 oz, 56 g) light brown sugar
2 (10 ml) teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 c (2oz, 56 g) melted butter
¼ c (1 oz, 28 g) sliced almonds or chopped pecans or more for more crunch in relation to butter sugar.
Stir together.
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan, or line the pan with papers. Spray the papers with non-stick pan spray, to aid release if you eat them warm. Once they've cooled completely, paper does release. Or cook in 9" pie plate, springform pan.
2. Place the sugar, soft butter, salt, baking powder, vanilla, eggs, flour, xanthan gum and milk/juice in a mixing bowl, and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
3. Stir in the blueberries, chopped apple, or fruit of your choice.
4. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan, mounding the cups full. A heaped muffin scoop works well here. Note: the batter will be VERY thick.
5. Streusel: Combine all of the ingredients, it will be runny. Spoon about 1 tablespoon topping onto each muffin. Let the muffins rest for 10 minutes. Then bake them for 25-30 minutes till very lightly browned, less time tastes undercooked and too pale. Longer for frozen fruit. Remove from the oven, and let sit for 5 minutes before removing from the pan. Best served warm.
