I rarely make muffins. Even more rarely do I make cupcakes. That said, I still really liked the muffin tin I found at IKEA in Portland, Oregon. The nearly "castle mold" shape of the tin cups and button mushroom-shaped muffins resulting from them convinced me that I really needed to give muffins and cupcakes another try. So, I bought one tray and a box of paper muffin cups.
It so happened that on the day I returned to work from my Portland excursion, I was responsible for treats for our monthly department meeting, and wouldn't you know, I felt like making muffins! Only one problem though, a colleague of mine is on a gluten-free diet, and I didn't want to make two different batches.... So, I decided to "wing-it" and try out a recipe with a gluten-free flour made by Hodgson Mill.
Having decided that, I just needed to find a recipe that looked like it might work. What I had in mind was something with carrots and raisins, but if possible, I also wanted there to be some pear in it. When I started searching, the first thing that sounded good were some Ginger Pear Muffins at Canadian Living. When I started poking around there a little more, I found a generic muffin recipe called, "Anything-Goes Muffins." And, since I was really going to be pushing the envelope, I decided to use that as a starting point.
Here's what I ended up doing for my Carrot Raisin Pear Muffins (followed by what I learned in the process).
Preheated oven 375 degrees F.
Ingredients:
2 c. Hodgson Mill gluten-free flour
3/4 c. Brown sugar, lightly packed
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. ground coriander
1/4 t. ground ginger
pinch cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
1/4 t. salt
2 eggs
1 c. milk
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1/4 t. vanilla extract
2 medium carrots (grated with a microplane)
1/3 c. golden raisins
1 1/2 - 2 c. diced pear
pearl sugar for muffin tops (optional)
I mixed the dry ingredients together (flour through salt in the list above)
then grated in the carrots and tossed in the golden raisins, and mixed them with the dry ingredients so they wouldn't clump up while mixing in the liquids.
Then in a separate bowl, I whisked the eggs and oil together. In yet another bowl, I mixed the milk and vanilla together. This ended up being quite providential because I didn't need all of the milk as it turned out).
For the final mix, I poured the egg/oil mix into the dry/carrot/raisin mix, and then poured in about *half* the milk mixture. Then I scooped in the diced pears and stirred everything just until blended.
Next, I scooped the batter into the paper muffin cups, slipped each one into the tin, sprinkled them with some pearl sugar, (from IKEA, I think) and baked them for 22 minutes at 375 degrees. I didn't give them long to cool in the tin because I needed to do a second baking for the last 7 or 8 muffins, so I gently pulled them out and put them on a wire rack to cool completely.
The next day, I took sixteen of them in a wax paper-lined tin cookie box with a lid. They were well-received.
What I will do next time (if I need to do them again), I would use half as much oil. The gluten free batter just doesn't retain it, so it was noticeable on the outside of the muffin papers. I would only use a 1/2 c. of milk, and I would toss in 1 t. of minced ginger (I like the kind made by the Ginger People), for a little more zing.
