Those lovely cultivated blueberries that came in the Lufa Farms Fresh Basket back in the summer? Well one week I managed to not eat them all at my drop-off point, and somehow also managed to freeze a few cups before I could wolf them all down at home. I did it all in the hopes that some day I would be craving either blueberry pie or a blueberry sauce for chicken, or just a handful to put on cereal.
And that day came! Yes! Pre-planning!
If you’re not gluten-free, make this with regular flour (La Milanaise is great, and available at all grocery stores). I used a gluten-free flour blend that I was gifted, but you can also make your own from me recipe here. I also used almond milk, which I find adds flavour, but regular milk is fine, or buttermilk, or plain (not fat-free) yogurt. AND I used egg replacer, because I figured I might as well, what with all the other replacements. The recipe is from the New York Times Cookbook, where every recipe is perfect. Every one. So I figured it could handle some disruptions and still survive. It did. These muffins even rose, didn’t taste too “healthy”, and when warmed in the microwave on day two, tasted fresh again. The real winning part of the dish, though, were the blueberries.
Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins
2 cups gluten-free flour (store-bought, or home-mixed*)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup olive oil (mild-flavoured, or other type of oil)
1 1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs (or egg replacer equivalent to two eggs)
1/2 cup milk (almond, soy, regular)
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 12 muffin tins with oil (or wastefully use 12 paper muffin liners, but keep the oil down).
2. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl.
3. Beat the honey and oil in a large bowl, then add the eggs one at a time (or the egg replacer, slowly) while continuing to beat. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk, ending with the milk, until the batter is smooth.
4. In a mini-food processor (if frozen) or with a fork (if fresh, or if you’re feeling particularly violent), crush 1/2 cup of the blueberries. Add to the batter, and then fold in the remaining whole berries.
5. Pour the batter into the muffin tins and bake for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the muffins comes out clean.
6. Theoretically, cool for 30 minutes before removing from the pan and eating one, but I’m a big advocate of removing one from the pan almost right away and testing them while they’re hot. They’re best slightly cooler (warm, not hot), so you may have to re-test in about 10 minutes (still, 20 minutes before the original recipe says to give it a try. Maybe they were made in a very hot, sticky kitchen, not my Montreal freezer box).
*2 cups brown rice flour, 1 cup sorghum flour, 1 cup tapioca starch, 1/2 cup potato starch, 1/4 cup sweet rice flour, 2 tsp guar gum or xantham gum. Keep the extra in the fridge
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