I am so glad #NaBloPoMo is almost over, cause I’m running out of steam. I’ve spent way more time at the keyboard than in the kitchen. I’m running out of funny, and I find I’m subbing for sarcastic and ranty. I guess it kind of works sometimes, but it leaves me feeling kinda angsty, rushed and with the feeling I’ve always got to be “on” when really some days I just want to go fluff off and play video games for a day (I haven’t even been able to *look* longingly at Dragon Age: Inquisition, I’ve been running my tush off so hard the last two weeks).
I mean, for Pete’s sake, I’ve been writing posts about underwear for quick material!
So today I’m pushing more work out, hopefully in enough quantity that I can relax a little bit later this week. I did spend enough time in the kitchen making a new batch of muffins so I could photograph them properly (the last two times I made them, it had been so long since I had made muffins that I slopped everywhere on the tin; way to go, Anne). But just in case you were wondering, these are the muffins I was talking about when I withheld information from my son.
I think I need another cup of tea, because right now when I’m trying to piece together some one-sided conversation, I just feel like this.
Note to self, try not to write posts so late in the day; brain turns off.
I realized after baking these muffins that almost all of my muffins are gluten-free. It’s not a dietary thing. It’s simply that I’m using oat flour to make my muffins. Every time. Because oat flour rocks. They’re always light and crumbly and moist. Seriously, when I think about throwing a new muffin recipe together, I go right for the oats. It doesn’t even occur to me to use wheat flour.
Screw wheat flour muffins.
And if you’ve noticed that my muffins have a lot in common otherwise… well, if it works, why break it again?
Oh I should probably talk about the pumpkin puree. Riiight. Well the story behind these muffins is that I bought three pie pumpkins for $5 (bad idea, unless you really like making a lot of pie). Needless to say, at a loss, I decided to roast the pumpkins and freeze it, which is probably why you’ve been seeing a lot of pumpkin recipes. Because, I got lots of pumpkin to use up (if you’re in the same spot as I am, make some roast pumpkin risotto too.
But just in case you need a recap:
How to Roast a Pumpkin
Select a pie-pumpkin, approx. 6-8 inches in diameter. Slice that bad boy in half (carefully, they’re somewhat tough). Scoop out the pumpkin guts, and sprinkle the flesh with coarse salt. Place flesh-down on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and roast at 350F for 30-40 minutes, or until you can pierce the outside easily with a knife. Take it out, let it cool, and peel the pumpkin skin off the cooked flesh.
If you want to make puree, use a food processor, not a blender. Then divvy that bad boy up and freeze some for later if you want–but save at least 1 of a cup for this recipe.
Anyway… Have a muffin.
I need a nap.
- 1 cup roasted pumpkin puree
- 1 egg
- 1/2-3/4 cup milk or alternative milk
- 2t pumpkin spice mix
- 2/3 scant cups coconut (or golden) sugar - not packed
- 3 scant cups of rolled oats (or 2 1/2 cups oat flour)
- 1/4 t coarse salt
- 1/2 cup dried sweetened Craisins
- 1/4 cup light olive oil or canola
- 1t baking soda
- 1t baking powder
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Grind the 3 cups of oats into coarse flour by running on low in a food processor with the cutting blade for approximately 1 minute. You can also use a blender, but process the oats 1/2 cup at a time.
- In a medium bowl, combine oat flour, Craisins, salt, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, and pumpkin spice mix.
- Add the roasted pumpkin puree and 1/2 cup milk, stir, then add the 1/4 cup oil and egg and stir well to ensure everything is thoroughly combined. The mixture should be thick enough to drop with a spoon but will still be wet enough to flatten out. If the mixture is very thick, add a drizzle more milk.
- Drop spoonfuls of batter into prepared muffin tins. Muffin batter should come nearly to the top of the cup.
- Bake for 18-20m, or until the muffins pass the clean toothpick test.
- Cool and store wrapped in plastic wrap in the refrigerator. Muffins freeze excellently - freeze any muffins that won't be consumed within a few days.
- Recipe is naturally gluten free if gluten-free oats are used.
- If you prefer your muffins more savory, use 1/2 cup sugar instead of 2/3 cup
See moar Gluten-Free oat flour muffin recipes!
Roasted Banana Oat Muffins
Gluten-free Apple Brown Betty Muffins
This looks so good, and gluten-free, yay!
Link up the rest of the oat flour muffins! YUM!
Did, just for you 😉
These sound amazing! Now, where do I find oat flour?
You can make it from rolled oats 🙂 Just grind them up in a food processor or blender a little at a time.
This is awesome! Yay! So many Gluten Free treats! 😀
Plus NaBloPoMo-wise I am dying from the late nights. It’s really exhausting!
Only 7 posts left (for me)! Yay!
Did you know you can roast your pumpkins whole? Just wash em, stick em in the oven for an hour at 400 or so. Let cool and peel. So much safer and juicier! No big scary slicing of a hard pumpkin.
That’s a great tip. I didn’t think about doing that, but that totally makes sense. I presume you stemmed it and scraped it out first, right? 🙂