Gluten Free Honey Corn Muffins (Strawberry Optional)

The idea for this recipe has been hanging around in my brain for a while now. Which is saying a lot for my (short) attention span. It all starts, though, with a sweet (though not short, ha) story about Wednesdays with Little Guy.

I love Wednesdays with my boy. We have a little ritual that starts with a music class. To say Little Guy loves music class would be putting it mildly. But don’t be fooled. He’s not one of those kids who runs into the room, dances up a storm and practically vibrates with joy. I see kids like that and I’m kind of in awe. Little Guy sits on my lap. He watches. He smiles. He grabs one of the balls rolling around the room and holds it tightly to his little body. His joy is subtle. On the sly. Blink and you might miss it. But I know it’s there, and so does his teacher.

LG loves taking a bath, but you wouldn’t know it from this picture.

He is not shy. Bunky is not shy either. But people often mistake my kids for shy because they are slow to warm. They won’t offer up immediate smiles or high fives. This makes some people uncomfortable. I can’t tell you the number of people who have said to me, “Oh, (s)he doesn’t like me!” and “What, no smile?” I liken it to a dog versus cat analogy. Most dogs, especially puppies, love attention. They will wag their tails and pant delightedly when you approach them with kindness. Try that with a cat and they will probably hide under a couch, or even let out a defensive hiss. But if you have a little patience and wait for that cat to come to you, the purr will soon follow. You have to work harder with cats, I think. And same goes for my kids.

And isn’t it worth it? Check out that smile.

Anyhow, back to music class. Poor Bunky couldn’t handle it when she was around LG’s age. It was too loud, too crowded, simply too MUCH for her sensory sensitive disposition. (Then again, it was also very close to her diagnosis.) We’d go to class and end up sitting in the waiting area until I finally accepted defeat and left. Little Guy hops out of his stroller and grabs my hand and in we go. He says his name out loud (to my utter astonishment and delight) when it’s his turn. While he often stays on my lap and in my arms, I know he’s having fun. I feel his joy. He cries when it’s time to leave.

But Little Guy being very un-Bunky-like, is able to be distracted and cheered up by the next thing. Which is the farmer’s market. The first thing we do is buy a bag of crunchy apples and then stroll over to watch the blue grass trio pluck their guitars and breathe magic into their harmonicas. I love this trio of gray-haired musicians. They are sweet with the crowd of children who are their audience, but it is clear that they are mainly doing this for themselves. They can’t not play these instruments and sing these songs.

Little Guys senses this, I think, and he wiggles his legs while he nibbles on his apple. Up above the canopy of the stroller, however, I am not eating an apple. I am eating a honey corn raspberry muffin with a crumble topping. The GLUTEN kind.

You had to wait a long ass time for the recipe tie-in, didn’t you? Sorry, but you know how I tend to ramble. Which is maybe why I’m not on Twitter. One reason, anyhow.

So, I’ve been wanting to duplicate these in a GF way for a a long time, and now, finally, I have succeeded. I opted to skip the raspberries because I just couldn’t rationalize the crazy price so I went with strawberries instead. Since strawberries have an extremely high water content you have to be frugal with how many slivers you put in, otherwise you’ll end up with a soggy (but sweet) mess. I experimented with one batch by doing some with strawberries, some without. Some with a delicious crumble topping, some without.

The result? I liked the strawberry with crumble topping the best. My husband preferred the straight up crumble ones. Bunky had none of it because there was no chocolate inside. But my friend and her sons loved them all. Success!

Gluten Free Honey Corn Muffins + Strawberries (optional) + Crumble Topping 

(based on this recipe from The Fountain Avenue Kitchen blog)

Bringing the cold ingredients to room temperature before mixing will prevent the melted butter or coconut oil from re-hardening once added. Removing the muffins from the oven as soon as they are cooked through is the key to keeping them moist.

Muffin recipe:

• 1 cup sifted stone ground gluten free cornmeal (145 grams sifted)
• 1 cup gluten-free flour blend*
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend contains it)
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup (one 6-ounce cup) 2% or nonfat plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup milk (any kind works)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup sugar (can omit this for less sweetness)
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil or butter**
• 3-4 strawberries sliced into thin slivers (optional)

For the crumble topping (I halved this Food.com recipe):

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup gluten free flour blend
• dash of cinnamon
• 1/3 cup chilled diced butter

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin. (You can use liners, but I find the muffins can stick to the papers.)
3. In a large bowl, sift the cornmeal. (This is not totally mandatory, but I found that that NOT sifting made for a grittier texture and slightly bitter flavor.) Add gluten-free flour blend, baking soda, baking powder, xantham gum and salt. Whisk to blend.
4. In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add the yogurt, milk, honey, and melted coconut oil or butter and whisk to combine well.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well, to activate xantham gum.
6. I like to use my ice cream scoop to fill the 12 muffin cups easily and without (too much) mess.
7. If desired, now is the time to add the strawberries. Take three thin slivers and place on top of each to each muffin. Press down gently. They don’t have to be submerged, they will sink while cooking.
8. Bake for 5 minutes. While baking, made crumble topping by placing the ingredients in a small bowl

    and mixing together with a fork until crumbly.

9. After 5 minutes of baking, take the muffins out and add crumble topping.

   Continue baking until cooked through, 5-8 more minutes or until a knife runs through clean.

*My (current) GF Flour Mix is 60% whole grains (millet and sorghum) and 40% starches (sweet rice and potato starch), all certified gluten free from Bob’s Red Mill that I mix myself using my kitchen scale and giant plastic canister. See here for details, or use what you have.

**Using coconut oil (particularly the healthier unrefined version) will give a slight yet distinct coconut flavor to the muffins. I love coconut, so this was a bonus, but my daughter doesn’t and she noticed it right away. If you don’t like coconut, then just use melted butter instead.

Below, a muffin pictorial and a bonus picture of my Bunky, who has a new hairstyle!

Strawberry with no crumble topping.

Strawberries add a nice moistness to the muffin.

The crumble topping rocks. Unclear what’s inside.

I’m about to dork myself out, but look at that interior crumb. Gorgeous, right? Ha. No, but seriously.

And finally, may I present, the Bunky’s new look…

BANGS!!

I’m happy to have shared this post at the Gluten-Free Friday’s link up party hosted by Vegetarian Mamma. Click the link to find more great GF recipes!