Double Chocolate Muffins

Can you believe these decadent chocolate muffins are less than 100 calories a piece? They are – as long as you follow the recipe link below. I don’t use sugar substitutes, so I used real brown sugar. I’m not sure what that does to the calorie count, but I’d like to think they are still low calorie! 

These Double Chocolate Muffins are not overly sweet, so they do taste somewhat like a “healthy muffin.” I still enjoyed them for breakfast with a glass of skim milk for a good week straight. Despite being low calorie, one muffin filled me up until lunch time. Which I’m attributing to them being made with oats and Greek yogurt.

 

Click here for recipe from Jo and Sue's Blog

Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Desserts

I love every holiday, but Thanksgiving is one of my favorites. I love being together as a family and spending quality time together. I also really enjoy Thanksgiving food - turkey, mashed potatoes, veggies, and dessert. As much as I love the main course, I always save room for dessert. Here's a round-up of desserts suitable for Thanksgiving that I've posted on As Good As Gluten over the past year.

Pies

Apple Pumpkin Salted Caramel Pie - this is the ultimate pie for Thanksgiving. It's a new pie recipe I created this year, and it is the pie I'm taking to all family Thanksgiving gatherings. Heavenly!

Double-Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake Streusel Pie with Rum Whipped Topping - this pie is delicious, and was the winning pie at my family's Thanksgiving Pie Cook-Off last year.

Apple Cranberry GF Pie - the combination of apples and pears in this pie make it a favorite from last year.

Apple-Pear Cranberry GF Pie - the only way to improve upon the delicious Apple Cranberry Pie above is to add pears!

Pear Custard Pie - this crustless pie is rich, decadent, and easy to prepare for Thanksgiving.

Cookies
GF Snickerdoodles - this is one of my family's favorite cookie recipes and a must-have for the holidays.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles - a delicious fall twist on the classic Snickerdoodle.

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies - these are one of my husband's favorite cookies; he loves the flavor combination.

Chocolate Pumpkin Pizookie (Flourless) - I could go on and on about how incredibly irresistible this pizookie is! As a bonus, it's fairly healthy.

Desserts
GF Apple Cream Cheese Crisp - my in-laws love this unique apple crisp and it is a frequent request.

Pumpkin Pie Mousse - this tastes like Pumpkin Pie heaven. It's my brother's favorites and I already have the ingredients to make it later this week.

Stuffed Apple á la Mode - a quick and easy recipe that packs all of the delicious apple pie flavors into a stuffed apple.

Caramel Apple S'mores - a unique and tasty spin on the classic s'more.

Muffins
Cranberry Relish Muffins - the perfect way to use up leftover cranberry relish/sauce.

GF Apple Pumpkin Streusel Muffins - this is among one of my first gluten-free baking experiences. They are delicious, and I'm grateful my photography skills have improved!

GF Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins - if you love the combination of pumpkin and chocolate, you'll love these amazing muffins!

Happy Thanksgiving!
Lauren

Cranberry Relish Muffins - New and Improved Recipe!

At the end of 2010 you may remember I concocted my own Cranberry Relish Muffin recipe (click here for original recipe). The muffins were great the first day, but after they set overnight they became dry and crumbly. (Looking back, how dry they look in the picture should have been a sign!) I tweaked the recipe a bit before I posted it on my blog, but I still wasn't completely satisfied.

This morning I tweaked the recipe again, and I think I finally have the perfect Cranberry Relish Muffin recipe! They are SO moist and have the perfect muffin texture. Definitely better than Udi's GF Muffins! I love the flavor profile in this batch of muffins, but I'm still crossing my fingers that I won't wake up tomorrow with dry and crumbly muffins. I'll keep you posted.

·1¼ cups GF all-purpose flour
·1 tsp xanthan gum

·½ cup sugar

·½ tsp salt

·1½ tsp baking powder

·½ cup canola oil
·¼ cup milk

·2 eggs

·1½ tsp cinnamon

·¼ tsp nutmeg

·1 TBS orange zest (use less if your cranberry relish already has a good orange flavor)

·1 cup homemade cranberry relish or sauce (Click here for my Grandma's Cranberry Relish recipe)
·A few pinches of brown sugar

                               

Preheat oven to 350˚. Line 12 muffin cups with liners or coat with non-stick spray. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except cranberry relish until well-blended. Fold in cranberry relish. Spoon batter into muffin cups and sprinkle the tops of each muffin with a little bit of brown sugar. Bake 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

UPDATE: 2 and 3 days later, the muffins are NOT dry and crumbly!! Finally a successful recipe! :)

I've also shared this recipe on: Seasonal Sundays

Cranberry Relish Muffins

UPDATE: I've since revised this recipe into a tastier and moister Cranberry Relish Muffin recipe. Click here for the new and improved recipe!

This is another recipe I concocted this afternoon. I wasn't sure how well it would turn out, but they are DELICIOUS!! The different flavors are really apparent in every bite. Yum!

·1½ cups GF all-purpose flour
·1 tsp xanthan gum

·½ cup sugar

·½ tsp salt

·1½ tsp baking powder

·½ cup canola oil

·2 eggs

·1½ tsp cinnamon

·¼ tsp nutmeg

·1 TBS orange zest

·1½ cup homemade cranberry relish or sauce (I used my Grandma's recipe at the end of this post)

                               

Preheat oven to 350˚. Line 12 muffin cups with liners or coat with non-stick spray. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except cranberry relish until well-blended. Fold in cranberry relish. Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cranberry Relish

·1 naval orange
·1 apple (Gala, Braeburn, or Fuji)

·1 bag of fresh cranberries

·½ cup sugar

                               

Chop orange and apple – leave skins on but remove seeds.  Rinse cranberries and remove any mushy berries.  Pulse fruit together in a food processer  Add sugar and pulse until well blended.

GF Apple Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

We made these muffins last night and they are delicious! I made some mini-muffins as well to take to work for some coworkers that don't need to eat gf - they had two so they must be good!

Muffin Ingredients:                                             ·2 eggs, lightly beaten
·2 ½ cups GF all-purpose flour                           ·1 cup canned pumpkin puree

·1 cup sugar                                                          ·½ cup Smart Balance omega oil

·2 ¼ tsp ground cinnamon                                  ·2 cups chopped apple (peeled)

·¼ tsp ground nutmeg                                         Streusel Ingredients:

·¼ tsp ground ginger                                            ·2 TBS GF all-purpose flour

·¼ tsp ground allspice                                          ·¼ cup sugar

·1 tsp baking soda                                                ·¼ tsp ground cinnamon

 ·½ tsp salt                                                               ·4 tsp (or 3 ⅓ TBS) butter   

Preheat oven to 350˚. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners or spray with non-stick spray. In a large bowl, combine dry muffin ingredients. In the kitchen mixer bowl, mix together eggs, pumpkin, and oil. Add the flour mixture, mixing just to moisten. Fold in the apples. Fill the muffin cups with the batter.

In a small bowl, mix together streusel ingredients. Use pastry cutter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle topping evenly over muffin batter. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for about 5 minutes then place on a wire rack.               

(Recipe adapted from: http://gratefullygf.blogspot.com/)

I've also shared this recipe on: Seasonal Sundays

GF Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I made these GF muffins over the weekend. They pass the test - my hubsand said they "are amazing!"

·1 ½ cups GF all purpose flour                           ·½ tsp salt

·1 tsp xanthan gum (optional)                         ·½ cup unsalted butter, softened

·1 tsp baking soda                                                ·1 cup sugar

·1 tsp ground cinnamon                                      ·2 large eggs

·¼ tsp ground ginger                                           ·1 tsp vanilla extract

·¼ tsp ground cloves                                           ·¾ cup canned pumpkin puree

·¼ tsp ground nutmeg                                         ·1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350˚. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or spray mini muffin pan with non-stick spray. In a large bowl, combine flour, xanthan gum, ground spices, and salt. In the kitchen mixer bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. Then alternately add one-third of the flour mixture and one-half of the pumpkin puree, mixing after each addition. Begin and end with the flour mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Fill the muffin cups with the batter. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove immediately from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool.

(Recipe adapted from one of my favorite gf blogs: http://gratefullygf.blogspot.com/)

I've also shared this recipe on: Seasonal Sundays