I was chatting with a reader a few weeks ago about making swaps in one of the older pumpkin recipes on this site and I realized we have a shortage in that category. I love pumpkin things, but am a little too cynical towards how overdone it can be this time of year. I've been baking with more almond meal lately, in the name of lower carbohydrate treats, and while it doesn't yield something nearly as light and fluffy as a "regular" baked good, I like how tender and rich things turn out. Hugh actually makes this rosemary bread better than I do now and we're ordering the stuff in 4 lb. increments so it won't stop here. We may be a little short on holiday sides in the index too now that I think of it so I'll work on a few of those. Anyway, it's food season! I'm here for you. Until then, I don't like hard selling you on the recipes here BUT if you need a super easy, one bowl, dairy free, gluten free, maple sweetened pumpkin muffin? These are them.
ALMOND MEAL PUMPKIN MUFFINS // Makes 12 (gf, df, veg) My kids love these. The chocolate is optional for them I suppose, but for us big kids, it is not. You could replace nuts in equal measure if you prefer. Most any muffin recipe that yields 12 can be made into a standard 9x5 loaf with more time in the oven. I actually haven't tried it yet, but I think if you went for 40 minutes, you'd be in good shape. Also note that different brands of canned pumpkin puree vs. homemade have different water content and will affect the outcome slightly. I find homemade to vary, and Libbys (what is at most conventional grocers) to be thicker than the Trader Joes stuff. So if you're using the TJ's brand, scale back to 3/4 cup. Side note, I LOVE this muffin tin. Muffins and mini frittatas release no problem which is more than I can say for any other brand I've tried. * Adding a note here. If coconut flour is not something you stock (and no, I don't find it tastes like coconut, and is not a very easy to use flour), King Arthur or Bobs Red Mill gluten free 1:1 flour or unbleached all purpose can be swapped in at 1/3 cup in its place. Same for the brown rice flour, I buy it online, but don’t go out of your way. Replace it with the GF all-purpose sub.
1 cup pumpkin puree 3 eggs 1/3 cup maple syrup 1/4 cup light brown sugar 1/3 cup olive oil or coconut oil, warmed 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice 1/2 tsp. sea salt 1/4 cup coconut flour 1/2 cup superfine brown rice flour 1 cup almond flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 cup chocolate chips or a 3.5oz. dark chocolate bar, roughly chopped
raw pepitas/pumpkin seeds, for garnish, optional
Preheat the oven to 360' and grease a muffin tin with coconut oil or use liners.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, eggs, maple, oil, pumpkin pie spice and salt and whisk really well to combine. You want to get some air up in there. Add the coconut flour and mix. Let that sit a minute to absorb some moisture. Add the rice flour, almond meal, baking powder and soda and stir again to mix. Add the chocolate chips, one last stir.
Distribute the batter between your cups. Sprinkle the pepitas on top. Bake on the middle rack for 20ish minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let them cool before removing them from the pan and enjoy.
Updated edit! These were originally published with 1/2 cup maple, but I reduced the maple and made up for some sweetness with brown sugar, to get a drier muffin. Either will work! but we prefer the texture with a partial dry sweetener.
Sara Forte
2019-02-12
Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins
12
Gluten free pumpkin muffins made with almond meal and coconut flour.
1 cup pumpkin puree
3 eggs
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup olive oil or coconut oil, warmed
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 1/2 cups almond meal
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup chocolate chips
raw pepitas/pumpkin seeds, for garnish, optional
249 calories17 grams fat21 grams carbohydrate6 grams protein
Preheat the oven to 360' and grease a muffin tin with coconut oil or use liners.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, eggs, maple, oil, pumpkin pie spice and salt and whisk really well to combine. You want to get some air up in there. Add the coconut flour and mix. Let that sit a minute to absorb some moisture. Add the almond meal, baking soda and stir again to mix. Add the chocolate chips, one last stir.
Distribute the batter between your cups. Sprinkle the pepitas on top. Bake on the middle rack for 20ish minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let them cool before removing them from the pan and enjoy.
There was a recent article in Bon Appetite with some recipes for making perfect cookies for ice cream sams. They were thin and crisp, one of which read a bit overly fussy to me, but I can appreciate the extra effort to get something just right. That is not my life right now, I'm more about ease and speed, but I appreciate it. They looked pretty and would undoubtedly be delicious, but I'm quite happy with our current "house cookie" acting as book ends to a creamy scoop of ice cream... or as a skillet cookie, I'll put those notes below. The recipe started at Tara O'Brady's chocolate chip cookies but they're looking pretty far from her original at this point, so I'll leave you her words here. I replace some of the flour with oats and reduce the leaveners for this reason (and also because I don't want a poofy cookie for an ice cream sam). I skip browning the butter out of sheer laziness, though I assume you could handle that step if you wish. I also let the dough sit overnight a la Jacques Torres which he swears makes all the difference and is habit for me now. All sorts of cookie science here on Serious Eats.
I made these for a dinner with friends, which is great because a sit in the freezer is necessary, making them a great make-ahead dessert. When you eat them straight off assembly, the cookie and ice cream are both too soft and they make a big mess. When you assemble them, and then freeze them again together, they become the same temperature/consistency, so they are just easier to eat. Because thin and crispy is also delicious and homemade is not always possible, in a pinch, the Tate's cookies (or gluten free chocolate chip ones from Trader Joes which are private labeled from Tate's) are perfect. Just have dinner with friends, that's the important part. xo
ICE CREAM COOKIE SANDWICHES // Makes 14ish To make this a skillet cookie, simply press half the dough into an 10" skillet and cook it at 325' for about 20 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. The center will still look tender but that's ok, it will set more as it cools. Let it rest for 10 minutes before topping it with ice cream and serving. You can halve this cookie recipe and end up with about 16 cookies/8 sandwiches. Specifics will depend on how big you make your dough balls.
2 sticks/ 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 1 cup brown sugar or muscavado sugar 3/4 cup natural cane sugar 2 eggs, room temperature 1 tsp. sea salt 2 tsp. vanilla extract 1 cup old fashioned oats 2 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour 3/4 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. baking powder 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped or chips flaky salt, for finishing 1 quart vanilla bean, coffee, or chocolate chip ice cream
In a stand mixer, cream the butter and both sugars for a good two minutes. Add the eggs, salt and vanilla and mix again, scraping down the sides so it is all incorporated. Add the oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder and mix again until just combined, do not overmix. Add the chocolate, one more quick mix, scrape down the sides, and store it in the fridge for at least 6 hours, up to overnight. Preheat the oven to 350'. Make golfball size rounds and arrange them on cookie sheets or baking pans. Press down the center gently and sprinkle them with flaky salt. Bake on the middle rack for 8-10 minutes until the edges are browned and the center still looks slightly tender. You want them slightly underdone. Remove the tray, smack it on the counter, and let them cool a few minutes. Remove from the tray and let them cool completely on a wire rack. Assemble each sandwich with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in the center and then gently smush them together to press down the ice cream ball. Freeze them for at least a few hours, preferably overnight. *I put a long skinny tupperware in the freezer and just stash them in there as I assemble. They should last for about a week, or longer if you keep them individually wrapped in plastic wrap.
My oven currently smells like it's burning off oil that had dripped to the bottom at some point. I should clean it; it really does interrupt the beautiful waft that comes from a springy cake in the oven. I have a handful of prospective projects I am back and forth about between two email addresses that while made with good intentions to keep personal and work separate, have done no such thing. There are threads regarding a potential cookbook, a recipe and article assignment about avocados, a menu card for our fundraiser dinner and open items to finish filing our taxes. Woven in between are emails about Curran's first (overdue apparently, oops) dentist appointment, follow up on invoices and the receipt for that weird oversized shirt I ordered from Nordstrom that I keep there to remind myself to return it some night after the kids are down. I never feel like doing that once the kids are down... but I also don't like going to the mall with two spirited toddlers so you may find me in a terribly unflattering oversized shirt. Anyway. I get stuck on writing here because the balls I am trying to keep in the air follow no apparent rhyme or reason or lessons learned. It feels like a simple yogurt cake on top of the stove is a constant to a life that seems to be buzzing by faster than I can keep up with. The fruit shrinks in after some time in the oven, and because fruit has a lot of water in it, the result is almost custardy which I don't mind at all once it cools. The jammy fruit and cake batter are almost tough to distinguish. It works for breakfast or an incentive for a moderately potty trained little boy or something to bring along on a date with my nieces. There is no frosting or chocolate or decadence really, it's an everyday sort of cake and the only kind that feels right to make around here lately.
STRAWBERRY + RHUBARB YOGURT CAKE // one 8" cake Recipe adapted from Sarah Waldmans Feeding a Family
I swapped in half strawberries for Sarah's exclusively rhubarb cake because I love the combination and my wee people are fans. I also cut down on the sugar slightly from her suggestion and found it to be plenty sweet. If you don't stock spelt flour, completely all purpose is fine, the texture would probably be better, I just like to sneak some whole grains in there. You can make this dairy free by replacing the yogurt for a plant based yogurt and the butter for a scant 1/2 cup of coconut oil. It's a pretty forgiving cake.
3/4 cup full fat yogurt 2 eggs, room temperature 1/2 cup/1 stick unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 Tbsp. grated gingerroot (or twice as much crystallized ginger pieces) 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour 3/4 cup spelt flour (or more unbleached all purpose) 1 cup muscavado or brown sugar 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking soda 1 cup 1" diced rhubarb 1 cup diced strawberries
turbinado sugar, for finishing creme fraiche, yogurt or ice cream, for serving
Preheat the oven to 350' and grease an 8" pan (square, springform, cakepan etc.).
In one mixing bowl, whisk together the yogurt, eggs, butter, vanilla and ginger. Set aside. In another mixing bowl, combine the flours, sugar, salt, baking soda and stir to mix. Mix the fruit into the dry mix (this helps to keep the fruit from sinking) then gently combine the wet and dry mix together. Pour the mix into your prepared pan and generously sprinkle the top with turbinado sugar. Bake on the middle rack for around 45-50 minutes until the cake is browned on top and a toothpick test shows that the center is cooked through. Remove to cool so the cake sets. Serve with creme fraiche, yogurt or ice cream. Cake will keep covered on the counter for two days, beyond that, store it in the fridge as it has a lot of moisture to it.
