Pumpkin Muffins

In the search for bread equivalents, I have not found a store bought alternative that my kids will eat, or even that I can stomach. I have found most rice breads to be dry and tasteless and tending to fall apart very easily. With the goal of satisfying the taste buds of my health food hating, junk food loving children, I found this muffin recipe that we altered to fit our family. These muffins are moist, come off the paper easily, are good for at least 2 days after they are baked (haven't had them last longer than that, so I'm sure they might be good longer lol) and are good with any type of sandwich filling you care to add... or just butter.

1 1/2 cups All purpose flour blend (see below)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp each of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg
1/4 cup Chia seed gel (see below) or 1 egg
1/4 cup splenda
1/3 cup cooking oil
1 cup grated pumpkin
1/2 cup goat's milk or water

Combine all ingedients to make batter. Bake in muffin cups at 400*F for 15 minutes.

Flour Blend (6 c rice flour, 3 c tapioca starch, 1 1/2 c arrowroot starch, 2 tbsp Xanthum gum, 1 tbsp salt) Method explained in an earlier post.

Chia seed gel can be used in any baking recipe to replace eggs. Mix 4 tbsp Chia seed in 2 cups warm water and stir well. Allow mixture to sit for 15 minutes until a gel is formed. 1/4 cup of gel is equal to 1 egg.

Cheese sauce

My kids wanted to have macaroni and cheese that looked like everyone else's macaroni and cheese. This is a challenge considering they are all gluten free and can't have cow's milk. Here is what we came up with... and the kids all voted that it passed the taste test and it is enough like macaroni and cheese that they aren't missing the boxed chemical version.

Cheese sauce:
In a blender mix:
4 oz fresh goat cheese,
1/4 - 1/2 cup goat milk
2-4 tbsp of carrot juice (the more you add the more color the sauce gets)
1 tsp salt

Blend well and pour over hot rice macaroni or other noodles. Yum :-)

This cheese sauce also works in other dishes as well. (Broccoli and cheese etc)

Amaranth Bread

3 cups All purpose Flour blend
1/2 cup Amaranth Flour
2 tsp ground psyllium hulls (optional)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp powdered stevia
2 1/4 cups of water
1/2 cup Olive oil

Blend together and bake at 350 *F for 90 minutes. Let cool 5-10 minutes in pan before removing.

Pancakes

4 cups all purpose flour (see blend below)
1 tbsp baking powder or 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup splenda
Enough goat's milk to make a batter. You can also use 1/2 goats milk, 1/2 water.

Mix together and fry in a skillet or wafflemaker.

Gluten Free All Purpose Flour

6 cups brown or white rice flour
3 cups tapioca starch
1 1/2 cups of arrowroot starch
2 tbsp Xanthum Gum
1 tbsp salt.

Mix together in a large container and use in most recipes that call for all purpose flour.