Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins

This morning my son asked for blueberry muffins and after trying many different gluten and wheat-free recipes, we finally found one that tasted like what my son likes to call, "Regular" muffins.  This is worth trying if your family is trying to adhere to a gluten and/or wheat-free diet:

Gluten-free Blueberry Muffins - Stella Walsh

Even if you suffer from a gluten allergy, you can still enjoy the yummy taste of blueberries with this nutritious gluten-free blueberry muffin recipe.

Some people with a gluten allergy mistakenly think that they can no longer enjoy foods such as muffins, cookies and bread. This is not the reality.
There are many gluten-free products available, including gluten-free flour that you can use to mix your own combinations. This flour can be stored or frozen to use later. The ready-made baked goods tend to contain a lot of white starch and are generally not as nutritious as something you make yourself.
By making gluten-free foods yourself, you can also reap the value of ingredients such as tasty blueberries, which provide numerous health benefits.
The gluten-free blueberry muffins from this recipe freeze well. You can make a couple of batches and keep them in the freezer as a time-saver. The recipe itself is simple and not time consuming.

Gluten-free Blueberry Muffin Recipe

Grease 12 medium muffin cups.
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Dry Ingredients

Preparing Gluten-free Flour

Don't let a gluten allergy stop you from baking gluten-free foods. You can prepare your own gluten-free flour, using xanthan gum or guar gum to replace the gluten.

Sift together:

• 2 cups gluten-free flour (preferably whole-grain gluten-free flour)
• 1 tsp guar gum or xanthan gum (if not using a pre-packaged mix that includes it)
• 1 tbsp flaxseed meal
• 3 and 1/2 tsp gluten-free baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt (regular or sea salt)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (increase to 1/2 cup for a sweeter dessert muffin)

Wet Ingredients
Beat together:

• 1 egg
• 1 and 1/4 cup milk (or rice milk)
• 1/4 cup olive oil (or a preferred lighter tasting oil)

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir only until combined. Batter will be lumpy.

• Fold in 1 cup of blueberries. (Frozen will work. Let the frozen ones sit on the counter while you are preparing the other ingredients. Fresh are lovely in season.)

Fill muffin cups two thirds full. Slightly more for paper cups. Bake for 20 minutes.
You may need to adjust the temperature and time for your own oven.

Gluten-free for Children

If you have a child with a gluten allergy, it can sometimes be difficult to find healthy gluten-free treats and snacks. These gluten-free blueberry muffins can be baked in mini-muffin cups as well. Just reduce the baking time to about 13-15 minutes. Children like the bite-size portions.
These gluten-free muffins are also a simple baking project to do with the kids. After all, if they have a gluten allergy, they will need to learn to bake and cook some of their food themselves.
For other healthy gluten-free muffin recipes see Gluten-free Banana Muffins and Gluten-free Carrot Muffins.

© 2008 Stella Walsh