Making Pumpkin Muffins (gluten-free) because…

…someone peed in my cornflakes.

I am a realist. Some people call me a pessimist. I’m not. I’ve had this conversation with my friend Annie once. People thought she was a pessimist as well, but we concluded that we were realists. We are the type of people that do not put all of our eggs in one basket, we don’t hope for the best, we set our goals on what can realistically be achieved, and that is what keeps our lives and everything around us positive. We avoid conflict, but you’ll know when we are not happy. And most of all, when someone pees in our cornflakes, we sit quietly and busy ourselves with other projects – like I did today. I enjoyed the ballet and then I baked some seasonally divine gluten-free pumpkin muffins (and tried desperately to put the last two days behind me).

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (gluten-free)

Chocolate chips and fresh pumpkin make these muffins magic.

I’ve recently switched to a gluten-free diet due to some health concerns; big ones. I’ll have to share these when they make more sense. Until then, you can enjoy some gluten-free recipes. I’ve made these muffins twice. Once with potato starch and once with arrowroot starch. I liked the arrowroot better, but play with them and let me know which ones you like better. If you are sensitive to gluten, make sure your chocolate chips and vanilla extract are gluten-free. If you can’t find sorghum flour use brown rice flour instead. Canned pumpkin may not be as moist as fresh pumpkin; you can always add a bit of unsweetened apple sauce if need be. Makes 12 muffins.

• 1 cup sorghum flour
• 1/2 cup arrowroot starch
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chia seed, ground
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice blend
• 1 cup pureed pumpkin (I used local fresh, steamed pumpkin)
• 1/4 cup organic coconut oil (melted)
• 3/4 cup organic palm sugar (or brown sugar if you must)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (the real stuff)
• 2 large organic free-range eggs

Preheat your oven to 375degreesF. Line a muffin tray and set aside.

Sift the dry ingredients together (first seven ingredients) and set aside. Mix the remaining ingredients with the exception of the chocolate chips together. Add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and stir until smooth. The batter should be thicker than cake batter. If it is too thick add a bit of apple sauce (see head note above). Mix in the chocolate chips and spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tray. Bake for 15 minutes and cool on a wire rack. I freeze these for gluten-free goodness whenever the mood strikes, like today.