I had originally planned to share this recipe today, perfectly coordinated with a TV segment that I filmed for More Good Day Oregon. Well, the segment got bumped to next Tuesday (to coordinate with the Thanksgiving holiday), and I decided to hell with it, I’m going to share the recipe today anyway. Even if it’s a little early, this is prime pumpkin baking season, and you are going to want to bake these muffins right away.
This recipe is one that I worked really hard to create. It began well in theory, but if any of you have tried to make tender and delicious gluten-free vegan muffins off the cuff, you know what I went through. My kitchen trash bin resembled a muffin graveyard. There must have been at least 6 or 7 batches of muffins in there. My son had surprised us with a visit home from college that night, and literally cried when he saw all of the muffins that had lost their lives in the testing battle. I had to talk him down, promising him that there were better muffins ahead, ones that he would be excited to eat. Just a little more sorghum flour, a little less xanthan, maybe potato starch in place of the tapioca… I’m sure I was speaking a foreign language to him, but it really didn’t matter, because I was true to my word. Two batches later the muffins were perfect. And, they were actually big and puffy, with beautiful cracked tops, just like a bakery.
I will tell you that I have tried this recipe with a couple variations in the weeks since. Although they are simply scrumptious with either the So Delicious Pumpkin Spice or So Delicious Nog, they are also very good with regular old soy or almond milk too. If you decide not to glaze them, make sure to sprinkle them with a little cinnamon sugar before baking. This helps to give the muffins that perfect, bakery-looking crust. Oh, and I love them (maybe even prefer them) with raisins instead of the chocolate chips. But hey, they are your muffins, so choose what you want.
I hope that you enjoy them as much as I do. Oh, and just for fun, we also filmed the recipe for an upcoming episode of Everyday Dish too. Now, run to the kitchen and bake yourself some muffins. You’ll be glad you did!
p.s. if using regular soy or almond milk instead of the nog, increase it to 1 1/4 cups
Julie’s Gluten-Free Pumpkin Nog Muffins
by
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Keywords: dessert pumpkin Thanksgiving Halloween American fall
Ingredients (makes 12)
- 3/4 cup sweet sorghum flour
- 3/4 cup superfine brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup potato starch
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus another 2 tablespoons for topping
- 1/2 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 3/4 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie)
- 2 tablespoons ground golden flax meal
- 1 1/4 cups So Delicious Pumpkin Spice Coconut Milk Beverage, Nog Coconut Milk Beverage, So Delicious Original Coconut Milk Beverage or soy or almond milk (if using regular almond or soy milk, decrease to 1 cup)
- 1/2 cup non-dairy semi-sweet chocolate chips or raisins
- Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons So Delicious Pumpkin Spice Coconut Milk Beverage, Nog Coconut Milk Beverage, So Delicious Original Coconut Milk Beverage or soy or almond milk
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place muffin cup liners in a standard 12 cup muffin tin.
In a small bowl, whisk together the sorghum flour, brown rice flour, potato starch, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, xanthan gum and salt. Whisk well so that everything is well mixed.
In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, combine the oil, sugars, pumpkin and flax. Beat until smooth and emulsified. Add in half of the milk, beating until smooth. Add all of the reserved flour mixture, and beat just until it starts to mix, and then add the rest of the milk, beating until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin. You will be filling them a little bit beyond the top, like a rounded dome. They might look to full, but it’s okay. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with the reserved sugar and bake in a preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until the tops are puffed up with a nice cracked top, they’re nicely browned and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let the muffins cool in the tin for 5 to 10 minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely.
Glaze: To make the glaze, in a bowl combine the powdered sugar, milk and nutmeg. Using a hand blender (or alternately a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or a bowl and a metal whisk), beat together until the icing is smooth with no lumps. Once the muffins are cool dip the tops of the muffins into the glaze. Set aside on a rack for the glaze to harden.
Tip: The muffins are best stored unwrapped, on a cooling rack for a day or two at most. If they are wrapped, they get very moist, almost wet. Alternately, you can freeze whatever muffins won’t be eaten the day that you bake them.
These looks so goooooood, Julie!!
Thanks Kittee! I hope that you’re feeling better: )
WOW! They look scrumptious! I’ve got half a container of Pumpkin Spice Coconut Milk just waiting to be baked into these beauties!
I hope you like them Gail!
Oh Julie, these look so good. I can smell them from here. I am new to GF baking, so I LOLed when I read about the “muffin graveyard.” I feel so guilty tossing unsuccessful concoctions–but it’s better than eating them.
Thanks Dynise. Yeah, I hate to throw food away too, but it’s unfortunately a part of recipe development. There was a time when I would eat those mistakes, but it only leads to unwanted weight gain and some very unsatisfying meals; )
These look AMAZING! I am always excited to have really impressive vegan and gluten-free baked goods. I “pinned” this. Looks perfect for Christmas get togethers.
Thanks Holly!
We are rice free. Would these work with just sorghum flour?
Hi Jackie. Although I haven’t tried it myself, it might work fine. Just make sure to still use the potato starch and xanthan, to keep the muffins from getting too heavy. Please let me know how it works.
Can I substitute agave for the sugar? My son is supposed to stay away from refined sugars. Thanks.
I’m not sure Angela. Agave could change the structure of the muffin. You would also have to reduce the liquid in the recipe, due to agave being a liquid. I wish I had more info for you on baking with agave. I love using agave, but don’t have experience using it as the only sweetener in baked goods.
What is sorghum flour
Sylvia, it’s a gluten free flour made from sorghum grain. It’s becoming a popular GF flour. I love it, as it has a nice mild, slight sweetness to it (like whole wheat). Check it out online, or on the Bob’s Red Mill website.
Im not GF, do you think I could make these with regular flour instead of the sorghum and brown rice flour? Would I still need potato starch?
Hi Laura,
I haven’t tried it with regular flour, but I think it might work. You would need to omit the potato starch and xanthan gum, using 2 cups of regular all-purpose flour. You might also need to slightly adjust the liquid too. It’s a fairly thick batter. Oh, and I would check the muffins at 30 minutes, because they might bake a little faster than gluten-free ones. Or, they might take the same time to bake. Please let me know how it works.
These muffins sound great, I can’t wait to make them. But, I did not see where you mentioned what temp to bake the muffins at, 350 degrees? Also, I have found the Nog Coconut Milk and Coconut Chocolate Mint Milk, but have not seen the Coconut Pumpkin Spice in my area yet. Hopefully, I will find some soon!
Thanks Deanna! I was trying out some new recipe software, and for some reason the oven temp got omitted. Thanks for pointing that out! It should be 350°F, and I fixed the recipe. Oh, and the nog coconut milk works great in place of the pumpkin: )
I made a test batch of these yesterday, with a few very minor edits (holiday nog from Silk instead of the one listed- couldn’t find it!), and they are delicious! My one issue is that they are rather stuck to the muffin papers. I was thinking about spraying them lightly with oil next time? I’m not sure how else to remedy this issue! 🙂
Hi Katie,
That’s interesting about the sticking. Mine didn’t stick, but did remove super easy from the wrappers once they sat. Maybe try spraying the inside of the wrappers. It may just be a difference between different brands of muffin liners.
Hi Julie! I’m pumped to make this for the three (!!!) celiacs in my family this holiday season but I can’t find the pumpkin spice So Delicous, what grocer carried that particular flavor? I can only find mint and nog too. Thanks!
Hi Corrinna,
Whole Foods should have the pumpkin nog, but honestly, it’s just as good with the regular nog too. Almond or soy milk will work too, you just may need to add a little more milk (I put a note about that in the recipe). I hope you guys like them!
Look scrumptiously delicious. So, is it just wishful thinking or are you working on a Gluten Free cookbook (she asks with fingers crossed)?
Thanks Laurel. I am, at least sort of. I’m finishing up a vegan pizza book, which has a gluten-free dough recipe and lots of GF pizza options in it, and I’m also writing a vegan casserole book that will be GF-friendly.