Gluten Free Carrot and Pecan Muffins

The other night I made up a delicious pot of chicken and potato soup. Perhaps I'll post it soon after I make it again and can be more exact about measurements. I'm the kind of cook that puts in a dash here and a dash there. I would say that blogging about recipes has put a tight, but necessary reign on me. While I like cooking without doing a lot of measuring, I have been known on occasion to put in too much salt or not remember exactly how I made something so that I could replicate it. One thing I was more exact with and remembered were the carrot and pecan muffins I made up to go with the pot of soup.

I have been having success with taking regular old recipes and converting them to gluten free. Getting the right blend of flours and, of course, using xanthan gum for binding is necessary. I have a wonderful carrot cake recipe that I love and that has been successful in just replacing the flours. This night though I wanted muffins. I reduced the sugar (actually substituted honey), and added pecans instead of the walnuts I would have used for the cake. I also halved the recipe as I only needed a couple of muffins for the each of us. I would like to do a double batch though sometime and see how they fare the second day. However, there's not a lot of cooking ahead with gluten free bread goods as they just aren't as good as freshly baked.

I loved the texture of these. I would have had a hard time telling that they were gluten free. I may try adding a couple of whipped egg whites in the future just to see if I can get some more rise out of them. I will tell you they were delicious and there are none left today!

Let me know if you try them and any good substitutions you've found!

Thanks!

Debbie

Gluten Free Carrot and Pecan Muffins

1 cup of gluten free flour (I used a mix of 1/4 cup each: ground flax, sorghum, corn starch, sweet rice flour)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

Mix together the above, then add:

1 1/2 cups grated carrots

Then add:

Almost 1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon oil

2 eggs

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Mix really well together - Yes! This only requires one bowl:)

Spoon into muffin tins

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes

Makes 9 muffins.