 |
When I start craving my Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Lemon-Berry Muffins, I know one thing for certain ….. Springtime has hit Arizona in full force.
Another telltale sign for me, aside from my craving for these muffins, is that our citrus blossoms go into high bloom here. You cannot miss them. Their scent just gives it away. You walk outside and the air is literally dripping in the most beautiful fragrances.
I wish I could bottle that smell. I would sniff from it every single day (that is not meant to sound as weird as it does). Really. I would. It just puts me in the most amazingly upbeat mood.
Even though these same smells also lend to immobilizing seasonal allergies for many Arizonans, we all seem willing to ignore the fact that these blooms can put us into a fairly miserable condition of drippy noses and stuffy heads.
We just want to smell that air. We want to inhale deeply at every chance we can. After all, this precious scent will disappear in just a few short weeks. We will then just be left with our regular desert smells. Which, really, are not so bad, but do not manage to put me in that same upbeat mood as those citrusy blossoms.
So for now? We indulge in it and just put up with those watery eyes and itchy noses. We deal with the seasonal side-affects so that we can enjoy this special treat from Mother Nature.
And today, while I am basking in this Springtime glow, I will share with you the recipe for my Lemon-Berry Muffins. These have the perfect hint of a light lemon flavor. They are not too sweet, so they will not start your day off on a sugar rush. And they are accented perfectly with the flavors of the fresh berries (I use blueberries and diced strawberries here).
My kids, surprisingly, love these. I think it signals to them that spring-time fun is on its way. I think you and your kids will feel the same about them too! Enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups Almond Flour - Honeyville Almond Flour works best here (For Nut Free: Use 1 1/2 cups of your favorite Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour Blend)
- 1 cup Superfine Brown Rice Flour (such as Authentic Foods brand)
- ½ cup Teff Flour OR Certified Gluten Free Oat Flour
- ¼ cup Arrowroot Starch
- 2 ½ tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Sea Salt
- 1 ¼ cups Plain Yogurt (Non-Dairy or Dairy Version – I used SO Delicious Plain Coconut Yogurt)
- ½ cup Organic Unrefined Coconut Oil (measured in liquid form) OR ½ cup melted butter or melted Earth Balance Buttery Stick
- 1/3 cup + 2 Tbsp Raw unfiltered Honey, preferably organic
- ¼ cup Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Zest (freshly zested/grated – yellow part only)
- 2 Large Eggs, separated (For Egg-Free: use 2 Tbsp Ground Chia Seeds Mixed with ½ cup HOT water – allowed to sit until gelled before using)
- 1 cup Fresh Berries – I like a mix of fresh blueberries and finely diced fresh strawberries in these
Directions:
1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with liners, or grease openings.
2. In medium bowl, whisk/mix together Almond Flour, Superfine Brown Rice Flour, Teff (or Oat) Flour, and Arrowroot Starch until light and airy. Add in Baking Soda, Baking Powder, and Sea Salt –whisk until blended and mixture feels light.
3. In large bowl, beat together Yogurt, Coconut Oil (or melted Butter or Earth Balance), Honey, Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice, Vanilla, Lemon Zest, and Egg yolks (or Chia Gel mixture).
4. Slowly mix dry mix into blended wet ingredients. Gently mix together until just blended. Do not overmix. Then fold in berries gently.
5. (Omit this step if using Egg Replacer): In separate small bowl, beat egg whites until fairly stiff peaks form. Then very gently fold whites into assembled muffin batter until just incorporated.
6. Fill muffin wells 2/3 full. Bake in oven for 17-19 minutes, or toothpick comes out clean from center. Makes 16 muffins. Enjoy!
This recipe has been shared with Gluten Free Easily’s March Muffin Madness
Now..what says “Springtime” to you?
|
I love the combination of berries and lemon, so springlike, and I like all the whole flours and nut flour in this recipe, so much heartier and healthier than most of the store bought gluten free muffins I’ve seen.
Thanks Jeanette! I figure that if my kids love muffins in the morning, I have to make them full of nutrition and packed with more protein than a typical muffin. This one seems to do the trick!
Just want to say first – the photos are amazing! I like the first one best. I agree with Jeanette, I like the whole grain/nut flour blend you chose for these muffins. I have not used teff flour, not yet anyway, but this muffin recipe and Carrie’s (Ginger Lemon Girl) whole grain/”bran” muffins are making me itch to try it out. Just gorgeous, Kim!
Thanks so much, Zoe!! You are so sweet! You should totally try Teff flour. It gives baked goods a nice sort of nutty “bran” flavor.
Any way you could transport these into my belly right now?
Done, AndreAnna. I recently acquired some impressive food transporting skills. You should be filling up as you read this!
Wow, Kim, you know how to do it! I just may have to make these this week, they look fantastic. I could frame that bottom pic.
Thanks Jeanine! I do not normally like muffins, for the most part. But I am a big fan of these because they are not too sweet at all!
Daydreaming…. :0)
Soon you will be able to have them. Sending major gut healing vibes!!! xoxoxo
Oh, my goodness, what gorgeous photos, Kim! Wow, I’d like to reach through the screen. Who could resist those muffins or just the beauty of the ingredients? (That second photo reminds me of a certain conference we attended together. Hehe.) I could so go for the smell of those citrus trees in bloom.
Happy Spring, my dear! The fruit trees are blooming here, but no citrus ones I’m afraid. Cherry and pear so far. We had an inch and a half of snow Sunday morning, but it melted quickly and didn’t phase the blooms surprisingly. Anyway, thanks for this recipe, dear!
xo,
Shirley
Thanks Shirley! I always know that whenever I use that cutting board, you gals will notice! LOL!! And you would LOVE the smell of those blossoms. I am hoping they will still be as fragrant when we get home tomorrow! Geez, I cannot believe you guys are still getting snow this late in spring.
xo
k
Kim – these would so hit the spot right now. I love citrus…in fact, we’re on the same page because I recently made lemon blueberry cornmeal muffins. Mmmmm. All I can say is “C’mon Spring!”
Ooh. Nancy, those lemon blueberry cornmeal muffins sound wonderful!! We must be on the same page!!
sou nds good —but we can’t do tree nuts. so much for “allergy free” Dee
Dee, there is a Nut-free alternative in the recipe so that you can make it without the Almond Flour.
Wow Kim, you outdid yourself with color in these photos. They are gorgeous!!! Sorry, I only skimmed what you wrote – I was too busy lookin’ at the pretty pictures
Definitely springtime muffins!
Alisa, thanks for the nice words about my photos!! You are forgiven for not reading the post, only because you were distracted by the photos!
These look wonderful! I would love to try them but I can’t find dairy-free yogurt in my area and I can’t use regular yogurt. Any ideas for a substitution? Thanks!
Thanks Tia. For the yogurt replacement. you can replace it with an equal amount of PLAIN dairy-free milk and add 2 Tablespoons of Fresh lemon juice and let it sour for about 5-10 min before using. Home you enjoy~
I’ve used that before as a buttermilk replacement but never thought to try it for yogurt. Great idea! Thanks
Tia, it usually works as a great sub in any recipe that calls for plain yogurt!! I do it often as a sub since I always have those ingredients on hand!
I’m not generally a muffin- girl (a muffin-girl? a muffin-girl!), but these look gorgeous!
Thanks so much Mowenackie! I am not usually a muffin-girl (a muffin-girl? a muffin-girl) either. My kids are the ones who love muffins. But I actually really like these because they are not too sweet.
Yum Kim. I am such a muffin girl (watch my blog for one next week!). These look and sound delightful! I would love to smell that Spring scent you’re talking about! Our Spring is teasing us and taking its time! My kids won’t eat muffins with fruit in them. It drives me bonkers. I have to make their share and then add in the best part after. Crazy!
Hi Maggie!! How funny that your kiddos will not eat muffins with fruit in them. Maybe put a few chocolate chips in with the fruit as a teaser to get them to try them. LOL
Thanks so much for including nut and egg free instructions! I love those pictures. Definitely want to make these!
Hi Iris! Thanks so much! I always try to include options to make them a little more versatile!
I love spring and the longer days, especially daylight savings.
Hi IntolerantChef!! I love the longer days of spring too!! Although, the kids have a harder time going to bed when it has only just gotten dark.
These look really good. I like how you give options for the flour, oil, eggs and berries. I love options.
Thanks Diane. I always try to add different options in so that those who might be more sensitive to something are not afraid to try the recipe with something safe for them! Plus, I do not follow recipes well and I am a master at trading one thing out for another (even if it gets me into trouble sometimes).
I know this is not a help forum but have you ever had a problem with your berry cupcakes NOT baking all the way through. I’m using coconut flour and quinoa flour. Its driving me nuts.
Thank you for your time
Hi Holly. I notice that with my recipes that I use coconut and quinoa flour, that they seem to take longer to cook through, mainly because they require a bit more liquid to prevent the baked goods from becoming dry. I have a couple of questions though. Are your berries fresh or frozen? If they are frozen, did you let them thaw first? If you are using frozen berries, add them to the batter frozen. Otherwise they add even more liquid to the batter which may cause your problem as well. Also, maybe try cutting back the liquid in the recipe by 2 – 3 Tbsp (even up to 1/4 cup) to see if that could possibly help. I am just wondering if the berries are adding too much moisture to the batter. The other possibility is to try and keep them cooking longer, but cover the muffins with foil after a while so that they do not brown too much on top. Let me know what happens next time! Good luck!!
Thank you so much. I did not think about that with the frozen strawberries. My pumpkin cupcakes turn out perfect. I’m doing strawberry again today. I want it to work. I love this website and have found a ton of great information.
Thanks again
Thanks for the kind words about my site, Holly!! Glad that your pumpkin cupcakes turn out. Let me know how your strawberry ones turn out!!
Oh my! Those look sooo delicious! So fresh and perfect for Spring. I love the lemon and berry combination so much. I can only imagine how good it smells there with the smell of citrus in the air. I would put up with the allergies too just to smell it. Thanks for leaving the sweet comment on my blog! I hope you get a chance to make those cookies. I’m headed to the store for some more ingredients to make them again myself. They didn’t last long here! Have a great week, Candace
Thanks Candace. Somehow missed this comment. Hope you enjoy the lemon-berry muffins!! Have a great weekend!
I just found this website today and I am loving it! I have a quick question… are there substitutions using just almond and/or coconut flour? My doctor has me off of ALL grains right now, so that only leaves me with the nut flours that I can use
.
PS: All of your photographs are beautiful!
HI Kimberley (my name too)! Thanks so much for your kind comments about my blog and photos. If you are grain-free, you can use my recipe for Banana Cranberry muffins. They are totally grain-free. You can just sub out berries for the cranberries, and you can use about 1 cup dairy or dairy-free plain (or vanilla flavored) yogurt in place of the bananas, and then add some lemon zest and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice for the citrusy flavor (or you can just make the banana-cranberry muffins as is, LOL).
http://cookitallergyfree.com/blog/2010/10/banana-cranberry-muffins-grain-free-gluten-free-dairy-free/
Thanks again! I hope you have a WONDERFUL weekend!
Kim
Great website, I would love to feature some of your recipes and tips on our website. feel free to take a look we have 2 gluten free sections on the site.
http://www.theautismnewswire.com/Headlines.aspx?catID=9# Gluten Free recipes also misc. video’s and articles.
Gluten free videos over 100 selected youtube videos.
Thanks for your review please email and let me know.
Curtis Maybin
[...] [...]