Gluten-Free Carrot Coconut Muffins

I did a little muffin experimentation after a super-sweet reader asked if this recipe could easily be tweaked and made gluten-free.  Well it can.  And I did.  And since I was already at it, I took out the butter, increased the carrots and healthified the crap out of it.

I also decided to deviate from the standard plain applesauce swap.  I found little jars of [natural] granny smith apple applesauce and had to have it.  As a result, I wound up with muffins that taste like the elicit lovechild of carrot cake and apple pie.  Um.... yeah I'm pretty freaking impressed too!

Since I was taste and quality testing, I went havesies with the recipe to make 6 muffins instead of the usual 12.  Though next time I'll be making a larger batch since a certain neighbor of mine [Love you Kristi!] made off with half of them =)  Totally a good sign right?

Gluten-Free Carrot Coconut Muffins

[adapted from my Carrot-Cake-esque Carrot Coconut Muffins]

what's in it?

1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp of gluten-free all-purpose flour [I used this brand]

1/4-1/2 cup chopped walnuts

3/4 cup finely shredded/grated carrots

1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

2.5 Tbsp granny smith applesauce

1.5 Tbsp oil [olive, grapeseed, coconut, etc...]

1 large egg [or 1 flax egg]

1/2 tsp lemon zest [optional, but yummy!]

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon plus a little extra if you're a cinnamon nut like I am

Honey Walnut Cream Cheese Glaze
3 Tbsp cream cheese [or kefir yogurt cheese]
1/2 tsp honey
1 Tbsp crushed walnuts
1/4 cup powdered sugar
a dash of cinnamon
a few drops of vanilla

whisk together and top with a sprinkle of crushed walnuts

Here's the applesauce I fell in love with:

Paired alongside the cinnamon, carrots and coconut it gives the muffins a hint of apple pie flavor without overpowering the other ingredients.

get baking!

Pre-heat oven to 350F.  Line a muffin tin with paper liners and get to work!  In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients [flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, + sugar].  Next, add your walnuts and coconut to the dry mixture.  In a separate bowl, whisk together applesauce, oil, eggs, yogurt and lemon zest.  Add carrots to wet mixture.

Combine both bowls [wet and dry] by folding the carrot mixture into the flour mixture until a batter is formed.  Don't over-mix.  Next pour your batter into the muffin liners and bake at 350F for 25 minutes.  Do the tooth-pick test around 20-24 minutes to see if they cook a little quickly due to oven variations.  Once the tooth pick comes out clean pull them from the oven, remove muffins from the tin and allow to cool on a wire cooling rack.

serving suggestion: drizzle with a little bit of honey walnut glaze and top with a sprinkle of shredded coconut and crushed walnuts.  peanut butter and honey makes an amazing topping too!  or simply enjoy them straight-up for breakfast the next morning -- they taste even better the next day!

to store wrap each cooled muffin in saran wrap and pile them in an air-tight container.  dig in the following morning and do a little happy dance around your kitchen while you're at it =)  thanks for that!

What's your all-time favorite muffin?