I have made dozens and dozens of muffins over the years, most of them for coffee breaks at our business, Cliff’s Plumbing & Heating. Surprisingly people have continued to eat the muffins provided without complaint even when they have been transformed into the gluten-free versions. It gives me a chance to experiment with adaptations without wasting the end product.

I have found that a number of my favourite muffin recipes translate seamlessly with a substitution of my GF all purpose flour mixture and xanthan gum at a ratio of 1 tsp to every 1 ½ – 2 cups of flour. Sometimes I add an extra egg for some of the liquid if that looks like an option in the ingredient list. The recipes that are a candidate for this substitution are the ones with fruit in them so I tried changing fruity bran to fruity oat and was quite happy with the results.

I noticed that gluten-free muffins and cookies often improve after a day or two so I thought the batter sitting before baking might be beneficial also. Whether if actually helps or not it is nice to have a muffin you can mix once and bake as needed!

Fruity Oat  Click here for the pdf version of the recipe

Fruity Oat Muffins
2 1/2 cups GF all purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 Tbsp baking soda
1 tsp GF baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp allspice or 1 tsp cinnamon
grated rind of one orange
1 1/2 cups dried fruit – any combination of apricots, prunes, dates, etc.
2 cups GF rolled oats, quick cooking or large flake
1/2 cup orange juice *
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs
Sift flour, both sugars, xanthan gum baking soda, baking powder, salt and spice.
Stir in orange rind and dried fruit mixture to coat.
Mix together rolled oats, orange juice, buttermilk, applesauce, oil and eggs.
Refrigerate overnight for flavours to blend but can be used immediately also.
Fill paper-lined muffin pans using a 1/4 cup measure or a 2 1/4 ounce scoop.
Bake at 365°F for 30 minutes.
Makes 22 muffins
*Use juice from the orange you’ve already taken the rind from and fill measure with regular juice, yogurt or buttermilk.