Yesterday was my 40th birthday. Some of you may have already hit this milestone, and others might be dreading the day, but I have embraced it! I have been blessed with many celebrations, with some still to come, received beautiful gifts, and thanks to cell phones, Hallmark, email and facebook have been wished warm wishes by hundreds of people from every inch of my life. (Now my roots could use a little touching up to belie my age a little but better but otherwise it's all good...)When I got to work yesterday and our board meeting began, our President, Debbie Black, unveiled these adorable, homemade cinnamon-y delicious vegan and gluten-free muffins on pink napkins with a little pink candle! (I am the Executive Director of the Breast Cancer Alliance so we love pink...) I was the only vegan and gluten-avoided woman in the room but even the skeptics enjoyed these moist, flavorful bites, and Debbie explained the new education she acquired as she shopped the Whole Foods aisles for ingredients she's never tried before!
I'd offer you some, as we still have a bunch left over, but since that's not realistic, I thought I'd simply share the recipe with you instead.Pear Polenta Muffins
2 cups peeled, cored and diced ripe pears- 2-3 pears- depending upon size3/4 cup organic ground cornmeal
3/4 cup rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup light olive oil
1 soft ripe banana, mashed well
1/3 to 1/2 cup hemp or rice milk, as needed
2/3 cup organic brown or raw sugar
1 tablespoon good vanilla extract
A sprinkle of organic raw sugar for topping, if desired
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a twelve muffin tin with liners. In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients- cornmeal, rice flour, tapioca starch, sea salt, baking powder and cinnamon; whisk with a fork to blend. Set aside. In a separate bowl beat the light olive oil with the mashed banana; add 1/3 cup hemp milk, sugar and vanilla; beat until smooth. Add the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and beat lightly until well blended. The batter should be like a thick muffin batter (not as thin as a cake batter). If your batter is dry or stiff add a tablespoon of hemp or rice milk at a time and stir until it loosens up. Stir in the pears. Drop the batter into the muffin cups by spoonfuls; distribute evenly among the twelve cups. Sprinkle with a dusting of raw sugar. Bake in the center of a preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the muffins are firm to the touch and a wooden pick inserted into the center emerges clean. Set the pan on a rack to cool for a couple of minutes; then liberate the muffins from the hot pan- this keeps the bottoms from steaming and getting soggy. Cool the muffins on a wire rack. Wrap and freeze cooled muffins in the freezer. They thaw easily and taste tender and sweet when still a wee bit chilled. They also are delicious warm. Makes 12 muffins.Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.comRecipe ©2005-2011 Karina Allrich
