Gluten-Free Carrot Muffins

Another delicious gluten free version of one of my all time favorites -- carrot muffins.  I've been craving them for a long time but I've been reluctant to put down my knitting needles.  Still going strong on the knitting but my desire for a fresh muffin finally did me in and I spent today doing some baking and cooking.  I've just been making the same old recipes so had nothing new to share but I think if you're looking for gluten-free versions of baked goods you're going to really enjoy this carrot muffin recipe I came up with today.  Turned out a bit sweeter than I expected so might try it with a little less sugar next time but otherwise seriously delicious and they filled the kitchen with a wonderful spicy aroma thanks to the cinnamon. In case you're wondering why you can't see the raisins (I just recently bought Newman's Own brand of organic raisins and I highly recommend them) or carrots it's because I blended my wet mixture in the Vita-Mix  -- my grandson won't eat muffins with  whole raisins hence my reason for blending!  If you have a fussy little toddler this works out perfectly.  He loved them -- and ate 1-1/2 for a snack! I love gluten free verson muffins for toddlers because almond flour is nutritionally superior to white flour and since they are too young to eat nuts whole it's a great way to get in some extra calories.

Ingredients

1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp. agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup finely grated carrot
1/4 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon vinegar

1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix the wet ingredients together -- let stand for about 1/2 hour or so to allow raisins to plump up. In the meantime measure out your dry ingredients. I put all the dry ingredients in my vita-mix as well to whirl them together and also to make the almond meal into a finer grind. I can only get the Bob's Red Mill Almond Meal and it's slightly coarse so I find it works a little more like a flour by processing it in the Vita-mix along with the other flours and dry ingrdients. I also whirled my wet ingredients in the Vita-Mix as well but this is totally optional. Mix wet and dry together thoroughly. I used 1/4 cup mixture per muffin. (I used If You Care Muffin Liners -- which have been revamped and are once again excellent -- make sure to look for the red triangle on the side to assure it's the new, improved version!). This batch made 11 muffins. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Most muffin recipes say 350 but maybe my oven runs on the low side because I need 375 to produce a nicely baked muffin. One day I should do a real test with an oven thermometer.

My latest trio of comfort dolls! These little guys are so fun to knit and I'm just so glad that they're going to comfort children who have very few luxuries in this life. Thanks to ICROSS Canada for giving me the opportunity to participate in this.