Here on our At Home with GCH blog, Monday’s are always focused on healthy but oh-so-yummy! recipes. This week we are making Gluten-free Cornbread Mini-Muffins.
They fit right into our healthy but oh-so-yummy category because they are:
- full of fiber
- low in sugar—and non-refined sugar, at that!
- very low in fat
- gluten-free
Last month, a few friends and I began a journey of reducing excess in our lives. The first area we tackled was food. Uh-huh…you read that right. So, right off the bat, sugar, flour, and caffeine were eliminated. (Can you say detox? We did…and it was good!) I learned many things over those four weeks one of which was that I knew that refined white sugar and wheat flour were permanently removed from our eating lifestyle. My husband, Robert, and I purged our pantry of all wheat: pasta, cake and cookie mixes, all-purpose wheat flour, crackers, snacks, cookies, and a few stray cans of condensed soup were even found and tossed!
I had been dipping my toe into the gluten-free baking world for awhile. My daughter, Kassia, exclusively bakes with gluten-free flours and is a fantastic baker. She is my hands-on instructor in the field and has taught me so much! (Thank you, Kassia!!! Love you!) So, after purging the bad out…I found I had quite a few basics to get started with. For those of you considering doing the same, there are any number of really good websites to peruse and follow. At the bottom of this post, I have listed just a few of my favorites. These women all are quite knowledgeable, their recipes can be trusted, they are very skilled, and have been baking gluten-free for many years. Please consider trying a few of their recipes, and wandering around their websites where you can learn and experiment! Each of them also has tons of valuable information on how to set-up a gluten-free pantry, the types of flours and starches to buy (and why you should consider those particular products).
You will probably be surprised to know that, to get started, you won’t need to go out and spend tons of money…. I would suggest buying a few products that are new to your pantry each week. Each of the ingredients that I used in this recipe can be purchased at Super Wal-Mart, or Whole Foods, and probably at your favorite grocery store also. May I suggest, too, that you do not hesitate to purchase some of these products online; I have and will continue to do so.
So, here is this week’s gluten-free recipe. We are having these with my Veggie Chili…oh, yum! Enjoy!
Gluten-free Cornbread Mini-Muffins (makes approximately 32-36)
Ingredients: 
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup millet flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour/starch
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon psyllium husk (unflavored metamucil!)
3 tablespoons sugar, of your choice
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup milk, of your choice
1/4 cup melted butter, slightly cooled
1 tablespoon sugar, to sprinkle (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425. Thoroughly grease mini-muffin pan (this recipe makes 30-36). Melt butter; set aside to cool slightly. Combine dry ingredients; stir well. In a small bowl, whisk eggs; then add milk and melted butter. Whisk together ‘til combined. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir ‘til smooth but don’t overbeat. Fill muffin tins 2/3 full. If desired, sprinkle a tiny bit of sugar over top of batter. Bake for 12-15 minutes, ‘til just slightly browned and springs back when lightly touched with finger. Keep your eye on them; don’t overbake. Cool in pan for 2 minutes. Loosen by running small spatula around edge. Remove to cooling rack. Enjoy plain, or with butter, honey, or marmalade. Excellent toasted, too!
Here are links to a few of my trusted gluten-free websites:
http://simplysugarandglutenfree.com/
http://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/
God loves you! ♥ (Don’t ever forget that!)
♥ coleen
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If you would like to send a personal message to Coleen concerning this recipe, you may email her at: Coleen@girlfriendscoffeehour.com
