Gluten-Free Applesauce Muffins

My blog has been quiet lately.

Sorry... life has been crazy. In mid-August, we picked pears. Lots of pears. Lots and lots of pears. I think there were 9 baskets.

Pears are a very time-consuming fruit to can, since you have to cut the peel off each one. So, I just finished canning over 50 quarts of pears a few days ago. Now I can breathe again!

Lately, I've been trying to keep my spending on groceries to a minimum. I need to use up what I have in my cupboards and canning shelves (like all those pears). I was trying to figure out what to have for breakfast last week, and felt like baking something gluten-free. After all, my favorite gluten-free cereal (Bakery On Main Extreme Fruit & Nut Granola) is $6 per bag. If I could whip up some muffins with what I had on hand, it would save a lot of money.

I leafed through my collection of gluten-free recipes I've printed from the internet. Nothing sounded good to me. Then I went through the other pile of recipes. I found a recipe for Applesauce Muffins that I printed out in 2008 (before I went gluten-free). I made a few changes, gave it a try, and loved the result. So, I will share it!

Applesauce Muffins
2 cups gluten-free flour**
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 Tbsp apple pie spice (or 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp allspice, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/8 tsp ground cloves)
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Combine flour, xanthan gum, sugar, baking soda and spice. Add applesauce, melted butter, egg and vanilla. Mix until well-combined. Fold in walnuts. Spoon into muffin tins (use paper cupcake liners, as these muffins are a bit crumbly). Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

**I used 2/3 cup cornstarch, 2/3 cup sorghum flour, 1/3 cup brown rice flour and 1/3 cup white rice flour

I have also made these by pureeing canned pears and replacing the applesauce with pear puree. They also turned out quite well.

Now... back to canning (still have peaches, plums and rhubarb I want to finish up)... and then to knitting (I have some newly finished items in my Penguin Place Shop.

Thanks for stopping by!