Gluten-Free Carrot-Coconut Muffins

  • Level: Easy
  • Yield: 10 muffins
  • Total: 1 hr 20 min
  • Prep: 10 min
  • Inactive: 40 min
  • Cook: 30 min
For gluten-free baking, I like to combine a range of flours, particularly whole-grain and nut flours, to replace the wheat flour that one would normally find in a cake or muffins. Nut meals, like the almond and ground coconut in this muffin, are always a safe bet for getting a moist texture and plenty of body without the batter becoming heavy. Since the flours lack the binding quality of gluten, it is helpful to add wet ingredients to help hold the batter together. Here, soaked chia seeds and bananas help produce a satisfying, moist, cake-like muffin with a lovely, nutty flavor that's perfect for breakfast.
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Ingredients

1/2 cup soy or almond milk

2 tablespoons chia seeds

1/4 cup brown rice flour

1/4 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup oat flour

2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

3/4 cup almond meal

3/4 cup mashed banana (from about 2 large bananas)

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons melted extra-virgin coconut oil

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/2 cups grated carrots

Flaked coconut, for garnish

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners, and set aside. Add the soy milk and chia seeds to a large bowl, whisk to combine and set aside until thickened, about 10 minutes. 
  2. Sift the brown rice flour, coconut flour, oat flour and baking powder into a medium bowl. Process the shredded coconut in a food processor until finely ground, about 30 seconds. Add it to the flour mixture, add the almond meal and whisk to combine; set aside. 
  3. Add the banana, eggs, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla and salt to the chia seed mixture, and whisk to combine. Add the flour-coconut mixture, and stir until almost combined. Add the carrots, and stir again. Spoon the batter into the lined muffin cups, and top each with a few pieces of flaked coconut. 
  4. Bake the muffins until a toothpick comes out clean, 30 minutes. Remove them from the oven, let sit in the muffin tin for 10 minutes, then place on a rack to cool. The muffins keep well for a day or two in an airtight container at room temperature, or up to 3 days in the fridge.

Cook’s Note

Golden raisins make a nice addition to this recipe. Place 1/4 cup raisins in a bowl, cover with boiling water and let sit until plump, about 10 minutes. Drain well, and stir them into the batter with the grated carrots.

Let's Get Cooking!

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Aleksandra E.

Love love love this recipe! It was a perfect snack for our trip to Wisconsin cabin. I received a lot of "browny points" from my fiancé for making these :) 

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