This recipe produces a gorgeous golden brown muffin - sweet and moist but not too dense or stodgy (look at me - acting all British).
Can these be made into gluten free cake?
Yes. If the thought of carrot cake without cream cheese icing makes you weep then have no fear. These make delicious gluten free carrot cake cupcakes as well. For a cake just use two 8 inch pans instead of a muffin pan.
One time I went to a bakery that was selling carrot cake cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and I was aghast. It felt sacrilege. I kinda wanted to tell the lady behind the counter - what God has joined together let no man separate!
Just remember to soften your butter and cream cheese first. In most recipes you can get away with cold butter but not in cream cheese frosting! Since the cream cheese is naturally softer than butter if you use cold butter you will get tiny little pieces of butter all throughout your frosting. No bueno!
If you have a food processor with a grater attachment for your carrots you're all set. I currently use a mandoline which is a bit more work but gets the job done. If you don't mind the carrots being hardly noticeable you can also peel and finely pulse them in a food processor. I've done this in a time crunch and they still taste amazing. I use my OXA 4 in 1 hand blender set.
I'm in love with it and I use it all the time. It's been making life in the kitchen a breeze. I love the ease of using the food processor attachment plus it also has an immersion blender attachment.
Two things I've found essential to good gluten free baking:
- More leavening (which I've already done)
- A solid gluten free flour. My current favorite is Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free All Purpose Flour. I've found it to be far superior to King Arthur's gluten free flour, Krusteaz, and Pillsbury to name a few grocery store accessible ones.
Bonus, it can be found at Walmart or Sam's Club which is great because gluten free usually means mucho dinero.
My family's in love with Sam's Club. I feel like every time my dad makes a trip I find myself saying "What are we going to do with 20 pounds of potatoes?'.
Of course, twenty pounds of mashed potatoes later it feels like a dumb question. That or everyone leaves with a couple potatoes.
Can I freeze these muffins?
The answer is always yes to this question.
I don't freeze any fried dessert (homemade donuts etc.) because when you warm it up it's like an oil release. Things can get greasy real fast. With that being said most pastries and desserts can be frozen and then microwaved or heated in the oven later. Which is excellent but also a tinsy bit dangerous.
My back freezer is always full of delicious desserts and pastries. Anytime one of my sisters is over they always ask "So, what's in the freezer?".
I usually just arrange all the muffins on a sheet pan and place it in the freezer. Once the muffins are actually frozen I throw them all in a gallon sized ziplock bag and I put them back in the freezer.
I do the sheet pan method first so once I put them in the bag they won't smush each other.
If you love muffins but you're more of a chocolate person, check out these Gluten Free Chocolate Muffins.
Gluten Free Carrot Cake Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups gluten free all purpose flour
- 2 t. baking powder
- 1 t. baking soda
- ½ t. cinnamon
- ⅛ t. allspice
- pinch of ground ginger
- ¼ t. kosher salt
- 1 cup sugar
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup mashed banana
- 4 eggs
- 2 cup grated carrots*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine together dry ingredients in medium bowl and stir together.
- Using a stand mixer, beat both sugars, vegetable oil, and mashed banana together on medium speed for 5 minutes.
- Add in the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated.
- Add your dry ingredients to mixer and beat until well combined then fold in your finely pulsed carrots.
- Spray or line your muffin tins and then fill each one ¾ full. Bake for 25 minutes.
The Nortmans
Love these muffins and gluten free!
Tony. Bonitati
These are the best!