Baking Day

It has been chilly here, finally, but warm enough in the afternoons that I can't justify turning the heater on. We wake up to a co-o-o-old house. I figured the best way to warm things up would be to bake. Yeah, that was my only motivation.

First, I made gluten-free, casein-free (GFCF) pumpkin pie. Well, I suppose "pie" should be in quotes, because it had no crust. Perhaps it was a pumpkin custard? It's really yummy, anyway, and if I make it for a special occasion, I'll probably work out some sort of crust. I don't miss crust all that much, though.

This is the recipe that I used:

GFCF Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

1 can pumpkin

3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground cloves (didn't bother hunting around for this, I know I have some, though)

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup maple syrup

3 eggs

Mix the pumpkin and spices together. Add the remaining ingredients and stir slowly until just mixed. Pour the mixture into the pie pan. Bake at 425 for 15 min, then reduce to 350 and bake for another 30-40 min. Allow pie to cool before serving.

Then I made the muffins in the photo.

GFCF Carrot Muffins

Ingredients:

1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
2 cups grated raw carrot (about 2-3 peeled carrots)
1 large apple, peeled and grated (I used 1/2 cup applesauce)
2 cups GFCF flour (mine was a Bob's Red Mill bean-based one... need to use it up)
1/2 cup Rapadura, ground fine if it's pretty clumpy
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup shredded coconut
4 large eggs
3/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Place fluted paper liners in 18 muffin cups.
Toast the pecans or walnuts for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and then chop coarsely.
Peel and finely grate the carrots and apple. Set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon. Stir in the nuts and coconut. Set aside.
In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, oil, and vanilla. Fold the wet ingredients, along with the grated carrot and apple, into the flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. Evenly divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. After about 10 minutes remove the muffins from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Makes 18 standard-sized muffins.