Going Gluten & Dairy Free: Pumpkin-Cran Muffins

Pumpkin-Cran Muffins

I would like to start by saying that I am not on a crazy-ass diet. I have had a few allergy issues and have  found that eating gluten free relieves some of my symptoms and many of the gluten free recipes are also dairy free. So there.
I've been trying out a few recipes from various sources and this one is adapted from the Practical Paleo cook book. I have made this recipe twice, once with all purpose gluten free flour and once with coconut flour. My second attempt was much better. I have tweaked the recipe from the original. I found that the original was too oily from too much coconut oil, but that could have been due to the fact that I used all purpose GF flour instead of coconut flour. This recipe says that you could use either coconut oil or butter, but I have swapped coconut oil for butter before and the result was the same - too oily. To all of you gluten free naysayers out there, I will say that the following recipe produces a muffin that does not taste like a piece of cardboard. My husband ate them and would have never known that they were gluten and dairy free. So try the recipe, I think you will be surprised!

Pumpkin-Cran Muffins (makes 12 muffins)

Ingredients:
6 eggs
1/2 Cup Pumpkin Puree
1/3 Cup Coconut Oil melted (if you use butter, use 1/2 cup melted)
1/4 Cup Maple Syrup
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar(optional - if your going paleo totally omit this)
1 tablespoon Vanilla
1 tablespoon Pumpkin Pie spice + a couple of dashes of ground clove
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Cup Coconut Flour (if you don't have or can't find - All Purpose GF Flour works, but I would use about 2/3 cup)
1/2 Cup Craisins(if you hate craisins - skip them!)

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

Mix the first 8 ingredients together until completely combined and smooth. Sift in the baking soda, baking powder, and coconut flour and stir until combined. Last, fold in the Craisins - unless you hate them, then don't.

Coat muffin tins with coconut oil or paper muffin cups. Add batter equally amongst the 12 muffin tins and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean.