I have been in the baking mood lately and if there is one thing that I miss since going gluten free it is baking. I still bake gluten free, but it is different. It is a lot more expensive and disasters happen often.
Baking has always been a stress reliever for me. If I have a bad day or an especially crazy week, I find it relaxing to bake, but I do not find gluten free baking very relaxing. Over the last few years I have slowly started to enjoy it more, but it is still not very relaxing.
For me when life around me is crazy, I love to take a break and bake a wonderful and delicious treat that I can share with others. It is not so much about eating, although I like to eat, it is about the creativity and the sharing that I love so much.
The last few weeks have been very busy and crazy and I have really felt the need to bake, and so I have baked all kinds of delicious things. Some gluten free and some not gluten free. Yes, using flour in a house where you have gluten free eaters is challenging.
Sometimes I stir the ingredients on my patio table, sometimes in the dinning room table out of the way of the main part of the kitchen, and other times I just clean the kitchen from top to bottom after I bake with regular flour. Cleaning can also relieve stress 🙂 and there is always a ton of cleaning to do if I use regular flour in my kitchen.
I know this is not what many of you do, but it works for us. And one of the reasons that it works for us is that I am still able to come up with treats both gluten free and regular ones.
Today’s gluten free double chocolate pumpkin muffins is an example of that. I actually made the gluten free muffin first and it was so good, I knew I had to make a regular version for my husbands staff and for my husband and son to enjoy.
By making separate versions at totally different times I was able to stock my freezer with homemade treats that everyone in my family enjoys.
Now I am curious do you love to bake and do you find it relaxing? If you do enjoy it, do you find gluten free baking relaxing? And do you bake completely gluten free or do you occasionally also bake regular food?
Gluten Free Double Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins
Gluten free pumpkin muffins made better with double chocolate.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup baking cocoa
- 2 cups rice flour
- 1 cup sweet rice flour
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 3 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3 eggs
- 1 - 29 ounce can pumpkin ( regular canned pumpkin not pie filling)
- 1 1/4 cup oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a bowl combine cocoa, rice flour, sweet rice flour, cornstarch, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In other bowl mix together eggs, pumpkin, oil, and vanilla.
- Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients.
- Stir just until combined and fold in chocolate chips.
- Grease muffin tins or use paper liners.
- Scoop batter into muffin pans filling 3/4 full.
- Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until done.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
30 minutesServing Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 309Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 19mgSodium: 192mgCarbohydrates: 47gFiber: 1gSugar: 30gProtein: 2g
Nutritional values are approximate and aren't always accurate.
Hi Lynn. I really miss baking since going gluten free. I never know if a recipe is going to turn out yummy or yucky the first time I make it. My son and I are both picky eaters and so many gluten free recipes are yucky. I have about half a dozen gluten free recipe books. Some of the recipes are good in each book, and some of them not so much. I was a huge bread baker before going gluten free. I miss good bread soooo much. I’m going to try your light and fluffy dinner rolls today. I would love to have a sandwich or hamburger where I enjoy the bun. I usually go without the bread or bun. I hope your rolls land in the yummy category. Thank you for experimenting and sharing your recipes.
I agree, I have many gluten free cookbooks and there are some good recipes mixed in with some that are not so good. Just because the recipes says it is gluten free does not mean that it will be good and it is often hard to tell if the recipe will even turn out. I hope you enjoy my gluten free rolls. We love them for sandwiches and buns.
Wow! I made these this morning. They are so close in texture and taste to my homemade rolls with wheat flour I used to make. Have you baked this dough in a loaf pan? I’m going to try that and also using it as a pizza base. This recipe is a keeper. My husband will be so pleased to try these tonight. Thanks Lynn!
I am guessing you meant to leave this comment on my gluten free rolls recipes, not the pumpkin muffins recipe. 🙂 If so, I have not tried that in a loaf pan or as a pizza dough. I am not sure how it would work for a loaf of bread, but I would love to hear if you try it. I do think it would work well for a pizza crust though. I love that dough and think you could do a lot with it.
Thanks for the yummy muffin recipe. 🙂 I find baking relaxing. Although, when my son first went gluten free, I was trying to bake with regular flour for the rest of us and GF for him. I was stressing myself out!!! I soon realized I couldn’t do it all and now bake everything GF for the most part. I decided that rather than buy GF cookbooks, it is actually easier to just try recipes from my favorite blogs..like this one…with some tried and true recipes. 🙂
I am glad I am not the only one that finds baking relaxing and has been stressed by gluten free baking. I am glad you enjoy my site and recipes. Thanks!
I use to find it relaxing until I had kids tugging at my shirt on a regular basis. Now, I bake in short 5 to 15 minute spurts and in between school/activity pickups. I would measure out ingredients the night before when the kids are in bed. Then, I’d take any window of opportunity I get to start the mixing. I have no idea how to do this with bread since the rise time needs to be just right.